THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. MACTAN PEÑARANDA, REGIGOR PEÑARANDA AND CASIMIRO CARURUCAN, ALIAS “ROMY”, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

In the evening of January
24, 1968, at Barrio Ilayang Tayuman,
Municipality of San Francisco (formerly Aurora), Quezon
Province, three men, two with their faces covered, armed with a shotgun and
sharp pointed instruments, entered the house of the spouses Jeremias
Pastorfide and Zenaida Rovero, obtained by force P1,000, stabbed and killed
Jeremias Pastorfide, and
inflicted physical injuries on his wife Zenaida Rovero.

As a result, an
information dated September 26, 1968, was filed, as follows:

“The undersigned, Provincial Fiscal, accuses Mactan Peñaranda, Regidor Peñaranda and Casimiro Carurucan alias ‘Romy‘, of the crime of robbery with homicide, defined and
punished under Article 294, paragraph 1, of the Revised Penal Code, as amended
by Republic Act No. 18, and Article 249 of the same Code, committed as follows:

“That on or about the 24th day of January 1968, in the Barrio
of Ilayang Tayuman,
Municipality of San Francisco (formerly Aurora), Province of Quezon, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this
Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating together
and mutually helping one another, with intent to gain, armed with a shotgun and
sharp-pointed instruments, entered the house of Jeremias
Pastorfide, and once inside, by means of violence
against and intimidation upon persons, did then and there willfully, unlawfully
and feloniously take, steal and carry away with them ONE THOUSAND (P1,000.00)
PESOS, belonging to the spouses Jeremias Pastorfide and Zenaida Rovero, to the damage and prejudice of the said spouses in
the aforesaid sum of P1,000.00, Philippine currency;

“That on the occasion of the said robbery, the above-named
accused, in pursuance of their conspiracy, with intent to kill, did then and
there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously assault, attack and stab Jeremias Pastorfide and beat Zenaida Rovero, thereby
inflicting mortal wounds in the different parts of the body of said Jeremias Pastorfide which
directly caused his death; and several wounds in the different parts of the
body of Zenaida Rovero,
which injuries required medical attendance for a period of 1 to 9 days.

“That in the commission of the above-described crime the
aggravating circumstance of night time and superior strength were present.

“Contrary to law.”^[1]

After arraignment, plea
of not guilty,^[2] and trial of the case, the CFI of Quezon, Branch I, rendered a decision dated December 29, 1970, convicting the accused, with dispositive portion as follows:

“x x x                                              x x x                                               x
x x

“VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF THE FOREGOING, the court finds the
accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of robbery with homicide,
as charged.  There being no mitigating circumstance but
considering the aggravating
circumstance of superior strength, which was definitely proved, the court
hereby sentences the accused Mactan Peñaranda, Regidor Peñaranda and Casimiro Carurucan alias ‘Romy‘,
to suffer imprisonment for life.  The accused are ordered to pay, jointly and
severally, the widow of the deceased in the amount of P12,000.00 for the death
of the victim and P1,000.00 representing the amount taken by the accused,
without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency in view of the nature of
the penalty imposed; with the acces­sories of the law and to pay the
proportionate costs of the proceedings.

“SO ORDERED.”^[3]

The accused appealed from
the judgment of conviction on February 8, 1971.^[4]

The version of the
prosecution is as follows:

At about 7:30 p.m. of January 24, 1968, members of the family of Jeremias Pastorfide were listening
to the radio in their house at Barrio Tayuman, San
Francisco (formerly Aurora), Quezon Province.  Zenaida Rovero, wife of Jeremias, was on
her way out to answer a call of nature, when at the door she suddenly felt that
a person with covered face poked a gun on her forehead.  The person said: “Put out money, or else
all of you will die.” Witness Zenaida was crying
while narrating the incident.  Afraid, Zenaida pointed out the hiding place of the money at the
drawer of the sewing machine, amounting to P1,000.00.  When the man was getting the money, Zenaida shouted for help. 
The man pulled her and beat her. 
She was able to pull away the cover on the face of the man.  In the bright light of their Coleman lamp,
she was able to recognize the person as appellant Casimiro
Carurucan.

At that time, Jeremias Pastorfide was sleeping. 
Appellants Mactan Peñaranda
and Regidor Peñaranda
entered the house and stabbed the victim Jeremias
several times.  Zenaida,
upon seeing her husband being stabbed, rushed to his aid.  She pulled the cover on the face of Mactan Peñaranda.  Regidor Peñaranda had no cover on his face.  Zenaida knew the
three appellants well.

Victim Jeremias Pastorfide
died a few hours later, after he was able to tell Councilor Valerio
Palma that it was the “brothers” who committed the crime.^[5]

Appellants Mactan Peñaranda
and Regidor Peñaranda are
brothers.  Their mother is the first
cousin of prosecution witness Zenaida Rovero.  Appellant Casimiro Carurucan is the
brother-in-law of Mactan and Regidor
Peñaranda, the former being married to a sister of
the latter two.^[6]
Zenaida Rovero is very well
acquainted with the appellants Peñaranda brothers, as
they were in the same school since they started studying.^[7]

Feliciano Alcantara and Pedro Llarena testified that on the evening of January 24, 1968, at about 7:30 p.m., while they were going around the
plantation because of carabaos destroying the planted
corn, they heard shouts for help.  They
went to that direction and they saw in the house where the shouts came from,
the appellants Regidor Peñaranda,
Casimiro Carurucan and Mactan Peñaranda.  The three came out of the house.  Casimiro had a long
gun with him.  Both witnesses became
afraid.  They left the place, returned to their homes and evacuated their
families to safer places.  They informed
the father of the victim of what they saw.^[8]

