THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. EDDIE CADAG Y CABOTAJE ALIAS “SIMEN”, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

Accused-appellant Eddie Cadag alias “Simen” was convicted by the Regional
Trial Court of Rosales,
Pangasinan, Branch 53 of the crime of Murder and sentenced to suffer the
penalty of reclusion perpetua. He now seeks a reversal of the said judgment.

The facts, as gathered from the evidence on record, are as
follows:

Early in the morning of March 14, 1989, the cadaver of Arnel
Claridad was discovered in the Far East High School compound, at Poblacion
East, Sta. Maria, Pangasinan. Patrolman
Conrado Balmores conducted an investigation at the crime scene, where he saw a
trek of blood from the schoolgate to the place where the body of Arnel was
found. Upon inquiry, he learned that
the victim was last seen the night before with one Lorna Taguiped, the
appellant’s common-law wife. Thus, he
invited Lorna for interrogation but the appellant prevented her from going to
the police station. (pp. 110-117, TSN,
March 15, 1990)

On March 30, 1989, Lorna Taguiped executed a sworn statement
before the NBI, declaring that she and the appellant had no knowledge about the incident
because they were at home the whole evening of March 13, 1989. On July 10, 1989, however, after Lorna had
broken her relationship with the appellant, she executed another sworn
statement before the police pinpointing to the appellant as the assailant of
Arnel.

According to eyewitness Lorna Taguiped, at about 7:00 o’clock in
the evening of March 13, 1989, the appellant, who was jealous of her former
boyfriend Boyet Claridad, brought her to the poblacion of Sta. Maria,
Pangasinan to fetch Boyet so they could talk to him. Upon arriving at the house of Boyet, the latter’s brother, Arnel,
informed her that Boyet was not around. Thinking she had no companion, Arnel followed Lorna on her way back. When they reached the front of the Far East
High School, the appellant appeared from the darkness. Arnel greeted the appellant by saying: “So, you are here. Why are you here, Simen?” The appellant, without warning, stabbed
Arnel on the left waist, on the right face, and then on the right waist, below
the breast. Arnel managed to run a few
meters away inside the school compound, where he leaned under a banana
tree. The appellant pursued him. Catching up with him under the banana tree,
the appellant stabbed Arnel repeatedly until he died. Thereafter, the appellant together with Lorna, left Arnel, but
they went back momentarily with the appellant again stabbing Arnel at the neck
and breast. (pp. 16-20, TSN, March 5,
1990)

Dr. Susan Casaclang, the Municipal Health Officer, examined the
cadaver of Arnel and she issued a medical
certificate with the following findings:

External findings:

Head/Face:

– Abrasion – cm (R)
fronto-temporal area

– Abrasion – 4 cm (R)
lateral aspect of the orbit

– Lacerated wound, superficial, about 2
cm (L) cheek, zygomatic area

– Lacerated wound, about 3 cm upper 3rd
(L) neck

– Lacerated wound, about 1.5 cm middle
3rd (L) neck

Chest/Lungs:

1)     
punctured wound about 11 cm in depth, about 1.5 cm in
diameter, sternal area, level bet. 2nd and 3rd ICS, traversing the 2nd rib (L)

2)     
Punctured wound, about 15 cm in depth, about 3.5 cm. in
diameter, (L) subcostal area traversing the 8th rib (L)

– Lacerated wound, superficial about
1.5 cm just below wound No. 2.

– Punctured wound
about 2 cm in diameter, about 11 cm in depth, (L) lower subcostal area
traversing the 9th rib (L)

– Superficial
lacerated wound about 1 cm, lateral aspect of the abdomen, along the (L)
axillary line

– Punctured wound
about 2 cm diameter, about 11 cm in depth (R) subcostal area traversing the (R)
lobe of the liver and the 8th & 9th ribs (R)

– Abrasion about 6.5 cm. supraumbilical
area

– Abrasion about 4.5 cm. in length, (L)
shoulder

– Lacerated wound, superficial about .5 cm (L) forearm

– Lacerated wound, superficial about 1
cm (L) wrist

– Lacerated wound, superficial about 1
cm (L) thumb.

Internal findings:

– Fracture of the 8th & 9th ribs
(R)

– Fracture of the 8th & 9th ribs
(L)

– Lung, (L) upper lobe was lacerated

– Liver (R) lobe was lacerated.

