PEOPLE OF THE
PHILIPPINES, G.R. No. 175835
Appellee,
Present:
CARPIO, J., Chairperson,
- versus - ABAD,
VILLARAMA, JR.,*
PEREZ,**
and
MENDOZA,
JJ.
GERARDO ROLLAN y
REY,
Appellant. Promulgated:
July 13, 2010
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ABAD, J.:
This case is about the significance
of inconsistencies in the testimonies of two eyewitnesses respecting which of
several accused held the victim to immobilize him and which of them inflicted
the wounds where conspiracy was shown.
The Facts and the Case
In 1995, the Office of the Public Prosecutor
filed an information before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 255, Las
Piñas City in Criminal Case 95-118[1] against
accused-appellant Gerardo Rollan and Renato dela Cruz for the murder of Rolando
Yrigan.[2] A year after, the prosecution filed an amended
information[3] to
include four other accused, namely, Dennis Perez, Melo Benabesi, Undo Baylon,
and Tomtom Benoza. Trial proceeded only
against Rollan, Dela Cruz, and Benabesi since the others remained at large.[4]
The prosecution presented two eyewitnesses,
Alfredo Monsanto and his son, Allan. Alfredo testified that he lived at Purok
5, CAA, Las Piñas City. On November 23,
1995, between 9 and 10 p.m., he was walking home from work when he saw from 10
meters away a group of men ganging up (pinagtutulungan)
on his neighbor, Rolando Yrigan.[5] The attackers were also his neighbors, namely
Renato dela Cruz, Tomtom Benoza, Dennis Perez, Melo Benabesi, and appellant Gerardo
Rollan. Although there were no street
lights, the area was sufficiently illuminated by lights from nearby houses that
used generators.[6]
Alfredo further testified that he saw
Dela Cruz pulling at Yrigan’s right hand while Benoza did the same with Yrigan’s
other hand[7]
such that the latter’s arms were outstretched (nakadipa). Baylon also
helped immobilize Yrigan.[8] At the same time, appellant Rollan and the others
(Perez, Benabesi, and an unidentified man) took turns in stabbing Yrigan[9]
with a long bladed weapon.[10] After Yrigan dropped face flat on the ground,[11] his
assailants ran away in different directions.[12]
Allan
Monsanto, Alfredo’s son, testified that between 9 and 10 p.m. on November 23,
1995, Yrigan came to his house to borrow money. Yrigan left after they talked.[13] Several minutes later, Allan left his house to
buy food. As he stepped out, he heard someone
moaning and, looking to see who it was, he saw Yrigan, stooped on the ground
and with both hands on his bleeding face.[14] Seven men then attacked him with a beinte nueve (folding knife) and a bolo.[15] Appellant Rollan and Benabesi held Yrigan by
his hands[16] while Dela
Cruz took turns with the others in stabbing him.[17] Afterwards, his assailants threw Yrigan into a
pig pen.[18]
The
autopsy report[19] showed
that Yrigan sustained abrasions as well as lacerated, incised, and stab wounds.
The cause of his death was traumatic
head injury and stab wounds.
While Dela Cruz denied his
involvement,[20] appellant
Rollan claimed an alibi. He said that on
the date and time of the incident, he drove a jeepney, plying his usual Sucat-Baclaran
route.[21] He brought back the jeepney to the operator’s
garage at Purok 5, CAA in Las Piñas City, at 11:45 p.m.[22] On November 27, 1995 policemen came to the
garage and arrested him.[23]
The defense also presented Teresita
Paladin who vouched for the innocence of Benabesi, Dela Cruz, and appellant
Rollan. She said that they were asleep in
their respective houses[24] when
the killing happened right at her door steps.
She witnessed from the open door how a certain Bobby hit Yrigan with a piece
of wood. Another man, known as Tomtom,
stabbed Yrigan several times.[25]
On September 30, 2003 the RTC found appellant
Rollan, Benabesi, and Dela Cruz guilty as charged and sentenced them to suffer the
penalty of reclusion perpetua and to
pay Yrigan’s heirs P100,000.00 in indemnity plus P45,000.00 in
actual damages. The RTC held that it could
not give credence to the denials and alibis they interposed, given that the two
eyewitnesses confirmed their part in the commission of the offense. The RTC also held that it could not rely on Paladin’s
testimony since she belatedly came forward and did not submit herself to a full
cross-examination.”[26]
On October 13, 2003 Benabesi filed a
motion for reconsideration,[27] which
the RTC granted by modifying its original decision and acquitting him.[28] The RTC pointed out that, upon further
assessment, it found inconsistencies in the testimonies of Allan and Alfredo that
made it doubt Benabesi’s participation in the killing. Paladin’s narration, pointing to two other
persons responsible for the crime, was more consistent with Yrigan’s injuries. Besides, Allan and Alfredo did not positively
identify Benabesi in open court.
