THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. PLACIDO SUSANO, ET AL., DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT.

Appeal by, defendant Placido Susano, from a decision of the Court of
First Instance of R izal convicting him of the crime of robbery with
homicide and less serious physical injuries, with which he is charged,
and sentencing him to the extreme penalty, to indemnify the heirs of
the deceased Gregorio Vergara in the sum of P6,000, and to pay the
costs.

It is not disputed that on May 22, 1959, between 10:00 and 11:00
p.m., while Gregorio Vergara and Victoria Rivera were asleep in their
house, in the barrio of Bagumbayan or Bagombong, municipality of
Caloocan, Province of Rizal, several persons broke into the house and
beat said couple; that one of the malefactors tired the gun with which
he was armed; that Victoria Rivera lost consciousness in consequence of
the maltreatment; that when she came to, her husband was already dead,
and the sum of P25, as well as several pieces of jewelry, valued all
together P440, had disappeared; and that a medical examination
performed the next day showed that Gregorio Vergara had sustained
several lacerated wounds, as well as contusions and fractures,
particularly in the occipital and temporal regions, which caused his
death due to hemorrhage, intracranial, and traumatic, whereas Victoria
Rivera had a contusion which required medical treatment from five (5)
to seven (7) days.

About two (2) weeks later, or on June 5, 1959, the corresponding
information for robbery with homicide and less serious physical
injuries was filed against Placido Susano and two (2) other persons
whose identity has not been established. On April 16, 1960, or less
than ten (10) months later, and about eleven (11) months after the
occurrence, Susano was apprehended in the barrio of Kalina,
municipality of Tagkaoayan, Quezon. After due trial, under a plea of
not guilty, the aforementioned decision was rendered. Hence, this
appeal.

The issue in this case hinges on the identity of the person who
killed Gregorio Vergara. In this connection, Victoria Rivera and her
son-in-law Antonio Zuniga, identified Placido Susano as one of the
malefactors. More specifically, Victoria Rivera testified that the
person who hit her husband with a gun was said appellant; that as she
tried to rise from the floor, a companion held her by the neck; that,
at this juncture, appellant fired his gun: thn.t, immediately
thereafter, she became unconscious for he kicked her on the face; that,
when she camo to, the malefactors were gone, her husband was dead and
the monov anrl orticles above referrpd to wftre raisers; that she was
able to recognize appellant, because there was a lighted gas lamp in
her house and the moon was shining, apart from the fact she had known
appellant since his childhood, they being neighbors; and that soon
after the occurrence, her son-in-law, Antonio Zuniga and other persons
came to her assistance.

Zuniga in turn asserted that, while he was asleep in his house,
about fifty (50) meters away from that of his parents-in-law, he was
awakened by the report of a gun; that, thereupon, he went to his window
and looked towards the house of the Vergaras, where the shot had
seemingly been fired; that, being unable to see anything therein, he
proceeded to said house; that, when he was about ten (10) meters away
from the same, appellant — whom he had known since his childhood —
darted from the gate and pointed a gun at him.; that, accordingly, he
ran away shouting for help; that, shortly, thereafter, he and several
other neighbors went to the house of the Vergaras and there found
Victoria Rivera sobbing, with swollen eyes, over the dead body of her
husband; and that her “aparador” appeared to have baen ransacked and
the contents thereof were scattered on the floor.

Upon the other hand, appellant has set up an alibi. He would
have us believe that, in the evening of May 20, 1959, he eloped with
one Mercedes Marcos, whom he brought from her house in Meycauayan,
Bulacan, to that of one Ramon Mendoza, in Santa Maria, Bulacan, where
they stayed up to May 27, 1959; that on May 28, 1959 appellant went to
Manila, from whence he returned to Santa Maria, Bulacan, on May 31,
1959; and that then he and Mercedes Marcos went to Tagkaoayan, Quezon
Province, where he was arrested by the Constabulary on April 16, 1960.

However, Bismarco Tuazon, a member of the intelligence section of
the Constabulary and a resident of the same barrio in Meycauayan where
Mercedes Marcos was living, testified that she had never left that
bnrrio during the month of May, 1959. Moreover, appellant’s
corraborating witnesses were said Mercedes Marcos, whom he married on
August 3, 1959, his mother-in-law and Roman Mendoza, who is also
related to appellant, although at first he (Mendoza) tried to deny such
relationship.

Considering that these witnesses for the defense liave a clear
interest in the fate of the accused and that his presence and
participation in the occurrence have been established by the positive
testimonies of Victoria Rivera and Antonio Zuniga, we are satisfied
that the lower court has not erred in finding appellant guilty as
charged. For lack of the requisite number of votes, the extreme penalty
imposed by the lower court should be and is hereby commuted to life
imprisonment. With this modification, the decision appealed from is
hereby affirmed, in all other respects, with costs against appellant
Placido Susano.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.
Bengzon, C.J., took no part.