PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. ANATALIO LINGAO AND MAURO MANCERA, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

For the death of Jose Bello whose body
was found in the morning of September
25, 1964 floating in the Pasig
river, an information for murder was lodged in court against Anatalio Lingao and Mauro Mancera.

The case underwent trial after which the Court of First Instance
of Pasig, Rizal rendered a
decision the dispositive portion of which reads as
follows:

“WHEREFORE, finding the two defendants Anatalio
Lingao and Mauro Mancera
guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder, qualified by treachery or with the
aid of armed men or taking advantage of superior strength, the Court hereby
sentences each of the two said defendants to suffer, the penalty of RECLUSION
PERPETUA, with the accessories of the law, to indemnify jointly and severally
the heirs of the victim, Jose Bello in the amount of
Twelve Thousand Pesos (P12,000.00), without subsidiary imprisonment in case of
insolvency by reason of the nature of the principal penalty, and each to pay
one-half (1/2) of the costs.

The accused Mauro Mancera shall be
credited with one-half (1/2) of his preventive imprisonment.”

Hence, the present appeal.

From the evidence of record, it appears that appellants Anatalio Lingao and Mauro Mancera were the Vice-President and Board Member,
respectively, of the Filipino Pipe and Foundry Workers Union; that they were
among the group staging a strike against the Filipino Pipe and Foundry Corporation
sometime in September 1964; that while there was a strike going on, the
Filipino Pipe and Foundry Corporation hired scabs; that the deceased Jose Bello was one of the scabs hired by the said corporation;
that Ernesto Soriano and Felipe Soriano,
who were also scabs in the said corporation, were familiar with the appellants
and knew them well, having seen them often while picketing; that at about 12:20
o’clock in the morning of September 24, 1964, Jose Bello,
Ernesto Poloyapoy, Remegio Dayag, Francisco Bello, Ricardo Gardan, Romulo Garces and Felipe Soriano were on
their way home from the Filipino Pipe and Foundry Corporation when they were
stoned by the strikers and for which reason they ran towards Coronado street;
that upon reaching the in­tersection of Coronado and Blumentritt
streets in Mandaluyong, Rizal,
Jose Bello and his companions suddenly met a
passenger jeep loaded with passengers; that from the light of a mercury lamp in
the area Ernesto Poloyapoy and Felipe Soriano clearly saw appellants Mauro Mancera
and Anatalio Lingao alight
from the said jeep with about eight or nine other persons, all of them armed
with clubs and lead pipes; that thereupon, the group of Bello, fearful for their
safety, ran to an alley on the side of the jeep that led to the banks of the Pasig river; that unfortunately, Jose Bello
was left behind and was caught and held by appellants and their companions;
that Ernesto Poloyapoy saw appellants grab the
deceased and forcibly drag him towards a dark place; that it was the last time
Jose Bello was seen alive; and that in the morning of
September 25, 1964, his dead body was found floating in the Pasig
river.

Dr. Mariano Cuevas performed an autopsy^[1]
on the cadaver of Jose Bello and found the following:

“Body is bloated and smeared with dried mud.

Marked lividity of face and anterior
aspect of chest.

Washerwoman’s hands and feet; marbleization
of both lower extremities.

Abrasions, contused,
dorsum of right hand:  2.5 x 0.9 cms., distal 3rd, 2nd metacarpal region; 1.5 x 0.9 cms., middle 3rd, 4th metacarpal region.

Contusion, bluish
blackish in color, 10.5 x 10.00 cms. dorsum of right
hand.

Wound, lacerated,
1.2 cms, long, running transversely, dorsal aspect,
proximal phalange left ring finger.

Trachea-bronchial
tree, markedly congested and edematous with particles of foreign bodies found
adhering to its mucosal walls and occluding the lumen of some smaller bronchial
tubes.

Lungs are congested,
moderately edema­tous and boggy with numerous peripheral empysematous
blobs, exuding bloody froth on cut section.

Blood tinges pleural
fluid amount to 300 cc. and 200 cc. found at right and left pleural cavities
respectively.

Heart, almost empty of blood.

Brain and other visceral organs are markedly congested.

Stomach, half filled with few particles of sea weeds.

Cause of death:  Asphyxia by
submersion in water.”

