FIRST DIVISION
[G.R.
No. 110286. April 2, 1997]
THE PEOPLE OF THE
PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. RENERIO P. VERGARA, ERNESTO
T. CUESTA, JR., PEDRO G. DAGAÑO and BERNARDO P. CUESTA, accused. RENERIO P. VERGARA, accused-appellant.
D E C I S I O N
VITUG, J.:
From the decision, dated
10 February 1993, of the Regional Trial Court, 8th Judicial Region, Branch 7,
in Tacloban City, finding accused Renerio P. Vergara guilty beyond reasonable
doubt in Criminal Case No. 92-09-508 of a violation of Section 33 of
Presidential Decree ("P.D.") No. 704, as amended by P.D. No. 1508, an
appeal to this Court has been interposed.
Vergara was charged,
together with his three co-accused, namely Ernesto T. Cuesta, Jr., Pedro G.
Dagaño and Bernardo P. Cuesta, on 25 September 1992, in an information that
read:
"The undersigned
Provincial Prosecutor of Leyte accuses Ernesto T. Cuesta, Jr., Pedro G. Dagaño,
Renerio P. Vergara and Bernardo P. Cuesta of the crime of Violation of Section
33, Presidential Decree No. 704, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1058,
committed as follows:
"That on or about the
4th day of July, 1992, in the Municipal waters of Palo, Province of Leyte,
Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the
above-named accused, without any authority of law, conspiring and confederating
together and mutually helping one another, did then and there willfully,
unlawfully and criminally catch, take and gather fish belonging to the
anchovies species known locally as 'bolinao', with the use of explosives
contained in a bottle and called in the vernacular as 'badil', which bottled
explosives after being ignited and hurled to the sea, produced explosion and
caused the death of the said fish which were hit or affected by such explosion.
"CONTRARY TO
LAW."[1]
Vergara alone was
arraigned and brought to trial; his co-accused escaped and remained at large.
It would appear that at
about 7:30 in the morning of 04 July 1992, a team composed of deputized Fish
Warden and President of the Leyte Fish Warden Association Jesus P. Bindoy,
Police Officers Casimiro Villas and Diosdado Moron of the Palo PNP Station,
Leyte, Fish Wardens Mario Castillote and Estanislao Cabreros and Fish Examiner
Nestor Aldas of the Department of Agriculture were on board, "Bantay-Dagat,"
a pumpboat, on "preventive patrol" along the municipal waters
fronting barangays Baras and Candahug of Palo, Leyte, when they chanced upon a
blue-colored fishing boat at a distance of approximately 200 meters away. The boat, 30 feet long, had on board appellant
Renerio Vergara and his three co-accused Bernardo Cuesta, Pedro Dagaño and
Ernesto Cuesta, Jr., and was on parallel course toward the general direction of
Samar.[2] Momentarily, the
team saw appellant throw into the sea a bottle known in the locality as "badil"
containing ammonium nitrate and having a blasting cap on top which, when
ignited and thrown into the water, could explode. The explosion would indiscriminately kill schools and various
species of fish within a certain radius. Approximately three seconds after
appellant had thrown the "badil" into the sea, the explosion
occurred. Vergara and Cuesta dove into
the sea with their gear while Dagaño and Cuesta, Jr., stayed on board to tend
to the air hose for the divers.[3]
The team approached the
fishing boat. SPO2 Casimiro Villas
boarded the fishing boat while Fish Warden Jesus Bindoy held on to one end of
the boat. Moments later, Vergara and
Cuesta surfaced, each carrying a fishnet or "sibot" filled
with about a kilo of "bolinao" fish scooped from under the
water. Having been caught red-handed,
the four accused were apprehended and taken by the patrol team to the "Bantay-Dagat"
station at Baras, and later to the police station in Palo, Leyte. The fishing boat and its paraphernalia, as
well as the two fishnets of "bolinao," were impounded. The accused, however, refused to sign and
acknowledge the corresponding receipts therefor.
On 10 February 1993,
following the submission of the evidence, the trial court rendered judgment
convicting Vergara, viz:
"WHEREFORE, said
Renerio Vergara is hereby sentenced to a penalty of Twenty (20) years to life
imprisonment as punished under Sec. 2, of PD 1058.
"This Court further
orders the confiscation of the fishing boat of Mario Moraleta including the
following equipments: 1 air compressor, 3 sets of air hoses, and the 3 pieces
of 'sibot' having been found to be instruments of the crime.
"SO ORDERED "[4]
In his appeal, Vergara
submitted the following assignment of errors:
"1. THE LOWER COURT COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF AUTHORITY
WHEN IT COMPLETELY IGNORED THE TESTIMONY OF EMILIO LINDE.
"2. THE LOWER COURT COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF
AUTHORITY WHEN IT GAVE MUCH WEIGHT TO BIASED WITNESSES WHOSE TESTIMONIES WERE
GLARINGLY INCONSISTENT.
