G.R. No. 96090. March 30, 1993.
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JOHNNY LAGO, accused-appellant.

FACTS

In the early morning of April 6, 1985, in Sitio Ladao, Sapad, Lanao del Norte, the Caburnay family was attacked inside their home. Armed assailants fired upon them, resulting in the deaths of Crispin Caburnay and his children Efren, William, Joven, and Criselyn. Erlinda Caburnay, the wife and mother, survived but sustained gunshot wounds. The prosecution’s case rested primarily on the testimony of Erlinda, who positively identified the accused-appellant, Johnny Lago, as one of the killers. She testified that she knew Lago prior to the incident as he was the brother-in-law of their landowner and regularly collected the landowner’s share.
The defense interposed alibi, claiming Lago was at his house, approximately one kilometer away, drinking with friends at the time of the shooting. The trial court convicted Lago of multiple murder with frustrated murder, sentencing him to reclusion temporal in its maximum period to reclusion perpetua for the murders and a separate penalty for frustrated murder. Lago appealed, challenging the credibility of the eyewitness, the rejection of his alibi, and the propriety of the penalties imposed.

ISSUE

The core issues were: (1) the credibility of the eyewitness identification; (2) the viability of the alibi defense; and (3) the correctness of the penalties imposed for the multiple murders and frustrated murder.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalties. The Court upheld the trial court’s assessment of Erlinda Caburnay’s credibility. Her testimony was clear, positive, and straightforward, and she had no ill motive to falsely accuse the appellant. Her prior familiarity with Lago strengthened her identification. Against this positive identification, the defense of alibi must fail. Alibi is inherently weak and cannot prevail over positive identification, especially when, as here, it was not physically impossible for the accused to be at the crime scene given the mere one-kilometer distance between his house and the victims’ dwelling.
On the proper penalties, the Court corrected the trial court. The killing of the five victims constituted five separate crimes of murder, not a single complex crime, as their deaths resulted from several distinct gunshots. Each murder was qualified by treachery, as the attack was sudden and the victims inside their home were defenseless. The generic aggravating circumstance of dwelling was also present, as the crimes were committed in the victims’ own home. With this aggravating circumstance, the penalty for each murder should be imposed in its maximum period. Thus, the Court sentenced Lago to five separate penalties of reclusion perpetua. For the frustrated murder of Erlinda, also qualified by treachery and aggravated by dwelling, the proper penalty is within the range of reclusion temporal, specifically 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day to 17 years and 4 months. Civil indemnity for each death was increased to P50,000.00.