Case Digest (G.R. No. 116918)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Bonfilo Martinez y De la Rosa, G.R. No. 116918, June 19, 1997, Supreme Court Second Division, Regalado, J., writing for the Court.The criminal information, filed March 8, 1994 before Branch 121 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Caloocan City, charged Bonfilo Martinez y Dela Rosa (appellant) and two unknown co-accused with the special complex crime of robbery with rape allegedly committed on December 28, 1991 at the Buenvinida residence in Caloocan City. The information alleged that three armed men entered the house, tied up the occupants, stole various items and cash, and that one of the intruders raped Glorivic Bandayanon while the other two also sequentially raped her.
Appellant was arrested on March 3, 1994 on an unrelated solicitation charge, detained briefly at a sub-station and later at the Caloocan City Jail, arraigned on March 21, 1994 and pleaded not guilty. At trial the prosecution presented eyewitness testimony of Glorivic Bandayanon and Michael Buenvinida recounting contemporaneous observation of the intruders, identification of appellant at trial, and a post-arrest confrontation/identification at the jail and police station in March 1994. The prosecution also offered an affidavit by Ernesto Buenvinida listing stolen items and values (Exhibit H) and the investigating police officer, SPO4 Abner Castro, testified as to the preparation of that affidavit and the values therein.
Appellant denied participation, asserted an alibi that he was in Parañaque on the date of the offense, and challenged the identification, stressing the passage of time before confrontation, that faces were covered during the crime, and alleged terror on the witnesses. The RTC, presided by Judge Adoracion G. Angeles, credited the prosecution witnesses, rejected the alibi, found appellant guilty of robbery with rape, and—because the then-applicable penalty under Art. 294(2) RPC exposed the death penalty but capital punishment was constitutionally prohibited—sentenced him to reclusion perpetua. The RTC also ordered indemnity to Ernesto Buenvinida for P73,000.00 (value of unrecovered property), moral damages to Glorivic for P30,000.00, and costs.
Appellant appealed,...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the identification of appellant by the eyewitnesses sufficiently credible to sustain his conviction for robbery with rape?
- Were the civil liabilities (value of unrecovered property and damages) properly imposed given appellant's contention that identification was unreliable and that the value...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)