G.R. No. 111704 March 17, 1999
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GEORGE DE LA CRUZ Y CERCADA, accused-appellant.

FACTS

On February 28, 1993, at around 8:00 p.m., Liza Sebastian, the branch cashier of Andresons Group, Inc., was alone in her office after counting the day’s remittances. Two armed men barged in, announced a hold-up, and threatened her. Appellant George de la Cruz, holding a knife and a jacket, warned her to cooperate “kung ayaw mong mangyari ang nangyari sa guardiya nyo.” His companion, armed with a gun, also threatened her. Fearing for her life, Sebastian pointed to the vault, from which the men took over P139,669.00. They then tied her hands with electrical cords, covered her head with a jacket she recognized as belonging to security guard Jaime Fabian, and fled.
After freeing herself, Sebastian sought help and found Fabian’s hogtied, lifeless body in a pool of blood at the guardhouse. She later positively identified appellant from police photographs and in a follow-up operation in Caloocan City, leading to his arrest. Appellant was charged with robbery with homicide. The trial court convicted him, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua and ordering him to pay damages. Appellant appealed, challenging the credibility of Sebastian’s identification and the proof linking him to the homicide.

ISSUE

The core issues are: (1) whether the prosecution eyewitness identification is credible and sufficient to convict, and (2) whether the homicide was proven to have been committed on the occasion of the robbery.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. On the first issue, the Court upheld the trial court’s assessment of Liza Sebastian’s credibility. Her positive identification of appellant, whom she observed at close range under sufficient lighting during the traumatic robbery, was clear, categorical, and consistent. Minor inconsistencies in her testimony regarding other personnel in the vicinity were deemed trivial and did not affect her core account of the robbery. The defense of alibi cannot prevail over such positive identification.
On the second issue, the Court ruled that circumstantial evidence sufficiently established that the killing of security guard Jaime Fabian occurred by reason or on the occasion of the robbery. The requisites for circumstantial evidence were met: there was more than one circumstance; the facts were proven; and their combination produced conviction beyond reasonable doubt. Key circumstances include appellant’s threat to Sebastian referencing what happened to their guard, the use of Fabian’s jacket to cover Sebastian’s head, and the similar manner in which both Fabian and Sebastian were hogtied. These facts form an unbroken chain leading to the fair conclusion that appellant and his cohort neutralized Fabian to facilitate the robbery. In conspiracy, it is not necessary to identify who fired the fatal shot; liability is collective. The award of damages was also affirmed as substantiated by the evidence.