The evidence for the prosecution also shows that appellant Anatalio Lingao had previously
threatened the scabs working inside the factory and warned them that their
necks would be cut off if they continued as such.

Appellants denied the commission of the crime and interposed the
defense of alibi.

Mauro Mancera claimed that from September 23, 1964 until the early
morning of September 24, 1964
he was leading the picket line at the rear gate of the compound of the Filipino
Pipe and Foundry Corporation, and that he never heard of the death of Jose Bello until he was arrested by the authorities.

Anatalio Lingao
alleged that from 8:00 o’clock in the morning until 8:30 o’clock in the evening
of September 23, 1964, he was at the picket line at the main gate of the
company’ s compound at Coronado street; that afterwards he went home to sleep
but had to go out again to bail out their companions who were detained at the
municipal jail of Mandaluyong; that later, at about
11:00 o’clock in the evening of the said day, he talked to Cecilio
R. Coronado, secretary of the barrio council of Hulo,
Mandaluyong, asking the latter’s help in securing
bail bonds for his fellow strikers detained in jail; that thereafter he went
home and slept; that he did not return anymore that night to the picket line;
and that he came to know of the death of Jose Bello
only when he was placed under arrest.

In their appeal, appellants reiterate their defense of alibi and
in their effort to exculpate themselves from criminal liability assail the
credibility of the prosecution witnesses by pointing out some alleged
inconsistencies in their testimony.  They
also claim that the circumstancial evidence presented
in this case is not sufficient to warrant a conviction.

While there is no eye-witness who testified to having seen
appellants drown the deceased in the Pasig
river, yet all the circumstances point to them as the perpetrators of this
ghastly deed.  Appellants were both
leaders of the strike designed to paralyze the normal operation of the Filipino
Pipe and Foundry Corporation, while the deceased was a scab whose interest
therefore was diametrically opposed to that
of appellants.  No other persons
had a motive to kill the deceased except appellants.  When last seen alive, appellants had grabbed
the victim and were forcibly dragging him to a dark place.  He was drowned in the Pasig river very near the place
where appellants and their companions had grabbed him.  From these circumstances, no other conclusion
can be drawn but that appellants are responsible for the victim’s death.

Regarding appellants’ defense of alibi, the trial court correctly
disregarded the same for there appears no physical impossibility on the part of
appellants to reach the scene of the crime from the respective places they
claimed to have been at the time of the commission of the crime.  Thus, we quote with approval the apt
observation of the trial court:

“Besides, it was easy for the two defendants to leave their
respective picket lines or homes about 20 minutes past midnight of September
23, 1964, and reach within a couple of minutes the corner of Coronado and Blumentritt streets in a jeepney
to pursue the victim Jose Bello and the other
scabs.  The accused Mauro Mancera admitted that his home is only about 1 kilometer
from the corner of Coronado and Blumentritt streets and
about 30 meters from the picket line at the rear gate of the compound; while
the accused Anatalio Lingao
stated that his house is about 40 meters from his picket line at Coronado
street and Blumentritt street and about 10 meters
from the picket line of the accused Mancera at the
rear gate of the compound.  The main gate
of the compound is only about 50 meters from the corner of Coronado and Blumentritt streets, according to state witness Ernesto Poloyapoy.”

Alibi, in order to be given full faith and credence, must be
clearly established and must not leave any room for doubt as to its
plausibility and verity.^[2]      With this requisite, the defense failed to
comply.

Examining closely the alleged inconsistencies pointed out by
appellants in their brief, We find that the same are not sufficient to impeach
the credibility of the state witnesses as the infirmities indicated do not
refer to vital points of the case.

The judgment, however, should be modified in the sense that
instead of crediting Mauro Mancera with only one-half
(1/2) of his preventive imprisonment, he should be credited in the service of
his sentence with the full time during which he underwent preventive
imprisonment if he agreed in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules
imposed upon convicted prisoners; otherwise, with four-fifths thereof.^[3]

WHEREFORE, modified as indicated above, the judgment of
the trial court is hereby affirmed in all other respects with costs against
appellants.

SO ORDERED.

Fernando, (Chairman), Barredo,
Antonio, and Aquino,
JJ., concur.

^[1]
Exhibit “G”

^[2]
People vs. Salazar, 58 SCRA 467

^[3]
Article 29, Sec. 1, Revised Penal Code
as amended by R. A. No. 6127