G.R. No. 172110 and G.R. No. 181804; August 1, 2011
MINDA VILLAMOR and GLICERIO VIOS, JR., Appellees, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellant.

FACTS

Petitioners Minda Villamor and Glicerio Vios, Jr., along with Nicolas Caballero, Ricardo Tormis, and Jeffrey Cutab, were charged with Frustrated Murder before the RTC of Lanao del Norte. The Amended Information alleged that on January 7, 1999, in Iligan City, they conspired and attacked Jean V. Jumawan with a bladed weapon, inflicting multiple stab wounds on her abdomen, performing all acts of execution for murder but which did not produce it due to causes independent of their will. Accused Ricardo Tormis pleaded guilty and was sentenced. Accused Nicolas Caballero was discharged to be utilized as a state witness. The case against Jeffrey Cutab was dismissed after his Demurrer to Evidence was granted.
The prosecution evidence established that at about 1:00 P.M. on January 7, 1999, victim Jean Jumawan, a teacher, was in her classroom when Ricardo Tormis and Nicolas Caballero arrived. Tormis handed her an envelope, stating it was from Villamor and Vios, and then suddenly stabbed her multiple times. Jumawan sustained serious injuries requiring surgeries and long-term rehabilitation, leaving her unable to write with her right hand. Prior to the incident, Jumawan had filed administrative and criminal cases against the petitioners. State witness Nicolas Caballero testified that Villamor and Vios planned the killing due to their grudges against Jumawan. They enlisted Caballero to find a killer, and he recruited Tormis. Meetings to plan the attack were held at Vios’s house on January 2, 1999, and at Villamor’s house on January 3, 1999. On January 6, 1999, Tormis was presented to Villamor and Vios, who instructed him to kill Jumawan. After the stabbing, Tormis and Caballero fled, and later that day, Villamor and Vios gave Tormis ₱1,000 as partial payment. The knife and bicycle used were provided by Vios.
Petitioners denied involvement. Vios invoked alibi, claiming he was teaching in his classroom at the time of the stabbing. Villamor claimed she was in Bukidnon from January 1 to dawn of January 4, 1999, visiting her sick father, and thus could not have attended the planning meetings.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the conviction of petitioners Minda Villamor and Glicerio Vios, Jr. for Frustrated Murder.

RULING

The Supreme Court DENIED the consolidated petitions and AFFIRMED the assailed Decision and Resolutions of the Court of Appeals. The Court found the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, particularly state witness Nicolas Caballero, to be credible, positive, and categorical, and sufficient to establish the petitioners’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The defense of alibi invoked by the petitioners could not prevail over this positive identification and the evidence of conspiracy. The Court upheld the finding that petitioners conspired in planning and carrying out the attack on Jean Jumawan, thereby holding them liable for the crime of Frustrated Murder.