Title
People vs. Flores y Salinas
Case
G.R. No. 111009-12
Decision Date
Dec 8, 1994
Five PNP officers convicted for the 1992 murders of three women and an unborn child, and the attempted murder of a survivor, based on credible survivor testimony and evidence, despite alibi defenses.
abduction
detention
murder

Case Summary (G.R. No. 111009-12)

The Charged Offenses and Trial Court Disposition

In Criminal Case No. 92-CR-1358, the information alleged that the accused—police officers, acting in conspiracy and with evident premeditation, abuse of superior strength, cruelty, and deliberate intent to kill—attacked and killed Vivian Gonzales Diones, a married woman allegedly five months pregnant, and thereby caused the death of both the woman and the unborn child, with the aggravating circumstance of nocturnity being purposely sought to facilitate the offense.

In Criminal Case Nos. 92-CR-1365 and 92-CR-1366, the informations alleged the killing of Laurita Diones Nitcha and Zenaida Diones Ragadi, respectively, again with conspiracy, evident premeditation, abuse of superior strength, cruelty, deliberate intent to kill, and nocturnity.

In Criminal Case No. 92-CR-1407, the information alleged Frustrated Murder as to Myrna Diones, charging that the accused attacked her with the use of treachery and employment of means to insure impunity, performed all acts which would have produced murder, but that death did not ensue by reason of causes independent of the accused’s will, specifically timely police assistance and medical intervention, while also taking advantage of their positions and the nighttime.

After the trial court rendered its decision, the dispositive portion reflected that Jose Flores, Manuel Corpuz, Romeo Artienda, Amado Merca, and Edwin Tubiera were each found guilty as convicted for all four cases. The accused Leonito Macapagal was acquitted in all four cases for insufficiency of evidence. The trial court did not pronounce civil liability because separate civil actions for damages had been filed by the victims’ families.

Factual Background: The Abduction, Detention, and Attack

The Supreme Court recounted that Myrna Diones, the lone survivor, narrated the events leading to the deaths of Vivian Gonzalez Diones, Zenaida Diones Ragadi, and Laurita Diones Nitcha, and the assault that nearly killed her. She testified that on June 17, 1992, she, her parents Eusebio and Jaunita Diones, and her sister Zenaida were at their home in Binalonan, Pangasinan. Around 9:00 a.m., the group boarded a vehicle to Urdaneta, Pangasinan to fetch Laurita and Vivian, and later traveled by bus toward San Fernando, La Union, each with a personal purpose, before eventually reaching Pagdalagan, San Fernando, La Union.

After meeting a relative, the girls went to the market. Myrna went to a drugstore to buy Cortal due to a headache. While inside, she noticed a male person standing nearby and later identified Edwin Tubiera. When the girls attempted to move away, Tubiera followed them. At a point near the parking space for jeeps, Myrna saw Jose Flores with an old man, later identified as Jose Flores. Tubiera allegedly prevented the girls from leaving, accusing them of being thieves. Flores then used a handheld radio, and three policemen arrived in a vehicle. One of the policemen was told by Flores to bring the girls to “Station B.”

The girls were made to board the vehicle, which Myrna understood through signage to be near or toward Station B. They were detained in a small cell where, according to Myrna, Tubiera fed them meals on June 17 and again during the following day. She later learned or was told by another person that those who detained them were killers, but she and her companions did not claim knowledge beyond what the investigators and witnesses later established.

On the night of June 18, around 11:30 p.m., a tall male person arrived, looked at them, and later slept on a folding bed. In the early morning of June 19, Tubiera’s accomplice Leonito Macapagal initially was said by Myrna to have come to inform them they were to see the mayor; however, during cross-examination she admitted the person who came at that time was Jose Flores. Outside the station, Myrna saw a white Ford Fiera and a red car. She, Zenaida, and Vivian were made to board the Ford Fiera, with Flores and Romeo Artienda as occupants and drivers, while Tubiera sat beside her in the back seat.

The group drove through areas indicated by road signage, including Municipality of Naguilian and later entries identified by Myrna as “Welcome to Burgos” and “Welcome to Cordillera,” while the red car followed closely behind. Myrna testified that Flores ordered the co-accused to handcuff and tie the girls. She stated that Tubiera handcuffed her, Corpuz handcuffed Vivian, and Merca handcuffed Zenaida. Inside the vehicle, Myrna said she saw a tire, a rope, and a rounded wood with pointed ends, with enough light for her to notice these items.

