G.R. No. 188603 - People vs. Rarugal

Case Summary (G.R. No. 188603)

Factual Background

On the night of October 19, 1998 at about 9:45 p.m., victim Arnel M. Florendo was cycling along Sampaguita Street, Barangay Capari, Novaliches, Quezon City when the assailant suddenly attacked him with a long double-bladed weapon, stabbed him in the chest and forcibly took his bicycle; eyewitness Roberto Sit-Jar observed the attack and later positively identified the assailant in court; Florendo reached home bleeding, told his brother Renato that appellant had stabbed him, was taken to Tordesillas Hospital and then to Quezon City General Hospital where he died on October 26, 1998; the medico-legal autopsy attributed the cause of death to a stab wound of the left chest that severed the lower lobe of the left lung and produced a left hemothorax of 500 cc; the family expended P2,896.00 for hospitalization and P25,000.00 for funeral expenses.

Procedural History

An information for murder was filed on December 8, 1998; appellant was arrested in August 2001 and pleaded not guilty at arraignment on August 27, 2001; trial ensued and the RTC, Branch 86, Quezon City convicted appellant of murder on May 29, 2006 and imposed reclusion perpetua together with awards for actual damages, civil indemnity and moral damages; appellant filed a timely appeal to the Court of Appeals which rendered a decision on June 30, 2008 affirming with modification the RTC judgment; appellant thereafter elevated the case to the Supreme Court.

Trial Court Findings

The RTC found guilt proved beyond reasonable doubt based primarily on the positive identification by witness Roberto Sit-Jar, on the victim’s statement to his brother Renato identified as a dying declaration, and on the attendant qualifying circumstance of treachery; the RTC concluded that appellant’s denial and alibi lacked merit in view of the positive identification, that the victim’s declaration met the requisites of Rule 130, Section 37, Rules of Court, and that the sudden stabbing showed treachery and abuse of superior strength; the RTC sentenced appellant to reclusion perpetua and ordered indemnities including actual damages in the amount of P28,124.00, civil indemnity of P50,000.00 and moral damages of P50,000.00.

Appellant’s Defense and Contentions

Appellant denied committing the stabbing and asserted an alibi that he was working as a farm administrator for the town mayor in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan and had resided there since 1997, never visiting Manila during the period in question; appellant challenged the credibility of witness Sit-Jar for alleged inconsistencies and contended that the element of treachery had not been established to qualify the killing as murder.

Court of Appeals Ruling

The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction but modified the awards, finding that the positive and categorical identification by Sit-Jar outweighed appellant’s denial and uncorroborated alibi and that there was no showing of improper motive to falsely implicate appellant; the CA ordered appellant to pay the heirs P27,896.00 as actual damages and P25,000.00 as exemplary damages and otherwise left the RTC decision undisturbed.

Issues on Appeal to the Supreme Court

The appeal presented whether the findings of the RTC and the Court of Appeals on witness credibility, the admissibility and weight of the victim’s statement as a dying declaration, and the presence of treachery as a qualifying circumstance were supported by the records; the Supreme Court also considered the appropriate penalty and the amounts of civil and exemplary damages.

Standard of Review on Credibility

The Court reaffirmed the settled rule that trial courts are best positioned to determine witness credibility and that an appellate court will not lightly disturb such findings absent a showing that the lower court overlooked, misunderstood, or misapplied material facts, citing Ilisan v. People, G.R. No. 179487, November 15, 2010, 634 SCRA 658, and People v. Clores, 263 Phil. 585, 591 (1990); after review, the Supreme Court found no ground to depart from the RTC’s and the CA’s assessment of Sit-Jar as a credible eyewitness.

Positive Identification and Alibi

The Court held that the eyewitness identification by Sit-Jar was categorical, consistent and untainted by any shown improper motive, and therefore outweighed appellant’s bare and uncorroborated alibi, applying the principle stated in Malana v. People, G.R. No. 173612, March 26, 2008, 549 SCRA 451, 465-466 that alibi and denial are insufficient when confronted by positive identification.

