G.R. No. 108963-65 March 1, 1994
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Hadji Basser Maongco y Jaiyairy, and Zaldy Sakilan y Hataie, accused-appellants.

FACTS

Accused-appellants Hadji Basser Maongco and Zaldy Sakilan were charged with double murder for the killing of brothers Magsaysay and Mohammad Uddin, and with illegal possession of firearms. The Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 47, after joint trial, convicted appellants for double murder but acquitted them for illegal possession of firearms due to insufficiency of evidence. The prosecution’s principal witness was Rex Magallanes, a tricycle driver, who testified that on May 19, 1992, around 11:30 p.m., while walking along R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila, he heard automatic gunfire, sought cover, and from a distance of a few feet, saw two armed men in civilian clothes firing at the occupants of a stalled owner-type jeep. After the shooting, one victim lay dead on the road and the other was slumped at the steering wheel. The gunmen fled. Magallanes later identified the victims from newspaper reports and voluntarily executed an affidavit at Camp Crame. Another witness, Hudjaima Uddin, widow of Mohammad Uddin, testified that she heard gunfire, ran to the scene, found her husband dead, and saw appellant Maongco running away carrying a rifle. Appellants interposed the defense of alibi. Maongco claimed he was in Lemery, Batangas from the afternoon of the incident until May 25, 1992. Sakilan claimed he was working all day at a restaurant in Quiapo. On June 21, 1992, firearms and ammunition were seized from Maongco’s mother’s residence under a search warrant, leading to Maongco’s arrest. Sakilan was arrested the same day at a restaurant. The trial court found the guilt of appellants proven beyond reasonable doubt based on the positive identification by Magallanes, corroborated by Hudjaima Uddin, and rejected the alibi defense. Appellants were sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each murder and ordered to indemnify the heirs.

ISSUE

Whether the guilt of accused-appellants for the crime of double murder was proven beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court REVERSED and SET ASIDE the judgments of conviction and ACQUITTED accused-appellants. The Court found the trial court’s decision deficient as it failed to analyze the testimonial evidence and relied on a skeletal underpinning. The Court scrutinized the evidence and found it insufficient to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The testimony of principal witness Rex Magallanes was deemed unreliable due to inconsistencies and improbabilities, such as his claim of voluntarily going to Camp Crame multiple times out of conscience, which the Court found unusual and contrary to common experience. His identification of appellants was also questionable as he did not report the incident immediately and only came forward after learning the victims were policemen. The testimony of Hudjaima Uddin was rejected because she could not have positively identified Maongco from three blocks away in a dark area during a fleeting moment of panic, and her testimony was inconsistent with her sworn statement where she did not mention seeing the assailant. The defense of alibi, while weak, was not discredited by the prosecution’s evidence. The prosecution failed to prove conspiracy and the qualifying circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation. The evidence presented did not meet the required moral certainty for conviction.