G.R. No. 110830 May 23, 1994
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROMING SILONG, BOY SA-OY, REGO DARAGOS, ESTER ALABAT, ELNORA PADILLA, ROGER REMOJO, METRING CATURSE, RUDY CATURSE, EDUARDO PISCADERO, LUCIA PADILLA, JESUS (Bebe) COMALING, DODONG CATURSE, DOLO ABBUYAS, TONY BISMANOS, ANACITO PISCADERO, alias “Bembo”, ETING TAGOD, TIMOTEO “TOMING” ALABAT, OSCAR ALQUITAS, MARIO LAGARTO, NARDO CONCON, EDWEN GODEN, OLONG GODEN, NARCISO MAMOLO, JR., BONIFACIO MAMOLO, CARLOS RELATIVO, ALEX ANDON, RUFO “BOY” PANGILINAN, WELTE AMAHAN, REYNALDO AMAHAN alias ANTONIO AMAHAN and MAXIMO COREA, accused. JESUS “BEBE” COMALING, TIMOTEO ALABAT and ANTONIO AMAHAN, accused-appellants.

FACTS

An information for murder with frustrated murder was filed against the accused for the ambush-killing of Angel Ellaga, Alejandro Camahalan, Cesario Davis, Gildo Doguitom, and Zosimo Ellaga, and for inflicting wounds on Ceferino Asocinas (who died later) and Miguel Alcopera. Only Jesus “Bebe” Comaling, Timoteo Alabat, Carlos Relativo, Antonio Amahan, Rufo “Boy” Pangilinan, and Teodulo Abuyas were apprehended and tried. Upon arraignment, they pleaded not guilty. The trial court found all six apprehended accused guilty of multiple murder with frustrated homicide and sentenced each to reclusion perpetua and to pay civil indemnity. From this decision, only Jesus “Bebe” Comaling, Timoteo Alabat, and Antonio Amahan appealed.
The prosecution evidence established that on April 22, 1988, a group of about thirty-three armed men ambushed sixteen copra laborers in Barangay Manarog, Javier, Leyte. The ambushers, positioned on higher ground, fired upon the unarmed victims, killing Alejandro Camahalan, Angel Ellaga, Zosimo Ellaga, Gildo Doguiton, and Cesario Davis, and wounding Ceferino Asocinas and Miguel Alcopera. Four eyewitness survivors—Dominga Azucenas, Felipe Narca, Joel Alcoser, and Johnny Zamora—positively identified appellants Comaling, Alabat, and Amahan, along with their co-accused, as among the ambushers. They recognized the appellants as neighbors and knew them since childhood. The appellants interposed the defense of alibi, claiming they were elsewhere during the incident, but admitted they were only about 1.5 to 3 kilometers away from the crime scene.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in rejecting the appellants’ alibis and in finding them guilty beyond reasonable doubt of multiple murder.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalties and civil liabilities. The appellants’ defense of alibi was rejected as inherently weak and could not prevail over the positive identification by four credible eyewitnesses. The Court found that the appellants failed to prove it was physically impossible for them to be at the crime scene. The qualifying circumstance of treachery was present as the appellants, armed and positioned on elevated terrain, ambushed the unarmed and unsuspecting victims. The trial court erred in treating the complex crime of multiple murder with frustrated homicide. The proper designation is five separate crimes of murder and two separate crimes of frustrated murder.
The dispositive portion of the decision was modified as follows:
(a) Each accused-appellant is found guilty of five crimes of murder and sentenced to suffer five penalties of reclusion perpetua;
(b) Each accused-appellant is found guilty of two crimes of frustrated murder and sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of four years, two months, and one day of prision correccional, as minimum, to seventeen years and four months of reclusion temporal, as maximum;
(c) Accused-appellants are ordered to pay the heirs of Angel Ellaga, Alejandro Camahalan, Cesario Davis, Gildo Doguitom, Zosimo Ellaga, and Ceferino Asocinas, jointly and severally, the amount of P50,000.00 each, and to Miguel Alcopera, the amount of P20,000.00.