GR L 3569; (December, 1951) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-3569 December 29, 1951
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROSALINA PEÑA, ET AL., defendants. ROSALINO PEÑA, PABLO DEGRACIA, FELIX DOMINGO and MANUEL BRIONES, defendants-appellants.
FACTS
On October 22, 1944, in barrio San Ignacio, Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, appellants, acting under orders of appellant Manuel Briones, halted a jitney and apprehended Pedro Florentino, the municipal mayor. He was taken towards barrio Tinaan, tied up, and later moved towards barrio Butir. Upon meeting appellant Rosalino Peña, who had a long-standing political enmity with Florentino, Peña struck Florentino. The group, including appellants Pablo Degracia and Felix Domingo, proceeded to drag Florentino to barrio Manogak. There, he was stripped, brutally tortured, and killed. Specific acts included Peña cutting off Florentino’s ear and forcing him to eat it, another severing his penis and forcing it into his mouth, and Peña eventually wrenching out his liver. The prosecution presented eyewitnesses Pedro Racca and Cesareo Velasco, and the deceased’s son, Francisco Florentino. The defense claimed Florentino was a spy, arrested by guerrillas, and killed by Nemesio Arreola, a higher-ranking officer, after a confession, denying direct participation in the torture.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in convicting appellants of murder based on the credibility of prosecution witnesses and the sufficiency of evidence proving their direct participation in the brutal killing.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. It upheld the trial court’s assessment of witness credibility, finding no irreconcilable conflict between the witnesses’ affidavits and their court testimony that would discredit them. The Court rejected the defense’s claim that Florentino was a spy, noting the lack of disinterested witnesses and the questionable authenticity of alleged arrest orders. It found that the killing was motivated by personal and political vendetta, not military necessity, and was carried out with deliberate cruelty. The appellants were found guilty of murder qualified by cruelty. The penalty of reclusion perpetua and indemnity was affirmed.