GR 88326; (August, 1995) (Digest)
G.R. No. 88326 August 3, 1995
The People of the Philippines vs. William Fulinara y Apucada and Antonio Bautista y Narido
FACTS
Accused-appellants William Fulinara and Antonio Bautista, along with others at large, were charged with Kidnapping with Murder for the abduction and killing of Sy Bun Tue on June 9, 1981, in Kalookan City. The prosecution established that between 7:30 and 8:00 PM, two men matching the descriptions of the appellants, one in a PC uniform and the other in jungle fatigue, accosted the victim upon his arrival at his workplace. They forced him into his own car and drove away. Eyewitnesses Pedro Beltran, a security guard, and Remedios Rasonabe, a store owner, positively identified the appellants. The victim’s body, hogtied and with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, was found in Bataan the next day.
On August 23, 1981, the appellants were apprehended in San Fernando, Pampanga, while in possession of the victim’s olive green Mitsubishi Lancer. The car’s plate number had been replaced with one from a different stolen vehicle. The defense relied on alibi and denial, claiming they were on a military mission elsewhere during the kidnapping and that the car was merely entrusted to Fulinara by a friend. The trial court convicted them and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE
Whether the guilt of the accused-appellants for the crime of Kidnapping with Murder was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
RULING
Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The positive identification by two credible eyewitnesses who had a clear view of the incident under adequate lighting prevailed over the weak defenses of alibi and denial. The Court found no ill motive for the witnesses to falsely testify. The appellants’ possession of the victim’s car shortly after the crime, with its plate number switched, constituted strong circumstantial evidence of their participation. The defense of alibi failed as the appellants did not prove it was physically impossible for them to have been at the crime scene. The claim that the car was merely entrusted was further weakened by a polygraph examination indicating deception on this point. The qualifying circumstances of treachery and evident premeditation were not sufficiently proven, but the crime was properly classified as a special complex crime of Kidnapping with Murder under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, as the killing was a direct consequence of the kidnapping. The penalty of reclusion perpetua was thus correctly imposed.