G.R. No. 118570 - People vs. Ramos

On July 13, 1994, at about 6:30 a.m., Alicia Abanilla was forcibly accosted by Benedicto Ramos at the bus stop between Corinthian Gardens and White Plains Avenue, Quezon City, despite her attempts to board a bus and a passing white car.
American pastor Malcolm Bradshaw stopped to assist; Alicia and his daughter Michelle boarded his car, but Ramos brandished a revolver, squeezed in beside them, and forced Bradshaw to drive along White Plains Avenue until he alighted with Alicia, who begged for help.

Bradshaw recovered a receipt bearing Alicia’s name and phone number; after taking Michelle to school, he called Alicia’s home and learned she was being held for ransom.
Alicia called her employer, Atty. Pastor del Rosario, pleading for ₱200,000 immediately or she might not survive; she insisted the cash be delivered by a messenger “Inday” to Glori Supermart in Sikatuna Village.
Del Rosario placed the money in an envelope, gave it to Inday, who handed it to taxi driver Antonio Pineda; upon receipt, Ramos directed Pineda to drive toward Norzagaray, then diverted to Bocaue, Bulacan.

Parked at St. Paul Hospital, Bocaue, Ramos and Pineda stepped out; Pineda saw Ramos’s revolver; left alone, Alicia tried twice to escape—by opening the taxi door and later by jumping out—only to be dragged back.
On MacArthur Highway, traffic aide Gil Domanais observed Ramos strangling Alicia inside the moving cab; Ramos then shot Alicia twice in the head as she lay helpless outside the taxi.
Domanais and Pineda took cover; Ramos fled on foot but was arrested same day. Police recovered his .22-caliber revolver, live ammunition, and ₱138,630. Alicia’s body was autopsied, revealing fatal intracranial hemorrhage from gunshot wounds.

An Information charged Ramos with the complex crime of kidnapping for ransom with murder; he pleaded not guilty, and parties agreed to admit testimony via affidavits.
Ramos claimed Alicia was his wedding godmother (“ninang”), that they voluntarily met on EDSA to discuss her promise of a loan for his wife’s childbirth, and that the fatal shots were accidental.
The RTC found Ramos guilty of two separate offenses—kidnapping for ransom and murder—and sentenced him to two death penalties plus indemnity (₱50,000 to heirs; ₱105,150 funeral expenses).

Whether the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ramos kidnapped Alicia for ransom and murdered her.
Whether the RTC erred in disregarding Ramos’s defense evidence and version of events.
Whether the acts constituted separate crimes or a complex crime under applicable law.