G.R. No. L-3254; May 11, 1951
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. EUGENIO NATE alias ONIONG, ALEJANDRO AQUINO alias ADOY alias ONGOT, and PABLO LALAQUIL, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

In the early morning of January 26, 1949, in Barrio Tuliao, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, several men broke into the house of Fructuoso Loresco. When Loresco tried to bar the door, the intruders fired through it, mortally wounding him. The bandits, at gunpoint, then forced his wife, Benavidez Garcia, to hand over P70. Afterward, they moved to the nearby house of Epifania Garcia. Loresco died three hours later from internal hemorrhage. During the investigation, a school notebook bearing the name “Alejandro Aquino” was found in Loresco’s yard, leading to Aquino’s arrest. Aquino subsequently made a written confession at the constabulary headquarters, implicating Pablo Lalaquil and Eugenio Nate, among others, as his companions in the crime. At trial, all three appellants denied participation and set up alibis. Lalaquil claimed he was at home and did not know Aquino. Nate claimed he was working as a night guard at a distillery in Mangaldan. Aquino claimed he was at home due to an injured hand and that his confession was extracted through torture by the constabulary.

ISSUE

The sole issue concerns the identity of the malefactors—whether the appellants, Eugenio Nate, Alejandro Aquino, and Pablo Lalaquil, were the perpetrators of the robbery with homicide.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment, finding the appellants guilty of robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) of the Revised Penal Code. The Court upheld the findings of the trial court regarding the identity of the accused. Benavidez Garcia and Epifania Garcia positively identified Aquino and Lalaquil by the light of kerosene lamps during the incident. Ceferino de Leon also identified them. The notebook found at the scene with Aquino’s name and Aquino’s fresh gunshot wound on his left hand, which matched a wound mentioned by one bandit during the robbery, further implicated him. Aquino’s written confession, containing details only a participant would know and which was exculpatory in tone, was deemed authentic and voluntary, with the Court rejecting his claim of torture. For Nate, the testimonies of Benavidez Garcia and Epifania Garcia, who saw him in the yard during the incident, were credited. The Supreme Court deferred to the trial court’s assessment of witness credibility and the demeanor of the defendants, affirming the sentences of reclusion perpetua, an order to return or pay P70 jointly and severally, and a joint and several indemnity of P6,000 to the heirs of the deceased.