Case Digest (G.R. No. 122753-56)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Carinio Lumiwan (P), Marcos Gaddawan (P), Manao Bawagan (P) and Manuel Bawisal (At Large), G.R. Nos. 122753-56, September 07, 1998, Supreme Court First Division, Bellosillo, J., writing for the Court.This consolidated criminal case involved four accused (three tried, one at large) charged in four separate but related offenses: two counts of kidnapping (Crim. Cases Nos. 375 and 377) and two counts of robbery in band (Crim. Cases Nos. 376 and 378). The cases were consolidated by the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 16, Ilagan, Isabela, because they shared common witnesses. Manuel Bawisal escaped detention on 28 November 1992 and remained at large; the other three—Carinio Lumiwan, Marcos Gaddawan and Manao Bawagan—were arrested, tried, and convicted by the RTC on 27 July 1995.
The prosecution’s narrative was that on 16 September 1992 four armed men accosted 17‑year‑old Jonathan Carig at his house and took P150 from him, then proceeded to the Carig grocery and, at gunpoint, demanded money from Imelda Carig, taking grocery items worth P2,000 when no larger sum was produced. Carig and several companions were then forced to go to Mt. Simacbot, where attempts at ransom were made. Separately, on the same day two of the same men allegedly accosted Maria Asuncion while she was buying corn and took P6,800; she was then brought to the mountains and forced to send ransom letters. Rescue operations by PNP soldiers on 19 September 1992 allowed the victims to escape; the accused were later arrested at various locations in Mt. Province and detained in Roxas, Isabela.
At trial the victims positively identified Lumiwan, Gaddawan and Bawagan as their abductors and robbers. The accused each presented alibis and claimed they were beaten or otherwise coerced into admissions while in custody; they also asserted they were strangers to one another prior to detention. The trial court rejected these defenses, found the prosecution proved the elements of kidnapping and robbery in band beyond reasonable doubt, convicted the three accused of two counts of kidnapping and one count of robbery in band each, and ordered indemnity (moral damages P500,000 each and exemplary damages P200,000 each). The RTC did not order restitution because cash portions recovered by rescuers had already been released to the victims by earlier municipal-court orders.
The convicted accused-appellants sought a review of the RTC decisi...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the evidence sufficient to identify and convict the accused-appellants for the kidnappings and robberies charged (including whether robbery against Maria Asuncion constituted robbery in band or simple robbery)?
- Were the accused-appellants’ claims of torture, custodial mistreatment, and illegal arrest sufficient to vitiate their admis...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)