Myrna then described the attack sequence: Tubiera placed a rope around her neck; Merca tied rope around Zenaida’s neck; and Corpuz tied rope around Vivian’s neck. She testified that Merca and Corpuz started mauling the other victims, and that Tubiera stabbed her left eyebrow with the pointed wooden object and struck her head three times until she fell unconscious.

Discovery of the “Salvage” Victims and Police Investigation

The record established that at around 8:00 a.m. of June 19, 1992, the Sablan Police Station received a report of alleged “salvage” victims found about twenty (20) feet below Naguilian Road at Sitio Dakes, Sablan, Benguet. An investigation team found a first dead female victim bearing apparent strangulation marks around the neck and stab wounds in different parts of the body, plus two differently colored sandals and a shoe a short distance away. The team then searched for other victims.

A second female body was found about fifty (50) feet from the first, bearing a nylon rope tied around her neck and several stab wounds. A third victim was found about thirty (30) feet from the second; the third was Myrna Diones, alive but unconscious and later brought to Baguio General Hospital. She later regained consciousness and could hardly talk, but she was able to relate how she and her companions were taken by persons they believed belonged to the San Fernando Police force.

Police investigators received further information and recovered a fourth body around one kilometer away on June 21, which was later identified as Laurita Diones. Myrna provided statements to investigators on separate dates. Investigators then coordinated with the Philippine National Police leadership. A copy of the Disposition of Troops of the San Fernando Police Station for June 1992 was furnished to the investigation.

To identify the attackers, the CIS obtained and used photographs of policemen of San Fernando, La Union. Myrna reviewed a set of about thirty-five (35) pictures and selected five (5). She was later taken for line-up identification under supervision of ranking police officials. At the line-up, standing behind a one-way mirror, Myrna identified five (5) policemen, including SPO1 Jose Flores and the other accused who were ultimately convicted. She also verified the detention location at the Canaoay Police Substation.

On 16 July 1992, she was shown additional photographs and later conducted another line-up in which she identified Leonito Macapagal. Based on these identifications, the informations were filed in the Regional Trial Court of La Trinidad, Benguet for murder and frustrated murder.

The Accused-Appellants’ Defenses

The convicted accused each presented an alibi. Jose Flores testified that he reported for duty at the Canaoay Police Substation on 17 June 1992 at 8:00 a.m., remained there until 6:00 a.m. of 18 June, admitted being alone at his post until Tubiera and Merca reported for duty in the evening of 17 June, and later stated he returned and stayed at the substation during the relevant period until the next morning. He denied seeing Myrna or any of the three other victims at the substation. He presented barangay council and barangay captain witnesses to claim that he was alone at the substation during certain times and that no girls were detained there.

Edwin Tubiera claimed he was on traffic duty on 17 June and later proceeded to the substation in the evening, contending that only Flores and Merca were there. He testified that he never left his post during the night and that he went home after his morning duty shift on 18 June and stayed there until he returned for duty the morning of 19 June. He presented witnesses to corroborate his home stay.

Amado Merca claimed traffic duty through the evening and later night duty at the substation until the morning of 18 June, then asserted he went to his common-law wife’s house. He further testified about accompanying a neighbor at midnight to fetch the neighbor’s child, which he said he did before returning at about 1:00 a.m. to support his whereabouts.

Romeo Artienda, Jr. claimed he reported at the Santiago Police Substation and stayed through 8:00 a.m. of 18 June, after which it was his day off and he stayed home, playing chess with a neighbor until the early morning of 19 June. A commander testified that Artienda never left the station during the relevant duty period.

Manuel Corpuz claimed a day off on 17 June and then reported to traffic duty on 18 June and later to night duty at the substation. He stated that Flores and Robert Cabrera were already at the station, contending that only they were at the substation during the night, and he denied detention of girls.

The Supreme Court noted that the accused-appellants’ defenses rested principally on challenging the prosecution witnesses and identification, and on claiming that their respective alibis were corroborated by witnesses.

The Accused-Appellants’ Assigned Errors on Appeal

The convicted accused-appellants appealed on multiple grounds: they challenged Myrna’s credibility, arguing alleged inconsistencies and infirmities, particularly her earlier identification of Leonito Macapagal and subsequent withdrawal; her failure to describe the vehicle used to take the group to the substation while describing the Fiera-type vehicle; the claimed improbability of reading road signs in darkness; and pu

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