GR 192789; (March, 2011) (Digest)
G.R. No. 192789 ; March 23, 2011
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee, vs. NGANO SUGAN, NGA BEN LATAM, FRANCING, GAGA LATAM, SALIGO KUYAN and KAMISON AKOY, Accused, GAGA LATAM, SALIGO KUYAN and KAMISON AKOY, Appellants.
FACTS
On February 8, 1998, around 6:45 p.m., armed men entered the residence of Fortunato Delos Reyes in Surallah, South Cotabato, and declared a hold-up. The armed men were identified as Gaga Latam, Saligo Kuyan, Ngano Sugan, Nga Ben Latam, and an alias Francing. Appellants Kamison Akoy and Cosme Latam (who later died in detention) stayed outside as lookouts. Inside the house, the armed men ordered Fortunato, his wife Thelma, and their son Nestor to drop to the floor, demanded money and valuables, and took cash amounting to ₱10,000.00, personal belongings worth ₱5,000.00, and an air gun valued at ₱2,800.00. Ngano Sugan then brought Nestor outside and shot him. Another son, Reggie Delos Reyes, rushed to the scene upon hearing the gunshot but was prevented from entering by Kamison and Cosme, who pointed a knife and a gun at him, respectively. Reggie heard Nestor shout that he had been hit. All seven armed men then fled together. Nestor was rushed to the hospital but died from multiple gunshot wounds. The appellants (Gaga Latam, Saligo Kuyan, and Kamison Akoy) were charged with robbery with homicide. The Regional Trial Court found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt of robbery with homicide committed by a band and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua. The Court of Appeals affirmed the RTC decision in toto.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the conviction of appellants Gaga Latam, Saligo Kuyan, and Kamison Akoy for the crime of robbery with homicide.
RULING
The Supreme Court DENIED the appeal but MODIFIED the designation of the offense and the awarded damages. The Court affirmed the appellants’ conviction for the crime of robbery with homicide, but corrected the lower courts’ erroneous denomination of the crime as “robbery with homicide committed by a band.” The Court held that if robbery with homicide is committed by a band, the indictable offense is still denominated as robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) of the Revised Penal Code, with the element of band appreciated as an ordinary aggravating circumstance.
The Court found all elements of robbery with homicide present: (1) the taking of personal property belonging to another; (2) with intent to gain; (3) with the use of violence or intimidation against a person; and (4) on the occasion of the robbery, a homicide was committed. The appellants acted in conspiracy with their companions. Conspiracy was inferred from their concerted actions: some entered the house to rob, while others acted as lookouts. The act of one is the act of all. The fact that only Ngano Sugan shot the victim does not exonerate the appellants, as all those who took part as principals in the robbery are guilty as principals of the homicide unless they attempted to prevent it, which was not shown.
The Court rejected the appellants’ defenses of denial and alibi as they could not prevail over the positive identification by witnesses Fortunato, Thelma, and Reggie Delos Reyes, and they failed to prove it was physically impossible for them to be at the crime scene.
Regarding the penalty, the crime of robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) carries the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death. With the aggravating circumstance of commission by a band, the proper penalty would have been death. However, in view of Republic Act No. 9346 prohibiting the death penalty, the penalty of reclusion perpetua was correctly imposed.
The Court MODIFIED the awarded damages as follows:
1. Ordered the appellants to pay, jointly and severally, the heirs of Nestor Delos Reyes ₱75,000.00 as moral damages.
2. Ordered the appellants to pay, jointly and severally, the heirs ₱30,000.00 as exemplary damages due to the presence of an aggravating circumstance.
3. Ordered the appellants to pay, jointly and severally, the heirs ₱25,000.00 as temperate damages, in lieu of the proven burial expenses of a lesser amount.