GR L 36468; (November, 1984) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-36468 November 20, 1984
People of the Philippines vs. Ernesto Aquino
FACTS
On the evening of July 10, 1970, Alberto Felix and several companions were walking home along a street in Cabanatuan City. As they passed the house of accused-appellant Ernesto Aquino, they saw him standing at his yard’s entrance. Shortly after, two gunshots were heard. Witness Gregorio dela Cruz looked back and saw Aquino still firing a gun at them. Another witness, Ambrocio Victoria, who was walking behind the group, also saw Aquino in a squatting position firing shots. Felix was hit and exclaimed he was wounded. He was brought to the hospital.
The following day, a police investigator took Felix’s sworn statement (Exhibit “A”) at the hospital, wherein Felix explicitly identified Aquino as the lone assailant who shot him without any prior altercation. Felix died a week later from the gunshot wound, which autopsy revealed penetrated his back and entered his heart, causing massive hemorrhage. The defense presented alibi, claiming Aquino was in Manila at the time of the shooting to bring his son to the hospital, supported by the testimony of his brother-in-law, Rodolfo Mejia.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in convicting appellant of murder based on the prosecution’s evidence and in rejecting the defense of alibi.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The positive identification of the appellant by the victim himself in his ante-mortem statement and by two eyewitnesses, Gregorio dela Cruz and Ambrocio Victoria, prevails over the weak defense of alibi. The Court reiterated the settled doctrine that alibi must be established by clear and convincing proof, as it is easily fabricated, especially when corroborated only by relatives. The witnesses for the prosecution were found credible by the trial court, having testified consistently and without any shown ill motive to falsely accuse the appellant.
Furthermore, the Court upheld the trial court’s treatment of the victim’s sworn statement (Exhibit “A”) as a dying declaration. Given the nature and severity of the wound that penetrated his heart and his death shortly thereafter, the circumstances substantiate the victim’s consciousness of impending death when he made the identification. The appealed judgment was affirmed with the modification of increasing the civil indemnity to P30,000.00.