Title
People vs. Valentino y Tolentino
Case
G.R. No. L-49859-60
Decision Date
Feb 20, 1986
Alejandro Valentino shot Vicente Berberabe and Pacita Bulaklak at a Batangas cockpit in 1971. Despite his alibi, witnesses identified him. Convicted of murder and homicide, he was sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay indemnity.
A

Case Digest (G.R. No. 242901)

Facts:

On May 21, 1971, at about three o’clock in the afternoon in Batangas City, Vicente Berberabe together with Severino Asi went to a cockpit where Alejandro Valentino y Tolentino shot Vicente Berberabe three times, and Pacita Bulaklak, a woman vendor inside the cockpit, was also hit by the same shots. Vicente Berberabe died at 4:20 p.m. in the Batangas Provincial Hospital, while Pacita Bulaklak died on May 22, 1972, with an autopsy showing a gunshot wound of the head.

The accused denied the charges and asserted alibi that he was in San Miguel, Bulacan on the whole day in question. The Circuit Criminal Court of Batangas City found him guilty of Murder (Crim. Case No. CCC-VIII-191 (71)) and Homicide (Crim. Case No. CCC-VIII-192 (71)), imposing the respective prison terms and indemnities, and the Intermediate Appellate Court sustained the propriety of the penalty in the Murder case and certified the cases for review.

Issues:

  • Whether the accused’s alibi should prevail over the prosecution evidence identifying him as the gunman.
  • Whether the trial court erred in convicting the accused for murder and homicide based on the credibility of witnesses.
  • Whether the penalties and indemnity imposed by the trial court should be modified.

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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