Lenido Lumanog v.

People of the Philippines (and other consolidated cases),

G.R. No. 182555, September 7, 2010

DECISION
(En Banc)

VILLARAMA, JR., J.:

I.      THE FACTS

Appellants were the accused perpetrators of the ambush-slay of former Chief of

the Metropolitan Command Intelligence and Security Group of the Philippine
Constabulary (now the Philippine National Police), Colonel Rolando N. Abadilla.

The principal witness for the prosecution was Freddie Alejo, a security guard
employed assigned at 211 Katipunan Avenue, Blue Ridge, Quezon City, where the
ambush-slay happened. As a purported eyewitness, he testified on what he saw during
the fateful day, including the faces of the accused. 

All the accused raised the defense of alibi, highlighted the negative findings of
ballistic and fingerprint examinations, and further alleged torture in the hands of police
officers and denial of constitutional rights during custodial investigation.

The trial court however convicted the accused-appellants. The CA affirmed with
modification the decision of the trial court. The CA upheld the conviction of the accused-
appellants based on the credible eyewitness testimony of Alejo, who vividly recounted
before the trial court their respective positions and participation in the fatal shooting of
Abadilla, having been able to witness closely how they committed the crime.

II.    THE ISSUES

1.    Did the CA decision comply with the constitutional standard that “[n]o
decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly and distinctly
the facts and the law on which it is based”?
2.    Was the extra-judicial confession of accused Joel de Jesus taken during the
custodial investigation valid?
3.    Was the right to speedy disposition of cases of the accused violated?
4.    Was the eyewitness testimony of security guard Alejo against the accused
credible?
5.    Was the out-of-court identification of the accused-appellants made by the
eyewitness, security guard Alejo, in a police line-up was reliable?
6.    Were the results of the ballistic and fingerprint tests conclusive of the
innocence of the accused-appellants?
7.    Can the defense of alibi of the accused prevail over their positive
identification in this case?
III.   THE RULING

1.    YES, the CA decision complied with the constitutional standard that
“[n]o decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly
and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based”.

Perusing the CA decision, we hold that it cannot be deemed constitutionally

infirm, as it clearly stated the facts and law on which the ruling was based, and while it
did not specifically address each and every assigned error raised by appellants, it
cannot be said that the appellants were left in the dark as to how the CA reached its
ruling affirming the trial court’s judgment of conviction. The principal arguments raised in
their Memorandum submitted before this Court actually referred to the main points of
the CA rulings, such as the alleged sufficiency of prosecution evidence, their common
defense of alibi, allegations of torture, probative value of ballistic and fingerprint test
results, circumstances qualifying the offense and modification of penalty imposed by the
trial court.  What appellants essentially assail is the verbatim copying by the CA of not
only the facts narrated, but also the arguments and discussion including the legal
authorities, in disposing of the appeal.  On such wholesale adoption of the Office of the
Solicitor General’s position, as well as the trial court’s insufficient findings of fact,
appellants anchor their claim of failure of intermediate review by the CA.

2.    NO, the extra-judicial confession of accused Joel de Jesus taken

during the custodial investigation was NOT valid.

Police officers claimed that upon arresting Joel, they informed him of his
constitutional rights to remain silent, that any information he would give could be used
against him, and that he had the right to a competent and independent counsel,
preferably, of his own choice, and if he cannot afford the services of counsel he will be
provided with one (1). However, since these rights can only be waived in writing and
with the assistance of counsel, there could not have been such a valid waiver by Joel,
who  was presented to Atty. Sansano at the IBP Office, Quezon City Hall only the
following day and stayed overnight at the police station before he was brought to said
counsel.

Even assuming that custodial investigation started only during Joel’s execution of
his statement before Atty. Sansano on June 20, 1996, still the said confession must be
invalidated. To be acceptable, extrajudicial confessions must conform to constitutional
requirements.  A confession is not valid and not admissible in evidence when it is
obtained in violation of any of the rights of persons under custodial investigation.

Atty. Sansano, who supposedly interviewed Joel and assisted the latter while
responding to questions propounded by SPO2 Garcia, Jr., did not testify on whether he
had properly discharged his duties to said client.  While SPO2 Garcia, Jr. testified that
Atty. Sansano had asked Joel if he understood his answers to the questions of the
investigating officer and sometimes stopped Joel from answering certain questions,
SPO2 Garcia, Jr. did not say if Atty. Sansano, in the first place, verified from them the
date and time of Joel’s arrest and the circumstances thereof, or any previous
information elicited from him by the investigators at the station, and if  said counsel
inspected Joel’s body for any sign or mark of physical torture. 

3.    No, the right to speedy disposition of cases of the accused was NOT
violated.

Section 16, Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides that “all persons shall
have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasi-judicial, or
administrative bodies.”  This protection extends to all citizens and covers the periods
before, during and after trial, affording broader protection than Section 14(2), which
guarantees merely the right to a speedy trial. However, just like the constitutional
guarantee of “speedy trial,” “speedy disposition of cases” is a flexible concept.  It is
consistent with delays and depends upon the circumstances.  What the Constitution
prohibits are unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive delays, which render rights
nugatory.

It must be stressed that in the determination of whether the right to speedy

disposition of cases has been violated, particular regard must be taken of the facts and
circumstances peculiar to each case.  A mere mathematical reckoning of the time
involved would not be sufficient. Under the circumstances, we hold that the delay of (4)
four years during which the case remained pending with the CA and this Court was not
unreasonable, arbitrary or oppressive.

In several cases where it was manifest that due process of law or other rights
guaranteed by the Constitution or statutes have been denied, this Court has not faltered
to accord the so-called “radical relief” to keep accused from enduring the rigors and
expense of a full-blown trial. In this case, however, appellants are not entitled to the
same relief in the absence of clear and convincing showing that the delay in the
resolution of their appeal was unreasonable or arbitrary.

