Title
People vs. Magalona
Case
G.R. No. 143294
Decision Date
Jul 17, 2003
Appellant Cirilo Magalona convicted of murder and multiple frustrated/attempted murder for throwing a grenade, killing one and injuring four, based on credible witness testimonies and circumstantial evidence.
complex crime
murder
frustrated murder

Case Summary (G.R. No. 143294)

Factual Background: The Explosion and Its Consequences

The prosecution presented that on May 25, 1994, the Arimbuyutan family resided in a hut made of bamboo and talahib. The floor was approximately three feet above the ground. At about 3:30 a.m., an explosion occurred beneath the floor of the hut. The blast killed Resty Arimbuyutan and injured Rosario, Roldan, Rosemarie, and Rosalie/Rosalyn, who were sleeping in the hut. The explosion also created a small crater on the ground and damaged the hut up to the roof.

The victims were initially taken to the medical center in the nearby town of La Paz, Tarlac, and then to the Tarlac Provincial Hospital. Resty died on the way (or shortly after admission), with testimony indicating death from hemorrhage secondary to multiple blasting injury. Rosario sustained a blasting injury with perforation of the uterus and underwent an operation. Rosalyn suffered a fracture over the left kneecap. Rosemarie sustained a blasting injury to the left buttocks and was promptly given anti-tetanus medicine. Roldan sustained multiple blasting injuries to the posterior chest and was given emergency treatment, including tube thoracostomy, to prevent lung collapse. Dr. Renato Ang testified that certain wounds would have been fatal without prompt medical treatment, supporting the Information’s theory that death did not occur due to timely care.

The prosecution also established that the family incurred P21,400 for hospitalization and medical expenses and additional funeral and burial expenses.

Police Investigation and Identification of the Suspect

At about 8:00 a.m. on May 25, 1994, Police Officer Rodolfo Gutierrez investigated the grenade-throwing incident. He found a safety lever pin and grenade shrapnels near the post of the hut and prepared an investigation report and entries in the police blotter. Gutierrez stated that based on sworn statements of Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr., Bienvenido Sabater, and Adelina Mendoza, the suspect was the appellant, Cirilo Magalona alias “William.”

Gutierrez did not conduct further efforts to locate the suspect because Barangay Captain Florentino Almeda brought him to the police station that morning. Almeda informed Gutierrez that the appellant had been a suspect of a rape case and that he was already in Almeda’s custody until he was surrendered to police. The rape incident was reported to police on May 24, 1994 at 2:00 p.m.

Testimony Concerning Motive and Prior Threat

The prosecution presented Adelina Mendoza, seventy-one years old, a housekeeper who testified that she knew the appellant as a neighbor. She narrated that on May 22, 1994, at around midnight, the appellant knocked at her door and conversed with her. She testified that the appellant said he was angry at Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. and that he would return and kill him.

On cross-examination, Mendoza admitted that she had talked to the appellant only once before the grenade explosion and that she knew him for less than a year. She further admitted that Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. was her nephew. The defense argued that her alleged limited acquaintance and familial relationship cast doubt on her credibility. The prosecution’s position, as reflected in the Court’s reasoning, was that the testimony still reflected a direct threat and that the relationship did not necessarily impair credibility.

Identification and Circumstances Surrounding the Explosion

The prosecution also relied on the testimony of Bienvenido Sabater. He testified that on May 25, 1994, he lived at Sitio Ablang, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, and that his hut was about five to six meters from the hut of Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. The huts fronted each other. Sabater said that at around 3:30 a.m., he was inside his hut sitting on a bamboo bed while pacifying his six-month-old child and drinking coffee, with his wife boiling water.

Sabater testified that his hut’s door and window had no shutters and were open. He stated that while he was drinking coffee, he saw a person named “William” pass by in front of his hut and the hut of Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. He also saw the same person hide behind an acacia tree between the two huts. Sabater then heard an explosion under the hut of Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr., after which he observed the person running toward the “flood control” at the river. He testified that he recognized the person as William because the moon shone brightly and because a kerosene lamp near his door illuminated the area where the person was hiding. He later pointed to the appellant in court as the person he identified as William.

Sabater admitted he did not actually see who threw the grenade. However, he testified that the appellant was the only person seen near the hut before and after the explosion, that he frequently visited Sitio Ablang, and that he knew the appellant for about two years.

