PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. ALFREDO ARGAWANON Y BANTILAN, TEDDY SERICON, ALIAS “JUNREY” AND ERNIE LAMBUJON Y DUBLIN ALIAS “DANTE”, ACCUSED-APPELLANTS.

Appellant Alfredo Argawanon was accused of murder, together with
Teodoro (Teddy) Sericon and Ernie Lambujon, in Criminal Case No. CBU-9546. Argawanon was also charged with theft in
Criminal Case No. CBU-9514.

The two sets of information read, as follows:

“The undersigned Third Assistant Provincial Fiscal of Cebu,
accuses Alfredo Argawanon y Bantilan of the crime of Theft, committed as
follows:

“That on or about the 14th day of August, 1986 at around 4:20
o’clock in the afternoon, more or less, in Sitio Sumimbang, Barangay Bitoon,
Municipality of Daanbantayan, Province of Cebu, Philippines, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, said accused did then and there wilfully,
unlawfully and feloniously, with intent of gain and without the consent of the
owner thereof, take, steal and carry away from the dead body of Patrolman
Aquiles Castro, an INP member of the Daanbantayan Police, Daanbantayan, Cebu,
one (1) .38 caliber Smith and Wesson (WS) revolver, valued at SIX THOUSAND
PESOS (P6,000.00), Philippine Currency, to the damage and prejudice of the
Philippine Government in the aforesaid sum.

“CONTRARY TO LAW.” (p. 24, Rollo.)

“The undersigned Third Assistant Provincial Fiscal of Cebu,
accuses Alfredo Argawanon y Bantilan, Teddy Sericon alias “Junrey” and
Ernie Lambujon y Dublin of the crime of Murder, committed as follows:

“That on or about the 14th day of August, 1986 at around 4:30
o’clock in the afternoon, more or less, in Sitio Sumimbang, Barangay Bitoon,
Municipality of Daanbantayan, Province of Cebu, Philippines, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, conspiring and
confederating together and mutually helping one another, and armed with deadly
weapons, to wit: two .45 Caliber
pistols, did then there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously, attack, assault
and shoot therewith Patrolman Aquiles Castro twice at the back of the head,
with treachery and evident premeditation; and as a result thereof, said
Patrolman Aquiles Castro died instantly.

“CONTRARY TO LAW.” (p. 25, Rollo.)

While the cases were pending with the trial court, appellant
Argawanon escaped from detention while Teodoro Sericon remained at large. Ernie Lambujon was put on trial
separately. He was found guilty of
murder by the trial court (Criminal Case. No. CBU-9546). On appeal, however, to this Court, accused
Lambujon was acquitted (People vs. Argawanon, 215 SCRA 652).

Sometime in 1989 and 1990, appellants Argawanon and Sericon were,
respectively, arrested.

When arraigned, both accused pleaded, “not guilty.” The
trial proceeded thereafter.

On 14 January 1992, the trial court rendered a joint decision
acquitting appellant Argawanon of theft (CBU-9514) but finding him and Teddy
Sericon guilty of murder (CBU-9546). The two accused were sentenced, thus:

“WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing evidences, arguments
and considerations, this Court hereby renders judgment finding the accused
Teodoro Serecon and Alfredo Argawanon guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the
crime of murder as charged–under Art. 248 of the RPC–the act of one being the
act of all (Art. 8 RPC Par. 2)–as they are hereby sentenced to serve
imprisonment of reclusion perpetua, with all accessory penalties
provided for by law under Article 41 of the Penal Code and requiring them to
indemnify the heirs of Achilles Castro jointly and solidarily in the amount of
Fifty Thousand (P50,000.00) Pesos.

“Accused Alfredo Argawanon is hereby acquitted of the crime of
theft for insufficiency of evidence.

“IT IS SO ORDERED.” (p. 40, Rollo.)

From the judgment of conviction, only
Alfredo Argawanon pursued an appeal to this Court.

We see merit in Argawanon’s appeal.

