THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 199395. February 5, 2014.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROGELIO ALBAY Y BAUTISTA A.K.A. ROGELIO ORDOÑA, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution dated February 5, 2014, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 199395 (People of the Philippines v. Rogelio Albay y Bautista a.k.a. Rogelio Ordoña). — This is an appeal on a conviction for murder.
According to prosecution witnesses Marie Vergara Rimas (Marie) and Jane Estabillo (Jane), at around 7:30 a.m. on August 6, 2007 they were arranging "guapples" at their fruit stand just across the house of Felicidad Picar (Felicidad) in Barangay (Brgy.) Santiago, Bauang, La Union, when they saw a man of medium built and height, wearing an orange checkered polo shirt over a red shirt, black pants, and a maroon ball cap approach Felicidad who appeared waiting for a ride to her office at the Municipal Hall.
The man drew something from his right side and moments later, Felicidad screamed as she covered her face with her green bag. Frightened, Marie and Jane ducked behind their fruit stand. They then heard a gunshot. When they peeked to see what had happened, they saw Felicidad lying on the ground motionless, her face bloodied. Marie and Jane caught a glimpse of the gunman's face as he hurriedly walked away. He had a mustache. EICSTa
On hearing the gunshot, Jane's husband, Jerwin Estabillo (Jerwin) came out of his house. Marie and Jane told him that Felicidad had been shot and where the gunman had fled. As Jerwin ran after the suspect, he kept shouting alarm about what the man had done. Jerwin testified that he chased the shooter all the way to the field that straddled Brgy. Santiago and Brgy. Bagbag. Jerwin lost him, however, among the thick thorny bushes called kandarumas that grew abundantly near the seashore.
Rey Reydito (Rey) testified that he was near a barangay outpost in Brgy. Bagbag helping school children cross the highway when he learned from his handheld radio that someone had just been shot at Brgy. Santiago and that the suspect, wearing an orange checkered polo shirt over a red shirt, black pants, and a maroon ball cap, had fled towards Brgy. Bagbag. When Rey looked north of where he was, he saw a man who matched the description hurriedly walking towards the field of kandarumas.
Responding police officers cordoned off the area and began combing the bushes. They then came upon a man hiding underneath the kandarumas, whom they later identified as the accused Rogelio Albay (Albay) alias Rogelio Ordoña. They arrested him and, after questioning, he admitted burying his gun. The police officers were able to dig up a .45 caliber pistol from the spot that Albay pointed out to them.
The police brought accused Albay to the police station where Marie and Jane identified him as the man who approached Felicidad shortly before she was shot. Following a paraffin test, Albay's right hand proved positive for gun nitrates. An autopsy showed that Felicidad died of gunshot wound on the head. The forensic team found that the slug found in her body was fired from the .45 caliber pistol that Albay hid before his arrest. cHECAS
Accused Albay testified in his defense. He claimed that at the time Felicidad was shot, he was in Brgy. Urayong to buy "guapples" for his wife. Finding none there, he decided to go to Brgy. Bagbag, taking a shortcut through the field of kandarumas at the western portion of the National Highway. Before reaching the rows of kandarumas, however, some police officers accosted him, removed his clothes, and changed them allegedly to match the outfit of the man who shot Felicidad. The police then blindfolded and brought him to the Bauang Police Station.
On September 8, 2008 the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Bauang, La Union, before which accused Albay was tried for murder qualified with treachery in Criminal Case 3532-BG, found him guilty of the offense and sentenced him to the penalty of reclusion perpetua. The trial court also ordered him to indemnify Felicidad's heirs of P55,100.00 as actual damages; P3,977,028.00 as indemnity for loss of earning capacity; 1 P75,000.00 as civil indemnity; P75,000.00 as moral damages; and P25,000.00 as exemplary damages. On December 17, 2010, acting in CA-G.R. CR-HC 03603, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed in toto the RTC Decision. 2 DcCITS
The main argument of accused Albay is that the prosecution presented no evidence that would directly connect him to the shooting or categorically point to him as the gunman. Admittedly, no witness saw Albay in the act of firing the fatal bullet into Felicidad's head since the witnesses present at the shooting ducked behind their fruit stand when they saw Albay drew something from his side and heard Felicidad scream in terror.
But, as the RTC pointed out, the attendant circumstances of the shooting and its aftermath show beyond reasonable doubt that it was accused Albay who shot Felicidad. Although Marie and Jane did not see what it was that Albay drew from his waist nor did they see him in the act of shooting Felicidad, it was implicit from their narrations that it was the fatal gun that he drew and used to kill her. Marie and Jane saw Felicidad's reaction in instinctively covering her face with her bag and in letting out a frightened scream. And, shortly after the gunshot, the witnesses saw Felicidad slumped on the ground while Albay, whom they later identified as the man who attacked her, fled in haste. What is more, Jerwin and Rey saw him headed towards the field of kandarumas where the police eventually found him hiding.
And these are not all. The prosecution presented physical evidence that fully corroborated accused Albay's guilt as the shooter. The ballistic and paraffin tests yielded results consistent with the testimonies of the witnesses. On the other hand, pitted against the prosecution evidence are accused-appellant's puerile defenses of denial and alibi which could not be sustained in view of the proximity of the crime scene and the place where he was arrested.
WHEREFORE, this Court AFFIRMS the Court of Appeals Decision in CA-G.R. CR-HC 03603 dated December 17, 2010 that found accused-appellant Rogelio Albay y Bautista GUILTY of murder with MODIFICATION in that the amounts of civil indemnity and moral damages awarded to the heirs of Felicidad Picar are DECREASED to P50,000.00 while the awarded amount of exemplary damages is INCREASED to P30,000.00 to conform to current jurisprudence. CTSHDI
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LUCITA ABJELINA SORIANODivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. RTC Decision, CA rollo, p. 48: The annual gross income of Felicidad Picas was P41,892.00 computed from her salary rate of P36,824.33 a month. Her reasonable and necessary living expenses are estimated at 50% of her gross income leaving a balance of P220,946.00. Her life expectancy on the other hand is assumed to be 2/3 of age 80 less 53, her age at the time she died. Applied to the above formula, these data yield the net earning capacity to be indemnified at P3,977,028.00.
2. Penned by Associate Justice Isaias Dicdican and concurred in by Associate Justices Stephen C. Cruz and Franchito N. Diamante.