Case Digest (G.R. No. 199710)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. PO3 Julieto Borja, G.R. No. 199710, August 02, 2017, Supreme Court Second Division, Leonen, J., writing for the Court. The case is a criminal appeal from a conviction for kidnapping for ransom under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code.The People of the Philippines (plaintiff-appellee) charged Police Officer 3 Julieto Borja (accused-appellant) in an Information dated May 28, 2004, alleging that on May 26, 2004 he and companions forcibly took victim Ronalyn G. Manatad, detained her, and demanded ransom, eventually receiving P100,000. At arraignment Borja pleaded not guilty; trial on the merits followed.
Prosecution witnesses testified that at about 10:00 a.m. on May 26, 2004 Ronalyn and a companion were accosted on Agham Road, Quezon City; Borja allegedly grabbed Ronalyn, forced her into a gray van with three other men, and the captors drove her around the city while calling her family to demand ransom. Ronalyn’s brother Edwin negotiated, the ransom demand was reduced to P100,000, and an entrapment operation by NAKTAF was arranged. At about 3:00 p.m. at the Wildlife Park, Edwin delivered an SM bag containing P100,000; Borja approached and took the bag and was arrested by police operatives, who recovered from him the money, a 0.9 mm pistol, a cellphone, and a wallet. The police, however, did not rescue Ronalyn; she overheard her captors refer to Borja as entrapped and was later transferred to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and charged with illegal sale of shabu.
At trial Borja testified to an alibi/alternative explanation: that he had been at Branch 79, Quezon City Hall of Justice to testify in another criminal case, that a hearing was postponed, and that he later agreed to meet Edwin at the Wildlife Park to assist regarding Ronalyn’s alleged arrest; he claimed he was then wrongly accosted and arrested. The Regional Trial Court (Branch 76, Quezon City) found Borja guilty in a Decision dated October 20, 2008 and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua. The Court of Appeals affirmed with modification in a Decision dated March 14, 2011 (CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 03998), awarding P50,000 civil and P50,000 moral damages (later subject of appeal).
Accused-appellant filed a Notice of Appeal and the record was forwarded to the Supreme Court. This Court required confirmation of confinement and supplemental briefs; Borja filed a supplemental brief while the People, through the Office of the Solicitor General, declined to file one. Borja argued that Ronalyn had been lawfully arrested in a buy-bust and later convicted under Republic Act No. 9165...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the prosecution establish beyond reasonable doubt that PO3 Julieto Borja committed kidnapping for ransom under Article 267 of the Revised Penal ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)