In convicting appellant, the trial court relied almost entirely
on the testimony of Jennies Castro, a brother of the victim, which it
summarized, as follows:

Jennies Castro, testified that on 14 August 1986 at about three
thirty in the afternoon, he and
the victim Aquiles Castro, who is a member of the PNP, went to Sumimbang, Barangay Bitoon,
Daanbantayan, Cebu in order to get a fighting cock from a certain Rowell
Punay. However, Filomeno Punay (uncle
of Rowell) informed them that Rowell was not there, so instead they asked for
young coconuts. After partaking of the
young coconuts, they proceeded towards the place where their motorcycle was
parked and saw that a cockfight was going on
thus, they stopped to watch the same (pp. 21-22, tsn). Jennies Castro stayed at a place which
according to him is more or less six meters from his brother Aquiles who sat on
a siniguelas branch near the road. His
brother who remained seated conversed with one Carlito Gulfan and then the
latter left and went towards the cockfight (p. 23, tsn). After which, he immediately heard a
gunfire. Thus, he turned his head and he saw two men about one
armslength away from his brother, holding firearms and whom he identified as
Teodoro Sericon and Ernie Lambujon (pp.
23- 24, tsn).

On his way to the cornfields, he stopped for a while and turned his
head to where the incident happened and there he saw four (4) persons including
Alfredo Argawanon, who took the service firearm of his brother from the
latter’s waist, and fired it into the air. After he saw Argawanon
fired the revolver into the air, he ran towards the highway and went home to
Paypay, Daanbantayan where he informed the sixteen (16) year old son of his
brother about the incident and instructed the latter to report the incident to
the authorities. (p. 25, tsn, April 2,
1990.)

Quite strangely, the testimony of Jennies Castro established
Argawanon’s innocence rather than his guilt of the crime charged. Apparently, it was only after the
victim was shot by an assailant when, for one reason or another, appellant took
the service revolver of the fallen policeman and fired it into the air.

“Q. 
Now you claimed that you saw Alfredo Argawanon fired the fifth shot, is that
correct?

“A.  
Yes, I saw him.

“Q. 
And you claim that Alfredo Argawanon fired the gun in the air?

“A.  
Yes, sir.

“Q. 
He did not aim the gun at your brother?

“A.  
No, sir.

“Q. 
Did it occur to you that Argawanon fired a shot in order to let the assailant
run?

“A.  No, sir, what I saw was Alfredo Argawanon
took the revolver and fired the shot to the air.” (p. 54, tsn, Cross
Examination of Jennies Castro, 03 April 1990.)

This unexplained act of appellant might
have been a clearly imprudent behavior on his part at the time but,
susceptible, as it was, to varied possible reasons or interpretations, such act
of appellant certainly could not by itself be inculpatory. (see People vs. Alzaga, 177 SCRA 644).

The record is bereft of any evidence to establish any conspiracy
to kill the victim. Criminal conspiracy
must always be founded on facts (People vs. Campos, 202 SCRA 387), and, like
any other ingredient of an offense, it must be established by clear and
convincing evidence (People vs. Laurio, 200 SCRA 489).

Serious dubiety could even be expressed on the fact of presence
of Castro at the scene of the crime. He
testified that as soon as he reached home, he informed only his 16-year old
nephew, the son of the victim, whom he instructed to have the incident reported
to the police “because he was very tired.” He did not bother to
immediately convey the matter to the victim’s wife, parents and other brothers
and sisters. It defies human experience,
to say the least, that a person who just witnessed the shooting of his own
brother would take it a matter-of-factly. In passing, this Court, in acquitting one of the alleged perpetrators,
Ernie Lambujon (People vs. Argawanon, 215 SCRA 652, 664), had expressed its own
disbelief in the testimony of Jennies Castro. The Court observed:

“Furthermore, if indeed the two (2) Castro brothers were
watching the cockfight when the alleged four (4) persons attacked Pat. Castro,
it is quite difficult to comprehend that, considering that he (witness) was
only six (6) meters away from his brother, nothing was done to him as he was
able to run and hide. It seems out of
the ordinary that the assailants, allegedly, two (2) of them armed with .45
caliber pistols would let Jennies Castro (an eye witness to the killing) loose
and not put him out of the way. It is
also quite unbelievable that despite his said distance, he (Jennies Castro) was
able to identify the accused-appellant and was able to hear one of the assailants shout, to wit: ‘Ayaw mo
pagdagan kay NPA ni.’”

A conviction in criminal cases must rest on nothing less than a
moral certainty of guilt (People vs. Castro, 178 SCRA 274).

WHEREFORE, the judgment of conviction rendered by the
trial court against Alfredo Argawanon is REVERSED, and he is ACQUITTED of the
crime charged on reasonable doubt. The
Court orders his immediate release from detention unless he is held for some
other legal cause or reason to warrant his continued incarceration. Cost de oficio.

SO ORDERED.

Feliciano, Bidin, Romero, and Melo,
JJ., concur.