4.    YES, the eyewitness testimony of security guard Alejo against the
accused was credible.

In giving full credence to the eyewitness testimony of security guard Alejo, the
trial judge took into account his proximity to the spot where the shooting occurred, his
elevated position from his guardhouse, his opportunity to view frontally all the
perpetrators for a brief time -- enough for him to remember their faces (when the two [2]
lookouts he had earlier noticed walking back and forth in front of his guard post pointed
their guns at him one [1] after the other, and later when the four [4] armed men
standing around the victim’s car momentarily looked at him as he was approached at
the guardhouse by the second lookout), and his positive identification in the courtroom
of appellants as the six (6) persons whom he saw acting together in the fatal shooting of
Abadilla on June 13, 1996.  The clear view that Alejo had at the time of the incident was
verified by Judge Jose Catral Mendoza (now an Associate Justice of this Court) during
the ocular inspection conducted in the presence of the prosecutors, defense counsel,
court personnel, and witnesses Alejo and Maj. Villena.

The trial judge also found that Alejo did not waver in his detailed account of how
the assailants shot Abadilla[,] who was inside his car, the relative positions of the
gunmen and lookouts, and his opportunity to look at them in the face.  Alejo immediately
gave his statement before the police authorities just hours after the incident took place.
Appellants make much of a few inconsistencies in his statement and testimony, with
respect to the number of assailants and his reaction when he was ordered to get down
in his guard post. But such inconsistencies have already been explained by Alejo during
cross-examination by correcting his earlier statement in using number four (4) to refer to
those persons actually standing around the car and two (2) more persons as lookouts,
and that he got nervous only when the second lookout shouted at him to get down,
because the latter actually poked a gun at him.  It is settled that affidavits, being ex-
parte, are almost always incomplete and often inaccurate, but do not really detract from
the credibility of witnesses. The discrepancies between a sworn statement and
testimony in court do not outrightly justify the acquittal of an accused, as testimonial
evidence carries more weight than an affidavit.

5.    YES, the out-of-court identification of the accused-appellants made by

the eyewitness, security guard Alejo, in a police line-up was reliable.

Applying the totality-of-circumstances test, we  reiterate that Alejo’s out-court-

identification [of the accused] is reliable, for reasons  that,  first, he was very near the
place where Abadilla was shot and thus had a good view of the gunmen, not to mention
that the two (2) lookouts directly approached him and pointed their guns at
them; second, no competing event took place to draw his attention from the
event; third, Alejo immediately gave his descriptions of at least two (2) of the
perpetrators, while affirming he could possibly identify the others if he would see them
again, and the entire happening that he witnessed; and  finally, there was no evidence
that the police had supplied or even suggested to Alejo that appellants were the
suspects, except for Joel de Jesus whom he refused to just pinpoint on the basis of a
photograph shown to him by the police officers, insisting that he would like to see said
suspect in person.   More importantly, Alejo during the trial had positively identified
appellant Joel de Jesus independently of the previous identification made at the police
station. Such in-court identification was positive, straightforward and categorical.

6.    NO, the results of the ballistic and fingerprint tests were NOT
conclusive of the innocence of the accused-appellants.

[T]he negative result of ballistic examination was inconclusive, for there is no

showing that the firearms supposedly found in appellants’ possession were the same
ones used in the ambush-slay of Abadilla. The fact that ballistic examination revealed
that the empty shells and slug were fired from another firearm does not disprove
appellants’ guilt, as it was possible that different firearms were used by them in shooting
Abadilla.  Neither will the finding that the empty shells and slug matched those in
another criminal case allegedly involving ABB members, such that they could have
been fired from the same firearms belonging to said rebel group, exonerate the
appellants who are on trial in this case and not the suspects in another case.  To begin
with, the prosecution never claimed that the firearms confiscated from appellants, which
were the subject of separate charges for illegal possession of firearms, were the same
firearms used in the ambush-slay of Abadilla.  A ballistic examination is not
indispensable in this case.  Even if another weapon was in fact actually used in killing
the victim, still, appellants Fortuna and Lumanog cannot escape criminal liability
therefor, as they were positively identified by eyewitness Freddie Alejo as the ones who
shot Abadilla to death.

The negative result of the fingerprint tests conducted by fingerprint examiner

Remedios is likewise inconclusive and unreliable.  Said witness admitted that no prints
had been lifted from inside the KIA Pride and only two (2) fingerprints were taken from
the car of Abadilla.

7.    NO, the defense of alibi of the accused CANNOT prevail over their
positive identification in this case.

Alibi is the weakest of all defenses, for it is easy to fabricate and difficult to
disprove, and it is for this reason that it cannot prevail over the positive identification of
the accused by the witnesses. To be valid for purposes of exoneration from a criminal
charge, the defense of alibi must be such that it would have been physically impossible
for the person charged with the crime to be at the locus criminis at the time of its
commission, the reason being that no person can be in two places at the same
time.  The excuse must be so airtight that it would admit of no exception.  Where there
is the least possibility of accused’s presence at the crime scene, the alibi will not hold
water.

Deeply embedded in our jurisprudence is the rule that positive identification of

the accused, where categorical and consistent, without any showing of ill motive on the
part of the eyewitness testifying, should prevail over the alibi and denial of appellants,
whose testimonies are not substantiated by clear and convincing evidence. However,
none of the appellants presented clear and convincing excuses showing the physical
impossibility of their being at the crime scene between 8:00 o’clock and 9:00 o’clock in
the morning of June 13, 1996. Hence, the trial court and CA did not err in rejecting their
common defense of alibi.