G.R. No. 104222 - Moskowsky vs. Court of Appeals

In an Information dated June 26, 1990, eight persons—Abundio Roluna, Carlos Daguing, Paterno Daguing, Mamerto Asmolo, Teodulfo Daguing, Federico Simpron, Bienvenido Simpron, and Didoc Bongcalos—were charged with Kidnapping with Murder before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 14, Baybay, Leyte.
Only Abundio Roluna was arrested, tried, and convicted; the other accused remained at large.

On May 27, 1984, at about 7:00 AM, Conrado Sombilon saw Anatalio Moronia being taken captive by accused Roluna and seven others, all armed, at Sitio Bungabungan, Barangay Amguhan, Baybay, Leyte. Roluna had an armalite; others had short firearms. Carlos Daguing was tying Moronia’s hands behind his back with an abaca strip. Sombilon, frightened, did not shout for help and only told his wife.
At around 9:00 AM the same day, Buenaventura Nogalada saw Moronia walking with hands tied behind his back, followed by Roluna, Carlos Daguing, and five unidentified men. Roluna carried an armalite; Carlos Daguing had a pistol. Nogalada fled immediately.
Since that day, Moronia was never seen or heard from again.

Roluna asserted a defense of denial and alibi: from May 24, 1984, he and his wife took care of a bedridden grandmother-in-law, Iluminada Cortines, in Barangay Banahaw for three weeks, tending to her with herbal plants.
His wife and grandmother-in-law corroborated his alibi.
Roluna also claimed hostility and ill-feelings from witnesses Sombilon and Nogalada due to past personal disputes.

The RTC found Roluna guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Kidnapping with Murder and sentenced him to death, which was commuted to life imprisonment because of the 1987 Constitution’s abolition of the death penalty.
Roluna was ordered to indemnify Moronia’s heirs P30,000.

Roluna appealed, arguing the prosecution failed to prove corpus delicti and that absence of Moronia’s body undermined proof of death.
The People contended that Moronia’s death and Roluna’s culpability were sufficiently established by evidence, relying on Section 5(x)(3), Rule 131 of the Rules of Court—a presumption that a person who has been in danger of death and not heard from for four years is presumed dead.

Whether the circumstances presented by the prosecution are sufficient to establish:

The death of Anatalio Moronia.
The liability of accused-appellant Abundio Roluna and his co-accused for the killing of Moronia.