G.R. No. 133696 ; October 19, 2000
The People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Victor Caliwan y Prongo, accused-appellant.

FACTS

In the early morning of October 9, 1997, taxi driver Salvador Sameran saw a man, later identified as Victor Caliwan, leaning into a stalled taxi on EDSA with its door ajar. Upon Sameran honking, Caliwan looked directly at him and then fled across an overpass. Sameran approached and found the taxi driver, Elpidio Ventura, fatally stabbed and robbed. Meanwhile, security guard Abraham Baba, stationed near the overpass, apprehended Caliwan after he jumped from the overpass into a compound. Caliwan was wearing a bloodied shirt and was found carrying a blood-stained knife.
The prosecution charged Caliwan with robbery with homicide. He pleaded not guilty, presenting an alibi that he was at his sister’s house in Malabon at the time and was later arbitrarily apprehended and mauled by guards. His sister corroborated his presence earlier that evening but not during the precise time of the crime. The trial court convicted him, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua and ordering him to pay civil indemnities and damages.

ISSUE

Whether the guilt of accused-appellant Victor Caliwan for the crime of robbery with homicide was proven beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The prosecution evidence, deemed credible by the trial court, conclusively established Caliwan’s guilt. The positive identification by eyewitness Sameran, who saw Caliwan at the crime scene and fleeing, was corroborated by the testimony of security guard Baba, who apprehended Caliwan minutes later in a bloodied state and in possession of a blood-stained knife. This chain of circumstantial evidence points to Caliwan as the perpetrator.
The defense of alibi and denial was correctly rejected. For alibi to prevail, the accused must prove it was physically impossible for him to be at the crime scene. Caliwan’s claim of being in Malabon was not substantiated for the critical time of the crime, and the distance did not make his presence in Mandaluyong impossible. Denial, being inherently weak, cannot overcome the positive and credible testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. The crime of robbery with homicide was consummated as the homicide occurred by reason of the robbery. With no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, the penalty of reclusion perpetua was proper. The Court, however, modified the civil liability, reducing the actual damages to the proven amount of P20,000 and deleting the unsubstantiated moral and exemplary damages.