G.R. No. L-16937 September 30, 1963
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. AURELIA MAGBORANG alias ELIENG, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

The appellant, Aurelia Magborang, was convicted of double murder and frustrated murder by the Court of First Instance of Cagayan for the arsenic poisoning deaths of Honorata Badajos and her daughter Erlinda Baturi, and the poisoning of Rosa Bacud. The prosecution’s case hinged on the testimonies of two witnesses, Rosa Bacud and Valeriana Baturi. They claimed to have seen appellant put a whitish substance into a pot of “pinakbet” (a vegetable dish) cooking in the kitchen of the victims’ relatives on the morning of October 23, 1956. The victims and Rosa ate the pinakbet for lunch, fell violently ill, and the two deceased subsequently died from arsenic poisoning.
However, the credibility of these witnesses was severely undermined. Rosa Bacud failed to mention seeing appellant tamper with the food in her initial investigation statement days after the incident, only alleging it in a subsequent affidavit. Valeriana Baturi gave inconsistent testimony about her location when she allegedly witnessed the act, citing three different places. Crucially, the owner of the household, Aniceta Caronan, contradicted Valeriana’s account, testifying that Valeriana had initially stated she knew nothing of the incident as she was at the store all morning and did not contradict appellant’s similar denial when questioned immediately after the poisoning. Mrs. Caronan also clarified that the bathroom layout made Valeriana’s described path of movement implausible.

ISSUE

Whether the prosecution proved the guilt of the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and acquitted the appellant. The Court emphasized that the conviction rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, which must constitute an unbroken chain leading to a single conclusion of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Here, the most vital link—that the pinakbet was the vehicle for the poison—was not proven with moral certainty. The leftover pinakbet was never chemically analyzed. The arsenic could have been introduced through the rice, the raw vegetables, or even as an insecticide residue on the vegetables’ skin, a possibility conceded by the testifying NBI chemist.
The Court found the testimonies of the principal witnesses, Rosa Bacud and Valeriana Baturi, unreliable due to material inconsistencies and their initial failure to disclose the alleged crucial observation. The lack of any established motive for the appellant—a hearsay allegation of an affair was disproven by subsequent marriages—further weakened the case. Given the unreliability of the eyewitness accounts and the failure to conclusively prove the pinakbet carried the poison, the chain of circumstantial evidence was broken. The Court therefore upheld the Solicitor General’s recommendation for acquittal, finding that the evidence failed to overcome the constitutional presumption of innocence.