GR 35915; (October, 1981) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-35915 October 30, 1981
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MAXIMO PIZARRAS Y ASOMBRADO, accused-appellant.
FACTS
In the early morning of May 17, 1972, in Pasay City, Asuncion Sigua was accosted by four armed men while walking to the market. The men, including appellant Maximo Pizarras, robbed her of cash and jewelry. Subsequently, three of the men, including Pizarras, successively raped her at knifepoint while the fourth, Virgilio Acojido, held her legs apart. The crime was interrupted by the arrival of a passerby, Ernesto Villanueva. Pizarras and Acojido were apprehended, tried, and convicted by the Circuit Criminal Court of Pasig for the special complex crime of Robbery in Band with Multiple Rape under Article 294(2) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 4111. The trial court sentenced both to death. This case is an automatic review of Pizarras’s death sentence, as Acojido’s appeal was dismissed due to his death.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the trial court erred in convicting Pizarras based on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and in imposing the death penalty for the complex crime of Robbery with Multiple Rape.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The Court found the testimonies of the victim, Asuncion Sigua, and the eyewitness, Ernesto Villanueva, to be credible, consistent, and sufficient to establish Pizarras’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The defense of alibi was rejected for being weak and unsubstantiated. On the legal classification of the offense, the Court held that the acts constituted not one special complex crime of Robbery with Multiple Rape, but three separate crimes of Robbery with Rape. This is because during the single robbery, Pizarras and two other cohorts cooperated in successively raping the victim, with each rape constituting a distinct violation. Consequently, Pizarras was liable as a principal by direct participation and by cooperation for three counts of Robbery with Rape. Regarding the penalty, while the Court found the presence of the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity, the requisite votes for imposing the death penalty were not obtained. Therefore, for each of the three separate crimes, the penalty was reduced to reclusion perpetua. The award of indemnity and damages to the victim was affirmed.