Republic of the
Supreme Court
THIRD DIVISION
|
PEOPLE OF THE Plaintiff-Appellee, -versus- RUEL TUY , Accused-Appellant. |
G.R. No. 179476 Present: CARPIO MORALES, Chairperson, BRION, PERALTA,* BERSAMIN, and VILLARAMA, JR., JJ. Promulgated: February 9, 2011 |
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R E S O L U T I O N
BERSAMIN,
J.:
Together with Ramon Salcedo, Jr. and Raul Salcedo, who have
remained at large, appellant Ruel Tuy was charged with murder in the Regional
Trial Court in Calabanga, Camarines Sur (RTC) for the killing of Orlando
Barrameda in the afternoon of
That on or about 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon of October 11, 2001 at Bani, Tinambac, Camarines Sur, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of the Honorable Court, the said accused with intent to kill and while armed with firearms and a bolo and with conspiracy between and among themselves, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and harm one Orlando Barrameda thereby inflicting mortal wounds on the different part of his body which caused his instantaneous death, to the damage of his heirs in such amount as maybe duly proven in court.
Attendant during the commission of the crime is treachery because the accused took advantage of their superior strength, with arms and employed means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and specially to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make.
Further, the offended party was at the time of the crime the incumbent barangay captain of the place where the incident happened.
ACTS CONTRARY TO LAW.[1]
Upon arraignment, the
accused-appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder. Thereafter, trial
on the merits ensued.
For the Prosecution, Severino Barrameda
(Severino), the son of the victim, declared that he had witnessed the Salcedos
shooting and Tuy hacking his father. The medico-legal evidence presented
through Dr. Salvador
Betito, Jr. (Betito), who had conducted the autopsy, established that the
victim had sustained five hack wounds and two gunshot wounds. Betito concluded
that the cause of death was rapid external and internal hemorrhage secondary to
multiple gunshot wounds and hack wounds.
In his
defense, Tuy denied his participation in the
crime and claimed that he was processing copra at the time of the killing in
Sitio Olango, Brgy. Bani Tinambac, Camarines
On
WHEREFORE,
in view of the foregoing, the prosecution having proven the guilt of the
accused Ruel Tuy beyond reasonable doubt, he is hereby found guilty of the
crime of Murder as charged. He is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of
RECLUSION PERPETUA and to pay the heirs of Orlando Barrameda the amount of P50,000
as civil indemnity; P50,000 as moral damages;
P38,000 as actual damages
and to pay the
costs. He is likewise meted the accessory penalty as provided for under the Revised Penal Code.
xxx
SO
ORDERED. [2]
On appeal, the Court of
Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction,[3]
rejecting Tuy’s defenses of denial and alibi.
It ruled that it was still physically possible for him to come from Brgy.
Olango and be at the seashore of Brgy. Bani, Tinambac, Camarines Sur
where the killing happened. The decretal portion of the decision reads:
WHEREFORE,
the assailed Decision of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 63, Calabanga,
Camarines Sur in Criminal Case No. 02-697 dated
SO ORDERED.[4]
Tuy now insists to us
that the CA committed reversible error in affirming his conviction.
We affirm the decision of the CA.
Firstly,
the findings of the RTC are accorded the highest degree of respect, especially
if adopted and confirmed by the CA, because of the first-hand opportunity of
the trial judge to observe the demeanor of the witnesses when they testified at
trial; such findings are final and conclusive and may not be reviewed on appeal
unless there is clear misapprehension of facts.[5] Here,
there was no showing that the RTC and the CA erred in appreciating the worth of
Severino’s eyewitness testimony.
Secondly, the CA and the RTC rejected
the alibi of Tuy. We agree with their
rejection. To begin with, his absence from the scene of the murder was not
firmly established considering that he admitted that he could navigate the
distance between Brgy. Olango (where he was supposed to be) and Brgy. Bani
(where the crime was committed) in an hour by paddle boat and in less than that
time by motorized banca. Also,
eyewitness Severino positively identified him as having hacked his father.[6] The failure of Tuy to prove the
physical impossibility of his presence at the crime scene negated his alibi.[7]
And, thirdly, the medico-legal evidence indicating
that the victim sustained several hack wounds entirely corroborated Severino’s
recollection on the hacking.
On the civil liability, we increase
the civil indemnity and the moral damages from P50,000.00 to P75,000.00, and add exemplary damages of P30,000.00 in order to accord
with current jurisprudence to the effect that damages in such amounts are granted
whenever the accused is adjudged guilty of a crime covered by Republic Act No.
7659 like murder.[8]
WHEREFORE, the Court affirms the decision promulgated on April 25,
2007 finding RUEL TUY guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of murder, subject to the modification that the civil
indemnity is P75,000.00;
the moral damages is P75,000.00;
and the exemplary damages is P30,000.00.
SO
ORDERED.
LUCAS P. BERSAMIN
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
CONCHITA CARPIO
MORALES
Associate Justice
Chairperson
ARTURO D. BRION DIOSDADO M. PERALTA
Associate Justice Associate Justice
MARTIN S. VILLARAMA, JR.
Associate Justice
A T T E S T A T I O N
I attest that the conclusions in the
above Resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned
to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division
CONCHITA
CARPIO MORALES
Associate Justice
Chairperson
C E R T I F I C A T I O N
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII
of the Constitution, I certify that the conclusions in the above Resolution had
been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the
opinion of the Court’s Division.
RENATO C. CORONA
* In lieu of Justice Maria Lourdes P. A.
Sereno who is on leave per Office Order No. 944 dated
[1] Records,
p. 1.
[2]
CA Rollo, pp. 65-66.
[3] Rollo, pp. 2-12; penned by Associate Justice Romeo F. Barza, with Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo (now a Member of the Court) and Associate Justice Arcangelita M. Romilla-Lontok (retired) concurring.
[4]
[5] Garong v. People, G.R. No. 148971, November 29, 2006,
508 SCRA 446, 455; Lubos v. Galupo,
G.R. No. 139136, January 16, 2002, 373 SCRA 618, 622; Montecillo v. Reynes, G.R.
No. 138018,
[6] People v. Malones, G.R. No. 124388-90,
[7] People
v. Bracamonte, G.R. No. 95939,
[8] People v. Arbalate, G.R. No. 183457,