Appellant Rollan appealed to the
Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR 00399 but the latter court affirmed the
decision of the RTC in its entirety.[29] The CA also denied the motion for reconsideration
that he subsequently filed.[30]
The Issue
The only issue presented in this case
is whether or not the CA erred in affirming the RTC’s finding that appellant Rollan
and the others with him murdered Yrigan.
The Court’s Ruling
Appellant Rollan capitalizes on the
fact that the testimonies of the prosecution’s eyewitnesses, Alfredo and Allan,
were somewhat contradictory. Alfredo
said that Dela Cruz and Benoza, aided by Baylon, immobilized Yrigan by holding
and pulling away his hands from either side so appellant Rollan and the other
accused could freely attack him with a long bladed weapon. Allan said, on the other hand, that appellant
Rollan and Benabesi were the ones who held Yrigan’s hands while the others
attacked him with a bolo and a knife.
But, as the CA pointed out, both
testimonies show that the assailants acted in conspiracy with each other as
evidenced by their concerted action in surrounding Yrigan and attacking him
simultaneously, with some holding and pulling at his hands so he could not use
them to defend himself and return the attack, and the others stabbing and
slashing at him with weapons.
Alfredo and Allan appear to be
credible witnesses. The several accused
in this case, like the victim, were their neighbors. Thus, it was most unlikely for the two
witnesses to have made mistakes in identifying who Yrigan’s assailants were.
Since the accused here did not adduce
evidence that Alfredo and Allan were ill-motivated in testifying against their
own neighbors, their testimonies can be believed.[31] It helps that the autopsy report conforms to
their narration of what the assailants did to Yrigan. So, if either of them was imprecise in recalling
who did what in that brief stunning moment of the attack, such mistake would be
understandable. What is important is
that they were in full agreement as to the mode of attack adopted and the
identities of those who took part in it.
Ascertaining which assailants gripped the victim’s hands to immobilize
him or struck blows that killed him would not affect their liabilities. The liabilities of conspirators are the same
whatever their individual parts in the offense were.
Appellant Rollan points out that, had
Alfredo and Allan really been there, witnessing what was happening at 10-meter
range, the likelihood is that the killers would have either attacked or at
least intimidated them. But how can this
be when the assailants apparently had their anger focused on Yrigan and the
witnesses did not show any intention of interfering. Surely, Rollan does not expect the accused to
spontaneously murder all neighbors who happened to be around just to cover up
for the killing of Yrigan.
Appellant Rollan assails the
testimonies of Alfredo and Allan as unlikely to be true considering how they were
unable to note each other’s presence during the incident. But the two were not similarly placed. Alfredo was walking home from work when he
froze on the road to witness the commotion.
Allan, on the other hand, came out of his house to buy food when he
responded to Yrigan’s moaning and saw how the latter was being attacked. The two witnesses did not have to be
conscious of each other’s presence to be credible in their testimonies.
Finally, appellant Rollan points out
that, while Alfredo said that the attackers immediately fled in different
directions after they committed the crime, Allan said that they first threw Yrigan
into a pig pen before doing that. But,
actually, Allan himself did not mention the matter of throwing Yrigan into the
pig pen until later in the course of cross-examination. Allan probably did not regard it as part of
the aggression proper and so he omitted mention of it at first. In Alfredo’s case, he was not asked about it
on cross- examination. Consequently, it
cannot be said that one of the two lied about the pig pen part of what happened.
Appellant Rollan claims alibi as his
defense and threw in Paladin’s testimony to corroborate his. But their stories do not match. Rollan said that he was out driving a
passenger jeepney at the time of the incident.