"3. THE LOWER COURT COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF
AUTHORITY WHEN IT OPENLY SHOWED BIAS AGAINST THE ACCUSED DURING THE TRIAL OF
THIS CASE."[5]
Emilio Linde sought to
corroborate the claim of appellant that it was another unidentified group of
fishermen who threw the bottle of explosives at a school of "bolinao"
fish. It was obvious, however, said the
trial court, that the statement of this defense witness was incredulous since
he apparently had not at all been on board the fishing boat in the company of
the accused at the time of the incident.
Even the rather lengthy counter-affidavit of the four accused completely
missed to mention Linde. The court a
quo went on to observe that the demeanor of the accused at the witness
stand and the substance of his testimony failed to elicit belief.
Trial courts are tasked
to initially rule on the credibility of witnesses for both the prosecution and
the defense. Appellate courts seldom
would subordinate, with their own, the findings of trial courts which
concededly have good vantage points in assessing the credibility of those who
take the witness stand. Nevertheless,
it is not all too uncommon for this Court, in particular, to peruse through the
transcript of proceedings in order to satisfy itself that the records of a case
do support the conclusions of trial courts.
Fish Warden Jesus Bindoy
gave a detailed account of the 4th July 1992 incident. Thus —
"FISCAL DAGANDAN:
"Q In the morning of the 4th day of July, 1992
do you recall where you were?
"A We were on the sea fronting barangays Baras
and Candahug.
"Q What municipality?
"A Palo, Leyte.
"Q Did you have anyone with you in this
particular incident?
"A Yes, sir.
"Q Who were they?
"A Two policemen Casimiro Villas, Jr. and
Diosdado Moron and my fellow fish warden and one from the Department of
Agriculture.
"Q Will you identify your co-fish warden who
were present at that time?
"A Mario Castillote, Estanislao Cabreros, Jr.
"Q How about that employee from the Department
of Agriculture, who was he?
"A Nestor Aldas.
"Q What were you doing at that particular time
on this place fronting barangay Baras and Barangay Candahug, Palo, Leyte?
"A We were watching for illegal fishers.
"Q What is your authority in this particular
task?
"A We are the bantay dagat members of Palo.
“Q Do you have any written authoriting evidencing that position?
"A Yes, maam, our deputized ID (witness is
showing ID No. 1432-91)
"FISCAL DAGANDAN:
For
the records your honor I will quote this ID: This is to certify that Jesus P.
Bindoy is a deputy fish warden vested with full power and authority to enforce
all existing fishery laws, rules and regulations (SGD) Leopoldo Romano,
[D]irector, Department of Agriculture, Region 8.
"FISCAL DAGANDAN:
"Q Since you claimed that you were on the sea
fronting barangays Baras and Candahug in what vehicle were you in at that
moment?
"A We were in a motorized pumpboat.
"Q So, what unusual incident if any that
transpired?
"A In that morning we saw a blue pump boat
which is about 200 meters away from us.
"COURT
What
time in the morning?
"A About 7:30 in the morning more or less.
"FISCAL DAGANDAN:
"Q About how long is this colored blue
pumpboat?
"A More or less 30 feet.
"Q At about this distance of 200 meters were
you able to visualize or see if there were any passengers in that blue colored
pumpboat?
"A Yes, maam.
"Q Were you able to identify them?
"A Yes, sir.
"Q Who were they?
"A The one in front of the pumpboat was Renerio
Vergara, Bernardo Cuesta, Pedro Dagaño and Ernesto Cuesta, Jr.
"Q You mentioned of Renerio Vergara, whom you
saw in that blue colored pumpboat and you identified earlier Renerio Vergara.
Is he the same person?
"A Yes, they are one and the same person.
"Q At the time you saw these persons loaded in
that color blue pumpboat what were they doing?
"A I saw them paddling.
"Q Towards what direction?
"A Towards the direction of Samar.
"Q And where were you in relation with that
pumpboat that was paddled towards Samar area?
"A We were situated parallel to them.
"Q So what happened at this particular time?
"A That was when we saw Renerio Vergara threw a
bottle to the sea and after that we heard an explosion.
"Q Did you come to know what particular bottle
was it thrown to the sea?
"A It was a dynamite (badil).
"Q As a member of this bantay dagat are you
familiar with this 'badil' which you earlier mentioned?
"A Yes, sir.
"Q Will you describe this particular device?
"A This bottle is filled with ammonium nitrate
and on top is a blasting cap.
"Q So in case this is used by fishermen, how do
they operate this 'badil'?
"A It is ignited and then thrown to the sea and
this result in the killing of fishes at the sea.
"Q In this particular instance when you heard
the explosion how far were you to this blue pumpboat?
"A About 200 meters.
"Q So what did you do after you heard this
explosion?
"A After the explosion we slowly approached
them.
"Q From the time you saw this bottle being
thrown to the sea by Vergara up to the time you heard this explosion about how
many minutes elapsed?
"A About 3 seconds.
"Q At about how near were you to this blue
pumpboat?
"A We went near to a distance of one hundred
meters.
