PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. SABINO VERONAS, RODRIGO CAÑETE, NELSON C. ABALA AND ANACLETO ASISTER, ALIAS “ANNIE,” DEFENDANTS. NELSON C. ABALA AND ANACLETO …

Anacleto Asister
has appealed the decision of the Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial
Court) of Cebu, Branch XII, in
Criminal Case No. CU-7690 entitled “The People of the Philippines vs. Sabino Veronas, Rodrigo Cañete, Nelson C. Abala and Anacleto Asister alias
‘Annie’,” convicting him together with the other accused of the crime of
robbery with rape and sentencing them to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, to indemnify jointly
and severally the rape victim, Marciana Legaspi, in the sum of P30,000 and
to pay the costs of the action.

On November 20, 1980, at about 7:30 in the evening, Marciana Legaspi, a sixty-five
(65) year old widow, was rolling tobacco for a cigar on the bamboo bed inside
her house in the distant barrio of Tubod, Barili, Cebu, while her younger
widowed fifty-four (54) year old sister, Demetria Mancao, was sitting by the door about five feet away,
watching a “siga” (small fire) which she
had earlier built to smoke the flowering fruit trees in their yard.  From where she was seated, Demetria saw three men squatting under the pomelo tree which was around three armslength
away.  Although she did not recognize
them, she could see their faces clearly under the full moonlight, prompting her
to shout “why are you hiding there?” Thereupon, one of the men, whom she later came to
know as Sabino Veronas,
rushed at her, pushing her down while pointing a kitchen knife at her.  Demetria shouted
for help and tried to grapple with the man for possession of the knife but she
was wounded on the left hand.  Veronas boxed her, hitting her on the right cheek and when
she again shouted for help, Veronas cut out a piece
of cloth from her dress, stuffed it into her mouth, then tied a handkerchief
over it around her neck.  The second man,
whom she later recognized as Nelson Abala, kicked her
three times and tied her legs with a piece of rope.

Marciana Legaspi
heard her sister’s cry for help but before she could do anything, the third
man, whom the sisters later recognized as Rodrigo Cañete,
ran directly toward her, pointing a knife at her mouth, threatening to stab her
if she shouted.  Abala
tried to stab her in the abdomen but she parried the thrust with her left hand,
causing the weapon to penetrate her left palm. 
Both Cañete and Abala
hogtied her with a piece of rope and divested her of her earrings, wrist watch,
spiritual ring, transistor radio, a pair of eyeglasses, money amounting to P500
from a shoulderbag worth P110 and a US$100 bill
hidden inside a money belt tied around her waist, all worth P3,320.  Thereafter, Nelson Abala
took off his pants, stripped Marciana of her
underwear and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her against her will
and despite her entreaties for him to desist from his evil design because he
was even younger than her own grandson.  Cañete followed suit and succeeded in having sexual
congress with her.

Afterwards, Abala, with the use of his
knife, dug a hole under the staircase and under the earthen stove looking for
something and muttering in the Cebuano dialect:  “Ingon ni Annie, baga, wala man lagi.” (According
to Annie, she is wealthy, but there is nothing.) Veronas
suggested that he “go and ask Annie
where the money is buried.” Abala left to
talk to someone outside.  When he came back to the house, the three men
huddled and spoke in whispers.  Probably
realizing that they could not get more than what they had already taken, they
left the two sisters who were still tied with ropes.

Demetria Mancao
struggled to free herself from her bonds after which she untied her sister Marciana.  Both of
them went out of their house through a hole in the window.  Outside, they saw Anacleto
Asister, sitting on a piece of bamboo near the mudhole a few meters away from their house.  He did not speak a word and neither did
they.  As their nearest neighbor was
nearly one kilometer away, they proceeded toward the Poblacion
of Barili to report the crime to the police.  Afterwards, they went to Cabuangan
to see Dr. Claro Villegas, the Municipal Health
Officer of Barili, Cebu,
for treatment of their wounds. 
Meanwhile, a PC detachment headed by Sgt. Cortes combed the nearby towns
in search of the perpetrators of the crime. 
They succeeded in apprehending them in Ka-ipilan,
Guadalupe, a barrio between Mantalongon and Carcar.  At about 2:00 o’clock the following morning (November 21, 1980), Marciana Legaspi and Demetria Mancao were summoned to
the PC headquarters in Mantalongon, Barili, where the
three men were detained.  The sisters
positively identified them as the ones who had robbed them and raped Marciana.

