FIRST DIVISION

January 16, 2017

G.R. No. 213224

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
ROQUE DAYADAY y DAGOOC1, Accused-Appellant.

D E C I S I O N

CAGUIOA, J.:

On appeal is the May 26, 2014 Decision2 of the Court of Appeals (CA), Special Twenty-Third Division in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 00887-MIN, which affirmed the Decision3 dated September 27, 2010 of the Regional Trial Court (R TC) of Surallah, South Cotabato, Branch 26, in Criminal Case No. 4005-N.

The Facts

In an Information4 filed with the RTC, accused-appellant Roque Dayaday y Dagooc (Roque) was charged with the crime of Murder, the accusatory portion of which reads:

"That on or about the 27^th day of October 2005 at around 10:00 o'clock in the evening thereof, at Barangay Esperanza, Municipality of Norala, Province of South Cotabato, Philippines, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, while armed with a handgun and a knife, with intent to kill, attended by treachery and evident premeditation, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and shoot for several times and stab one BASILIO GALLENERO, hitting and inflicting upon the latter several mortal gunshot wounds on the different parts of his body, and stab wound at the epigastric area of the victim's abdomen, which caused his death shortly thereafter."

CONTRARY TO LAW, attended by aggravating circumstance of Illegal Possession of Firearms.5

Upon arraignment, Roque pleaded not guilty to the offense charged. Thereafter, trial on the merits ensued. The prosecution presented Alex Gallenero (Alex), the son of the victim, and Dr. Lanelita Lanaria-Amido (Dr. Amido ), the Municipal Health Officer of Norala, South Cotabato, as witnesses who testified to the following facts, to wit:

On the evening of October 27, 2005 at about 10 o'clock, Alex and his father, Basilio Gallenero (Basilio), were walking home along the road in Barrio 3, Norala, South Cotabato6 after attending a wedding celebration at the house of Rodolfo Dayaday,7 when suddenly, Roque shot the victim in the back four (4) times, successively. Alex easily recognized Roque as the assailant because the place was well lit and he was just about ten (10) meters away from Roque when the latter fired his gun. 8 For fear of his life, Alex an away from the place of incident. 9 He reported the incident to his uncle Petring Pinuela and to the police officers of Norala.10

The postmortem report of Dr. Amido showed that the victim suffered four (4) gunshot wounds and one (1) stab wound11 and died due to cardiopulmonary arrest, probably secondary to multiple injuries caused by the gunshot and stab wounds. 12

Roque, on the other hand, through the testimonies of Reynald Dayaday (Reynald) and Dennis Blancada (Dennis), denied the accusation and interposed the defense of alibi.

Reynald, accused-appellant's brother, testified that on October 27, 2005, the night before the wedding of his niece, he was at the house of his older Brother, Teodolfo Dayaday, at Barangay Esperanza (Barrio 3), Norala, South Cotabato.13 He was with Roque and seven (7) other people, who were tasked to prepare the food for the wedding celebration. They were all together in the kitchen from 5 o'clock in the evening to 3 o'clock in the morning. 14

Dennis testified that he was at Barangay Esperanza, Norala, South Cotabato on October 27, 2005 because he was invited to cook in the house of Teodolfo Dayaday. 15 He arrived there at 12 o'clock noon but his duty started at 5 o'clock in the evening and ended at 3 o'clock in the morning the following day. 16 He recalled that during those times that he was cooking, Roque never left the kitchen. 17

Ruling of the RTC

Finding the positive testimony of Alex credible as against Roque's defense of alibi, the RTC convicted Roque of the crime of murder and sentenced him accordingly. The dispositive portion of the Decision18 dated September 27, 2010 reads as follows:

WHEREFORE, premises all considered, the court finds the evidence of the prosecution sufficient to sustain it in finding the accused criminally responsible of the crime charged.

Consequently, accused Roque Dayaday y Dago-oc is hereby found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder as he is charged in this case.

He is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of reclusion perpetua.

He is further ordered to pay the heirs of his deceased victim, Basilio Gallenero, the amount of P75,000.00 as indemnity for his death; the amount of P50,000.00 as moral damages; the amount of P30,000.00 as exemplary damages and the amount of P30,000.00 as reasonable actual expenses for his wake and burial and the costs of suit.

SO ORDERED.19

Aggrieved, Roque appealed to the CA by a Notice of Appeal dated October 28, 2010.20 Both parties accordingly filed their respective Briefs dated April 26, 201121 and November 22, 2011.22

Ruling of the CA

The CA concurred with the RTC's finding on Alex's credibility and dismissed the alleged inconsistencies in his testimony. 23 Moreover, the CA found Roque's defense of alibi very flimsy. According to the CA, while the defense witnesses claimed that Roque was cooking at the time of the commission, it was not physically impossible for Roque to be at the scene of the crime because the place where he was allegedly cooking was in the same vicinity where the crime was committed. 24

The CA further ruled that while the prosecution failed to prove the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation, treachery was very patent in the instant case, which is sufficient to qualify the crime to murder. Records showed that the victim was shot several times in the back while he was walking, which means that he was defenseless at the time of the attack; and the fact that the stab wound was located on the victim's abdomen would not preclude treachery because the victim was already vulnerable due to the gunshot wounds.25

Thus, on May 26, 2014, the CA rendered the assailed Decision26 affirming Rogue's conviction, the decretal portion of which reads:

WHEREFORE,
the assailed Decision dated September 27, 2010 of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 26, Surallah, South Cotabato finding accused-appellant Roque Dayaday y Dagooc guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder in Criminal Case No. 4005-N is AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.27