Admissibility and Effect of the Victim’s Statement

The Court concluded that the statement made by Florendo to his brother Renato satisfied the requisites of a dying declaration under Rule 130, Section 37, Rules of Court, as explicated in People v. Maglian, G.R. No. 189834, March 30, 2011, 646 SCRA 770, 778; the declaration concerned the cause and surrounding circumstances of the declarant’s death, was uttered under a consciousness of impending death, the declarant was competent, and the declaration was offered in a case involving his death; the seven-day interval between stabbing and death did not diminish the causal link established by the autopsy.

Treachery as Qualifying Circumstance

The Court sustained the finding of treachery, explaining that treachery exists when the offender employs means or methods in the execution which tend directly and specially to insure its execution without risk to the offender from the defense that the victim might make; appellant’s sudden and swift attack upon a cycling and unsuspecting victim rendered the latter defenseless and removed risk to the assailant, thereby meeting the test for treachery as a qualifying circumstance, consistent with People v. Laurio, G.R. No. 182523, September 13, 2012.

Penalty and Criminal Liability

Applying Article 248, Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659, the Court affirmed the imposition of the penalty of reclusion perpetua, finding no aggravating or mitigating circumstance to alter the penalt

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 188603)

Parties and Posture

People of the Philippines was the plaintiff-appellee and Ramil Rarugal alias Amay Bisaya was the accused-appellant in this criminal appeal.
The appeal assailed the June 30, 2008 Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 02413 that affirmed with modification the May 29, 2006 Decision of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 86, Quezon City in Crim. Case No. Q-99-82409.
The information for murder was filed on December 8, 1998 and the appellant pleaded not guilty at arraignment on August 27, 2001.
The appellant filed a notice of appeal on July 21, 2006 and the Bureau of Corrections confirmed his confinement on September 30, 2009.

Facts

On the night of October 19, 1998 at around 9:45 p.m., victim Arnel M. Florendo was cycling along Sampaguita Street, Barangay Capari, Novaliches, Quezon City when he was suddenly attacked and stabbed.
The assailant used a long double-bladed weapon and forcibly deprived the victim of his bicycle before fleeing the scene.
Witness Roberto Sit-Jar observed the attack and later positively identified the appellant as the assailant in court.
The victim reached home bleeding, told his brother Renato that the appellant had stabbed him, was taken to Tordesillas Hospital and then transferred to Quezon City General Hospital where he died on October 26, 1998.
The autopsy by Medico-Legal Officer Dr. Dominic L. Aguda found a penetrating stab wound of the left chest entering the thoracic cavity and severing the lower lobe of the left lung and recorded the cause of death as "stab wound, left chest."
The victim's family presented receipts showing hospitalization expenses of P2,896.00 and funeral expenses of P25,000.00.
The appellant denied the charge and asserted an alibi that he was working and residing in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan since 1997, but admitted on cross-examination that he was arrested in front of his house in Novaliches, Quezon City.

Procedural History

The Regional Trial Court rendered judgment on May 29, 2006 finding the appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder and sentencing him to reclusion perpetua while ordering indemnities and damages.
The RTC awarded P28,124.00 as actual damages, P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, and P50,000.00 as moral damages.
The Court of Appeals on June 30, 2008 affirmed the conviction with modification and ordered payment of P27,896.00 as actual damages and P25,000.00 as exemplary damages.
The Supreme Court resolved the appeal by affirming the Court of Appeals decision with modification of the damages award and by imposing interest at the legal rate.

Evidence and Credibility

The trial court and the Court of Appeals credited the positive, categorical, and consistent identification of the appellant by witness Roberto Sit-Jar.
The courts found the appellant's denial and bare alibi unsubstantiated and inadequate to overcome the positive eyewitness identification.
The courts admitted and relied on the victim's statement to his brother as a dying declaration under Rule 130, Section 37 of the Rules of Court.
The autopsy find