"Q So, what did you do at this distance?
"A We kept on watching them first and after we
knew that the two persons dived to the sea that was the time that we approached
the pumpboat.
"Q Were you able to recognize these two persons
who dived?
"A Yes, maam.
"Q Who were they?
"A Renerio Vergara and Bernardo Cuesta.
"Q You said there were four persons loaded in
that pumpboat. How about the other two what were they doing?
"A The two persons were there, one watching the
hose that was used by the two persons who dived for breathing.
"Q So, what else did you do?
"A When we approached the pumpboat it was
Casimiro Villas, a policeman who boarded the pumpboat.
"Q How about you what did you do when Casimiro
Villas boarded the pumpboat?
"A I was the one holding on to the blue
pumpboat.
"Q So, what else was done if any by the members
of your team?
"A While we were there we let the two persons
who dived surface and they were carrying with them fishnet filled with
'bolinao' fish and then we told them that we will bring them to our temporary
station at Baras, Palo.
"Q Do you know the specie of this bolinao?
"A Anchovies.
"Q About how heavy were these fishes of bolinao
in the fishnet?
"A About one kilo per fishnet.
"Q How many contraption were carried by them?
"A Each one of them was carrying one 'sibot'
(fishnet).
"COURT
So,
two divers two nets?
"A Yes, sir.
"Q And each has a catch of one kilo?
"A Almost one kilo.
"Q So, two nets two kilos more or less?
"A Yes, sir.
"FISCAL DAGANDAN:
"Q So, after that what did you do?
"Q When we arrived at our temporary station at
Baras, Palo we gave the fishes to the fish examiner and we had the pumpboat
inventoried and told them to sign the receipt we made.
"Q Do you recall if you made an apprehension
report of the incident you witnessed?
"A Yes, maam.
"Q I show you a original copy of apprehension
report dated July 4, 1992 addressed to the Regional Director, Department of
Agriculture, Tacloban City stating that the following offenders namely Renerio
Vergara y Prisno, Pedro Dagaño y Gadin, Ernesto Cueta y Tobilla and Bernardo
Cuesta y Pedrero were apprehended and the violation is fishing with the use of
dynamite, the original of which is found on page 4 of the records. Will you
examine the same and tell this court what relation has that to the report you
said you made?
"A This is the apprehension report that we
prepared on July 4, 1992."[6]
Nestor Aldas, an
Agricultural Technologist and Fish Examiner working with the Department of
Agriculture, Palo, Leyte, who examined the fish samples taken from the accused,
testified that he was with the team patrolling, on 04 July 1992, the waters of
San Pedro Bay, Baras, Palo, Leyte, when he, like the other members of his team,
witnessed the use of explosives by the accused. Fish samples from the catch
showed ruptured capillaries, ruptured and blooded abdominal portion, and
crushed internal organs indicating that explosives were indeed used.
The Court is convinced
that the trial court has acted correctly in finding accused-appellant guilty of
the offense charged.
Sections 33 and 38 of P.D.
No. 704, as amended by P.D. No. 1058, read:
"Sec. 33. Illegal fishing; illegal possession
of explosives intended for illegal fishing; dealing in illegally caught fish or
fishery/aquatic products. — It shall be unlawful for any person to
catch, take or gather or cause to be caught, taken or gathered fish or
fishery/aquatic products in Philippine waters with the use of explosives,
obnoxious or poisonous substance, or by the use of electricity as defined
in paragraphs (1), (m) and (d), respectively, of section 3 hereof: Provided,
That mere possession of such explosives with intent to use the same for illegal
fishing as herein defined shall be punishable as hereinafter provided: Provided,
That the Secretary may, upon recommendation of the Director and subject to such
safeguards and conditions he deems necessary, allow for research, educational
or scientific purposes only, the use of explosives, obnoxious or poisonous
substance or electricity to catch, take or gather fish or fishery/aquatic
products in specified area: Provided, further, That the use of chemicals
to eradicate predators in fishponds in accordance with accepted scientific
fishery practices without causing deleterious effects in neighboring waters
shall not be construed as the use of obnoxious or poisonous substance within
the meaning of this section: Provided, finally, That the use of
mechanical bombs for killing whales, crocodiles, sharks or other large
dangerous fishes, may be allowed, subject to the approval of the Secretary.
"Section 38. (1) By the penalty of imprisonment ranging
from twelve (12) years to twenty-five (25) years in the case of mere possession
of explosives intended for illegal fishing; by imprisonment ranging from twenty
(20) years to life imprisonment, if the explosive is actually used: Provided,
That if the use of the explosive results in 1) physical injury to any person,
the penalty shall be imprisonment ranging from twenty-five (25) years to life
imprisonment, or 2) in the loss of human life, then the penalty shall be life
imprisonment to death."
WHEREFORE, the decision of the court a quo
appealed from is affirmed in toto.
Costs against accused-appellant.
SO ORDERED.
Padilla (Chairman), Bellosillo, Kapunan, and Hermosisima, Jr., JJ., concur.