Procedural Events: Affidavit of Desistance and Appellant’s Non-Appearance

At some point before the defense stage, Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. executed an Affidavit of Desistance dated December 2, 1996. The trial court disregarded the affidavit because the prosecution had already rested and the case was then on the defense’s evidence. This shows that the trial court treated the affidavit as ineffective at that stage.

A significant procedural incident arose during trial. On a hearing set for July 18, 1997, the appellant did not appear in court. The trial court ordered the Provincial Warden of Nueva Ecija to explain the non-appearance. The Provincial Warden replied that, pursuant to a COMELEC Resolution, the provincial jail was under PNP control starting April 23, 1995 and that appellant was assigned to guard a co-detainee confined in the hospital who died on July 8, 1997. According to the Warden, after the detainee’s death appellant did not return to the provincial jail.

The trial court then issued orders directing investigation and, after reiteration and the Assistant Provincial Prosecutor’s prayer, deemed the appellant to have waived his right to present evidence, and the case was submitted for decision.

Trial Court Ruling

On July 30, 1998, the trial court rendered judgment finding the appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the complex crime of murder with multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder, sentencing him to suffer the death penalty. The trial court imposed damages to the victims’ heirs and to the spouses Rosendo and Rosario Arimbuyutan.

In its reasoning, the trial court found that Mendoza’s testimony established motive to harm Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. It also found that Sabater’s testimony established that appellant was responsible for the explosion that killed Resty and injured the other family members. The trial court further treated the appellant’s prison escape (after being assigned to guard a co-detainee in the hospital) as persuasive evidence of guilt. The decision also ordered referral of the case to the Chief of the PNP for possible investigation regarding the alleged escape.

Issues Raised on Appeal

The appellant assigned two main errors: first, that the trial court erred in giving credit to Mendoza and Sabater; and second, that the trial court erred in convicting him.

The Appellate Court’s Evaluation of Witness Credibility

The Court rejected the challenge to Mendoza’s testimony. It held that the appellant could not treat Mendoza as a stranger because Mendoza testified that she knew him as a neighbor. It further found it not contrary to human experience that the appellant would visit a neighbor at midnight and that the appellant bore the burden to disprove the claimed visit. The Court also held that Mendoza’s relationship as an aunt of Rosendo Arimbuyutan, Sr. did not automatically impair credibility. On the contrary, the Court reasoned that the relationship would tend to deter Mendoza from implicating an innocent person, because her interest would be to secure conviction of the real culprit.

Conviction Based on Circumstantial Evidence

The appellant argued that Sabater did not see him throw the grenade. The Court agreed that Sabater did not see the actual throwing, but it upheld conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence. It reaffirmed that direct evidence is not indispensable when circumstantial evidence forms an unbroken chain leading to a fair and reasonable conclusion pointing to the accused as the perpetrator, to the exclusion of others.

The Court applied the requisites under Rule 133, Section 4 of the Rules of Court, and found the circumstances sufficient in this case. It identified a chain of events: the appellant’s prior threat to Mendoza; Sabater’s observation on May 25, 1994 that the appellant passed the huts around 3:30 a.m.; the appellant’s suspicious movements between the two huts; the appellant’s hiding behind the acacia tree; the explosion beneath the hut followed by the appellant’s flight toward the flood control area; and the fact that he was the only person seen near the hut before and after the explosion. The Court also relied on the lighting conditions described by Sabater—bright moon and kerosene lamp illumination—supporting Sabater’s identification.

Flight as an Indicative Circumstance

The Court further treated flight as strengthening guilt. It reiterated that flight from the scene removes any remaining shred of doubt. It reasoned that if appellant were not guilty, he would not have fled and would have instead gone to the hut after the explosion to assist the victims. It also treated the appellant’s flight from hospital custody after the death of the co-detainee as signifying a strong sense of guilt and awareness of the absence of a tenable defense.

The Court found no showing that Sabater was impelled by improper motive, and it applied the settled rule that the positive testimony of a credible witness is sufficient for conviction. It also recalled the deference generally accorded to the trial court’s assessment of credibility because the trial judge directly observed witness demeanor. The Cou

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