Paladin claimed that Rollan was asleep at his home. Paladin had to admit
eventually during cross-examination that she could not have known that Rollan
was at home because she did not leave her house all day.[32] She merely assumed he was asleep because it
was already late.[33]
As
regards the civil indemnity to which the heirs of the victim are entitled, while
this Court would affirm the award of P45,000.00 in actual damages, it must
modify the awards to make them conform to the latest precedents, i.e., reduce the death indemnity to P75,000.00[34] and
make additional awards of P50,000.00 in moral damages and P25,000.00
in exemplary damages (considering the attendance of at least one aggravating
circumstance).[35] The Court will also grant the victim’s heirs indemnity
for loss of earning based on the testimony of Yrigan’s wife that her husband
earned P250.00 daily as a carpenter at the time of his death,[36] applying
the following formula:
Net Earning Capacity = 2/3 x (80 less the age of the
victim at the time of death) x (Gross Annual Income less the Reasonable and
Necessary Living Expenses)[37]
Since Yrigan’s estimated annual gross
income was P84,000.00, deducting from it his presumed expenses of 50%,
the balance of P42,000.00 would presumably be what his family was receiving
from him. His life expectancy is assumed
to be 2/3 of the age 80, less 36, his age at the time of death.[38] Upon computation[39] his
net lost earning would be P1,232,000.00.
WHEREFORE, the Court AFFIRMS the decision of the Court of Appeals
in CA-G.R. CR 00399, which found the accused-appellant Gerardo Rollan guilty as
charged, subject to modifications in the award of damages to the heirs of
Rolando Yrigan. Such award should now be
as follows:
1. Actual
damages of P45,000.00;
2. Civil
indemnity for death of P75,000.00;
3. Moral
damages of P50,000.00;
4. Exemplary
damages of P25,000.00; and
5. Indemnity
for loss of earning in the sum of P1,232,000.00.
SO ORDERED.
ROBERTO A. ABAD
Associate Justice
WE
CONCUR:
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
MARTIN S. VILLARAMA, JR. JOSE PORTUGAL PEREZ
Associate Justice Associate Justice
JOSE CATRAL
Associate Justice
ATTESTATION
I attest that the conclusions in the
above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to
the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
Chairperson, Second Division
CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII
of the Constitution and the Division Chairperson’s Attestation, I certify that
the conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before
the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
RENATO
C. CORONA
Chief Justice
* Designated as additional member in lieu of Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, per Special Order No. 858 dated July 1, 2010.
** Designated as additional member in lieu of Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, per Special Order No. 863 dated July 5, 2010.
[1] Case transferred to Branch 275.
[2] CA rollo, p. 11, Information reads: That on or about the 23rd day of November 1995, in the Municipality of Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, armed with a bolo and a knife (beinte nuebe), conspiring and confederating together with Dennis Perez, Melo Benabesi, alias Bobby, alias Undo, alias Tongtong and one John Doe whose true identities and present whereabouts are still unknown and all of them mutually helping and aiding one another with intent to kill and with treachery and evident premeditation and by taking advantage of their superior strength, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and stab one Rolando Yrigan, thereby inflicting upon him serious and mortal stab wounds which directly caused his death. Contrary to law.
[3] Records, p. 53.
[4]
[5] TSN, September 23, 1996, p. 4.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13] TSN, December 2, 1996, p. 4.
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19] Records, p. 189.
[20] TSN, November 3, 1999, pp. 4, 6.
[21] TSN, April 2, 2003, p. 3.
[22]
[23]
[24] TSN, July 24, 2002, p. 8.
[25]
[26] Records, p. 328.
[27]
[28]
[29] Rollo, pp. 2-14, penned by Associate
Justice Magdangal M. De
[30] CA rollo, pp. 121-122.
[31] People
v. Garchitorena, G.R. No. 175605, August 28, 2009, 597 SCRA 420, 444.
[32] TSN, February 13, 2003, p. 15.
[33]
[34] People v.
Bracia, G.R. No. 174477, October
2, 2009, 602 SCRA 351, 375, citing People
v. De Guzman, G.R. No. 173477, February 4, 2009, 578 SCRA 54, 68; People v. Arbalate, G.R. No. 183457,
September 17, 2009, 600 SCRA 239, 255.
[35] People v.
Bracia, supra note 34, at 375-376, citing People v. Tolentino, G.R. No. 176385, February 26, 2008, 546 SCRA
671, 701; People v. Arbalate, supra
note 34.
[36] TSN, December 16, 1996, p. 3.
[37] People v. Bracia, supra note 34, at 376;
People v. Nullan, 365 Phil. 227, 257 (1999).
[38] TSN, December 16, 1996, p. 2.
[39] Yrigan’s net earning capacity = [2/3 (80-36)]
x [84,000-42,000] = P1,232,000.