In an information dated February 23, 1981 filed by the Office
of the Provincial Fiscal in the Court of First Instance of Cebu,
Anacleto Asister and his
three friends were charged with the crime of robbery with rape and double less
serious physical injuries.  On
arraignment, they all pleaded not guilty.

During trial, the accused were positively identified by the
offended parties.  A bus conductor of the
Amadora Transportation also recognized them as the
persons who rode on his bus from Cebu
City to Tubod,
Barili on November
20, 1980, with Asister paying for all
their fares.

Abala admitted his participation in the
robbery.  He was corroborated by Veronas.  They
admitted that on November 20, 1980
at around 1:00 p.m., they and Cañete met outside the Lane
Theatre to watch a movie.  They
encountered Annie Asister, who invited them to the
South Expressway Terminal for drinks. 
After four hours of drinking, they proceeded to Asister’s
house in Barili. 
In Asister’s house, they ate and drank tuba to
their heart’s content.  During their
drinking spree, Asister revealed to them his grudge
against Marciana Legaspi
because he had taken care of her carabao but when she
sold it for P1,000, she gave him only P20 as his share.  Asister induced
them to rob Marciana, also known as Emma, because she
had a son working abroad and supposedly had much money.  They all agreed to execute the plan.  Asister guided them
to the house of Marciana, but hid himself a few
meters away while his friends entered the house.

Abala and Cañete
denied having raped Marciana, but the trial judge,
observing how the two sisters testified with
utmost sincerity and candor, rendered judgment finding all the accused
guilty beyond reasonable doubt as co-conspirators in the commission of the
crime charged.

Asister and Abala,
represented by different counsel appealed the judgment.  However, Abala
later withdrew his appeal.

The lone appellant, Asister, alleges
that the trial court erred in finding him guilty as a co?conspirator in the commission of the crime of
robbery with rape and in denying his
motion for new trial.

His appeal has no
merit.  The findings of the trial court are supported by the evidence on record and its decision is in
accordance with law.

Asister’s defense of alibi (that he was plowing Josefa Deluna’s land until 5:00
in the afternoon and attended the barangay procession
the whole night of November 20,
1980) aside from being inherently weak, is not supported by clear and
convincing evidence.  It cannot prevail
over the positive identification made by the prosecution witnesses who saw him
at the scene of the crime and the interlocking confessions of his co-accused
who implicated him as the mastermind of the robbery.  It was he who led them to Marciana’s
house.  He watched everything that
transpired therein, but made no attempt to prevent the commission of the crime
by his companions.  The rule is
well-settled that in a conspiracy, the act of one is the act of all, and each
of the conspirators is liable for all the crimes committed by the other
conspirators.

“The rule in conspiracy is that all those who participated in
the conspiracy are liable for the crime, unless there is proof that they tried to prevent it.” (People
vs. James Arbis, 144 SCRA 687 [citing People vs. Atencio, 22 SCRA 88; People vs. Reyes, 4 SCRA 807].)

“The evidence shows that it was Benito Garcia only who
clubbed Lontoc twice on the head but because the
appellants manifested a community of purpose indicative of conspiracy, all are
equally guilty.” (People vs. Benito Garcia, et al., 141
SCRA 337.)

Hence, even if only
Abala and Cañete committed
rape during the robbery, their companions who lifted not a finger to prevent it, are equally guilty.

With respect to the appellant’s motion for new trial on the
ground that the other accused retracted their testimonies in court, the trial
court correctly denied the motion for the retractions were made after it had rendered its decision
convicting the accused.  The retraction
of previous testimony is not a ground for new trial (People vs. Navasca, 76 SCRA 70).

WHEREFORE, the assailed decision is affirmed in toto.

SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, (Chairman), Cruz, Gancayco, and Medialdea, JJ., concur.