The version of the
defense consisting of general denial and alibi, is as follows:

Appellant Regidor Peñaranda
claims he was then preparing for his wedding. 
On January 24, 1968,
he bought crude oil for their rice mill. 
He went to Macalelon, then to Catannauan, then to Tayuman, San
Francisco.  He arrived at his house at
about 7:00 p.m. in the evening of
that day and stayed there up to the next morning.  Mactan Pearanda also claims that he was at his house at Tayuman, San Francisco,
on January 24, 1968, from 5:00 p.m. until the next morning.  Appellant Casimiro Carurucan has the same claim that he went to the house of
his brother-in-law on that day of January
24, 1968; he returned home and stayed in the house to sleep.^[9]

Appellants question the credibility of prosecution witnesses Zenaida Rovero, wife of the
victim, Feliciano Alcantara and Pedro Llarena to destroy the positive identification of
appellants as the perpetrators of the crime on January 24, 1968. 
There is no indication nor showing by evidence that the three principal
prosecution witnesses were ill-motivated to falsely testify.  The trial Court found them to be
disinterested witnesses.  They were
truthful and reliable.^[10]
Their testimonies are worthy of full faith and credit, as there is no improper
motive that can be attributed against them.

It is difficult to
disturb the finding of the trial Court on the credibility of the principal
prosecution witnesses Zenaida Rovero,
Feliciano Alcantara and Pedro Llarena.

There is no dispute that
on that evening of January 24, 1968, the victim Jeremias
Pastorfide suffered multiple stab wounds on his body
that resulted in his death after a short duration of time.^[11] It is not also disputed that on the same
occasion a man caused physical injuries on the body of Mrs. Zenaida
Rovero Pastorfide, wounds
that needed nine days to heal, without complications.^[12]

Zenaida Rovero
testified that it was appellant Casimiro Carurucan who caused her physical injuries, and who took
the P1,000.00 in the evening of January 24, 1968.^[13]
Two persons, appellants Mactan Peñaranda
and Regidor Peñaranda
entered the house and successively stabbed the victim Jeremias
Pastorfide who was then sleeping.^[14]

Councilor Valerio Palma of San
Francisco, Quezon, testified
that on that evening of January 24,
1968, when he was notified of the crime in the house of Jeremias Pastorfide, he rushed to
the scene of the crime and found the victim Jeremias
still alive.  Jeremias
was able to tell witness Palma, in
the nature of a dying declaration, that they “were robbed” and
“the brothers” did it.^[15]
Mrs. Zenaida Pastorfide
told witness Palma on the same
occasion that appellants forcibly asked money from them.^[16]

Feliciano Alcantara and Pedro Llarena
positively identified all the appellants coming out of the house of the victim Pastordide, after they heard the shouts for help emanating therefrom.^[17]

The positive
identification of the appellants made by Zenaida Rovero as perpetrators of the crime,^[18] her credibility being sustained by the trial
Court, cannot be overthrown by the weak denial and alibi of appellants.  That positive identification is bolstered by
the declaration of the victim Jeremias to Councilor
Palma that they were robbed and the “brothers” did it, shortly before
he died.  Witnesses Feliciano Alcantara and Pedro Llarena saw
the appellants at the scene of the crime.

Furthermore, the house of appellants were only about 100 meters
from the scene of the crime.^[19]
All of them were in a position, notwithstanding their alibi, to reach the scene
of the crime in a few minutes.  It was
physically possible for them to be at the scene of the crime when it happened,
negating the force and effectivity of their
alibi.  We cannot find any reason to
disturb the trial Court’s finding in the credibility of the prosecution
witnesses.  The general denial and alibi
of the defense of the appellants cannot prevail over the positive identification
made by the prosecution witnesses that the appellants are the perpetrators of
the crime.  The requirements of moral
certainty have certainly been met.

WHEREFORE, the decision dated December 29, 1970, in Criminal Case No. 16441,
is hereby AFFIRMED in all respects, with costs.

SO ORDERED.

Barredo, (Chairman), Aquino, Abad Santos, and De Castro, JJ., concur.

^[1]
pp. 63-64, Original Record, Crim. Case No. 16441,
C.F.I., Quezon, Branch I.

^[2]
p. 69, Original Record.

^[3]
pp. 250-251, Original Record.

^[4]
p. 263, Original Record.

^[5]
pp. 5-13, 56, 63, 79, 82-83, t.s.n., April 21, 1969;
pp 8-19, 44-45, t.s.n., May 19, 1969.

^[6]
pp. 13-14, t.s.n., April 21, 1969.

^[7]
p. 14, t.s.n., April 21, 1969.

^[8]
pp. 15-28, t.s.n.,
Nov. 25, 1969; pp.
58-72, t.s.n., November 25, 1969.

^[9]
pp. 89-91, Appellants’ Brief.

^[10]
p. 97, Appellants’ Brief.

^[11]
Exh. “E”; pp. 11-16, t.s.n.,
May 19, 1969.

^[12]
Exh. “F”; pp. 16-20, t.s.n.,
May 19, 1969.

^[13]
pp. 10-12, t.s.n., April 21, 1969.

^[14]
pp. 12-15, t.s.n., April 21, 1969.

^[15]
pp. 41-45, t.s.n., May 19, 1969.

^[16]
pp. 46-84, t.s.n., May 19 1969.

^[17]
pp. 15-20, t.s.n.,
November 25, 1969;
pp. 59-61, t.s.n., November 25, 1969.

^[18]
pp. 5-23, 14, 56, 63, 72, 79, 82-83, t.s.n., April
21, 1969.

^[19]
p. 96, Appellants’ Brief.