(pp. 21- 22, Rollo)

Charged with murder, the appellant put up alibi as his defense,
claiming that he was at home in San Mariano, Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, a few
meters away from the poblacion the entire evening of March 13, 1989 with his
common-law wife Lorna Taguiped and his mother, Teresita Cadag; that he never
sent Lorna to the house of Boyet as he does not know Boyet nor Arnel Claridad
personally; that it was their neighbor, Marcelo Pacion, with whom be was
jealous of as the latter visited Lorna whenever he was away; that he never met
Arnel on that fateful night; and that it was Lorna who had a motive to kill Arnel for the
victim’s brother, Boyet, by whom she got pregnant in 1987, refused to marry
her. (pp. 191-202, TSN, March 22, 1990)

Corroborating the appellant’s alibi, his mother, Teresita
confirmed that her son was at home the whole evening of March 13, 1989. (pp. 168-169, TSN, March 21, 1990)

Likewise, Emilia Agbunag, a neighbor, declared that between 8:00
o’clock and 9:00 o’clock in the evening of March 13, 1989, she saw the appellant at his home sitting
at the sala with Lorna and
Teresita. (pp. 141-144, TSN, March 19,
1990)

After trial, the trial court convicted the appellant as
charged. The dispositive portion of the
decision reads thus –

“WHEREFORE, the Court hereby finds Eddie Cadag, alias Simen, guilty
beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder qualified by treachery, without
any mitigating or aggravating circumstances, and sentences him to suffer the
penalty of reclusion perpetua; to indemnify the legal heirs of
Arnel Claridad in the amount of
Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000.00) plus P16,590.00 as actual damages; and to
pay the costs.

“SO ORDERED.” (pp. 51-52, Rollo)

In  this appeal, the appellant assails the credibility of
Lorna, who executed two glaringly contradictory sworn statements, and who had a
motive to kill Arnel.

The appeal is meritless.

The fact that Lorna executed two wayward sworn statements does
not denigrate upon her credibility. At
the trial, she unabashedly admitted that the statements she made before the NBI
were untrue because the appellant threatened to kill her if she stated what
actually happened. Sometime in July,
1989, however, after she had separated from the appellant, she voluntarily
executed another sworn statement before the police and narrated how Arnel was
killed. (pp. 37-38, March 5, 1990)

Proof of motive is not indispensable to conviction. Motive is important only when the identity
of the culprit is in doubt. (People vs.
Perante, Jr., 143 SCRA 60) In the instant case, Lorna definitely pinpointed to
the appellant as the killer of Arnel, and her testimony, corroborated by the
physical evidence found by the police at the crime scene, has not been
satisfactorily refuted.

We find it hard to believe that it was Lorna who committed the
killing. Based on the autopsy report,
the victim Arnel sustained multiple stab wounds and lacerations, not to mention
broken ribs. No proof was presented to
show that Lorna possesses extraordinary strength as would enable her to
overpower Arnel and render him in such a helpless state.

The trial court correctly rejected the appellant’s alibi, which
in his case has become more dubious because it was sought to be established by
the appellant himself, his mother and his
neighbor, and not by uninterested, unbiased persons, who would, in the natural
order of things, be best situated to support the tendered alibi. It has been repeatedly observed that alibi is a defense easily fabricated
especially among parents, children and relatives, or even among those not so
related, so that great caution must be exercised in accepting it. Well entrenched is the rule that for alibi
to prosper, it is not enough to prove that the appellant was somewhere else
when the crime was committed but it must likewise be demonstrated that he was
so far away that he could not have been physically present at the place of the
crime or its immediate vicinity
at the time of its commission. Sta.
Maria is only a few kilometers from the poblacion where the crime was
committed. Such distance does not
preclude the possibility that the appellant could have committed the
felony. (People vs. Gapasin, 145 SCRA
191)

The trial court found that the crime committed was murder,
qualified by treachery. We agree.

Evidence showed that the appellant, armed with a knife and under cover
of darkness, suddenly and unexpectedly attacked in rapid succession Arnel, who
was unarmed. Nocturnity, being inherent
in treachery, cannot be considered separately. (People vs. Pacada, Jr., 142 SCRA 427)

WHEREFORE, the judgment appealed from is hereby AFFIRMED in
toto. In view, however, of the
pronouncement in People vs. Sison (G.R. No. 86455 promulgated September 14,
1990), the indemnity to be paid should be increased to P50,000.00.

SO ORDERED.

Melencio-Herrera, (Chairman), Padilla, Regalado, and Nocon, JJ., concur.