G.R. No. L-65673 January 30, 1992
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. ABELARDO PENILLOS y LUCINDO @ GUILLERMO “BILLY” PENILLOS, et al., accused. ABELARDO PENILLOS, accused-appellant.

FACTS

On July 31, 1981, in Legazpi City, spouses Aproniano and Epifania Lladones were awakened by four intruders who demanded money. The assailants carried Aproniano outside after he refused. He was later found hogtied and dead from multiple stab wounds. Epifania, attempting to follow, was hacked on the shoulder. She recognized accused-appellant Abelardo Penillos during the incident due to illumination from a kerosene lamp and later at the hospital during a confrontation. The robbery resulted in the loss of P1,000.00. Only Penillos was apprehended; his co-accused remained at large.
At trial, Penillos interposed alibi, claiming he was at his grandmother’s house in Sorsogon until 6:00 PM and then traveled to his father-in-law’s house in Legazpi City, arriving past 8:00 PM. The trial court convicted him of Robbery with Homicide and Attempted Homicide under Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua. He appealed, arguing the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in convicting accused-appellant Abelardo Penillos of the special complex crime of Robbery with Homicide.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The positive identification by eyewitness Epifania Lladones, who had a clear view of appellant under adequate illumination, prevails over the weak defense of alibi. Alibi is inherently frail and requires proof of physical impossibility for the accused to be at the crime scene, which appellant failed to establish. His claimed location was merely four kilometers away, not rendering his presence at the crime scene impossible.
The Court clarified that the crime committed is the single, indivisible special complex crime of Robbery with Homicide under Article 294(1) of the Revised Penal Code. The killing need not be by the act of robbery itself; it suffices that the homicide was committed by reason or on the occasion of the robbery. The attempted homicide of Epifania is absorbed into the complex crime. The penalty for robbery with homicide when the crime is committed in an inhabited house is reclusion perpetua to death. Applying Article 63 of the Revised Penal Code, and with no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, the lesser penalty of reclusion perpetua was correctly imposed. The civil indemnity for the victim’s death was increased to P50,000.00.