PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. VALERIO CARMINA, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

A  farmer and his two sons were shot and decapitated for failure to
pay the P500 “tax” demanded by the accused, allegedly a member of the
dreaded New People’s Army or “NPA”.

On September
30, 1986, Valerio Carmina, Israel Carmina alias
“Boy” and Danilo Catundag
alias “Danny,” were charged with murder and double murder in separate
informations which were docketed as Criminal Cases
Nos. 1543 and 1544, alleging as follows:

CRIMINAL CASE
NO. 1543

“That on or about April 24, 1986, in the Municipality of
Tarragona, Province of Davao Oriental, Philippines
and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused,
conspiring, confederating, and mutually helping one another, with treachery and
evident premeditation, armed with firearms and a bolo and with intent to kill,
did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously attack, assault, shoot and hack and/or stab with said weapons one
GENARO GAMBOA, thereby inflicting upon the latter mortal wounds which caused
his death.

“CONTRARY TO LAW.”

CRIMINAL CASE
NO. 1544

“That on or about April 24, 1986, in the Municipality of
Tarragona, Province of Davao Oriental, Philippines
and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused,
conspiring, confederating and mutually helping one another, with treachery and
evident premeditation, armed with firearms and a bolo, and with intent to kill,
did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously attack, assault,
shoot, stab and/or hack with said weapons JOELITO GAMBOA and OSCAR GAMBOA,
thereby inflicting upon the said victims mortal wounds which caused their
death.

“CONTRARY TO LAW.” (pp. 20­-21, Rollo.)

Valerio Carmina entered a
plea of not guilty to both charges. 
His co-accused have remained at large.  Both cases were jointly tried by agreement of
the parties.

The prosecution, through
the testimonies of Edgar and Orestes Gamboa,
established that at about five o’clock in the morning of April
24, 1986, Genaro Gamboa, and his four sons,
Joelito, Oscar, Edgar and Orestes, arrived at their
farm in Sitio Baesan, Tarragona, Davao
Oriental.  They had come from their
residence in Sitio Maitum, Tubaon, also in Tarragona.  They
brought with them three laborers, named Jun Cotabato
(Gabato), Winny Quiboto and Federico de Lima, to clear the fields in
preparation for planting corn.  Except
for Edgar Gamboa who worked in his
vegetable garden “five fathoms away,” the Gamboas
and their laborers started clearing the fields, working side by side.

At around 11:00 o’clock in the morning, a group of three men
arrived.  They were Valerio
Carmina who was armed with a carbine rifle, Israel Carmina who was armed with a garand rifle, and Danilo Catundag who was armed with a bolo.  They ordered Genaro
and his sons, Joelito and Oscar, to approach them, shouting:  “Dali mo diri!”
(Come here quick!).  As they did, Valerio shouted: 
“Here come the persons who have no respect in paying the P500 as
demanded.” Joelito was asked about the whereabouts of an airgun.  He replied that it was in the farmhouse and
directed his 11-year old brother, Orestes, to get the airgun.  Meanwhile, the armed group ordered the
laborers, Jun Cotabato and Winny
Quiboto, to leave the place.  They did not notice the third laborer,
Federico de Lima, who hid behind a narra tree.

When Orestes Gamboa returned with the airgun,
Israel Carmina grabbed it from him and fired one
shot.  Orestes scampered for safety and
hid behind a tree.  Genaro,
Joelito and Oscar were ordered by the armed men to
lie face down on the ground.  As soon as
they obeyed, they were shot by Valerio and Israel Carmina with their guns. 
Joelito died on the spot.  Oscar was able to stagger “ten fathoms away”
before he succumbed to his wounds.  The
volley of shots missed Genaro Gamboa,
who got up and ran toward a
nearby creek.  Danilo
Catundag chased him and mercilessly hacked and
beheaded him.  Catundag
returned to the spot where the Carminas were, his
bolo dripping with Genaro’s blood.  Federico de Lima and Orestes Gamboa witnessed the decapitation of Genaro.  Orestes and Edgar fled in terror from their separate hiding places toward the Kinunuan River.  Upon
encountering Edgar there, Orestes hysterically embraced his brother.  They rushed home to Sitio
Maitum, Tubaon and reported
the bloody incident to their mother, Eustaquia.  In the afternoon, Edgar reported the crime to Kagawad Rosendo.  The barangay officer’s letter reporting the incident was
personally delivered by Edgar to the INP (Integrated National Police)
station commander.

Aside from the
eyewitnesses, Edgar and Orestes Gamboa, the other
prosecution witnesses, Eustaquia Vda.
de Gamboa, Abraham T. Loganio and Cpl. Epimaco Cabilleda, adduced corroborative testimony about the murder
scene, the death of the victims and the registration of their
deaths.

Only Valerio
Carmina was apprehended.  He testified during the trial that he tended
his farm in Pagsilaan, Manay,
Davao Oriental, where he resides, but he also used to commute regularly to Ompao, Davao because he was a member of the NPA.  In 1970 he allegedly was an informer for the
ICHDF in San Ignacio, Davao Oriental, but he got into
trouble with the Badadao family in 1982 and in 1985
he became a fugitive and joined the NPA after shooting to death Elnoro Badadao.

When the Gamboas were murdered, he allegedly was in the house of
Francisco Antao in Bolong-bolong,
Ompao,Tarragona, with other NPA members named Alex Antao, Felix Maguinsay and
Ricardo Mandabon.

Francisco Antao affirmed that Valerio had
“come down from the forest” to be in his (Antao’s)
house in Bolong-bolong at the time of the killing.

The trial court rendered
judgment on October 23, 1987, finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable
doubt as principal in the commission of the three murders and
sentenced him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua in
each case with the accessory penalties provided by law, to indemnify the heirs
of each of the three victims in the sum of P30,000
without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs.

The appellant alleges
that the court a quo erred
in convicting him despite the
absence of evidence proving his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The appeal has no merit.

The testimonies of three
eyewitnesses for the prosecution:  the
eleven-year-old Orestes Gamboa, his older brother
Edgar Gamboa, and the laborer, Federico de Lima, were
consistent with each other and were not overturned in any way by the defense.

The allegation of Valerio that he did not participate in the killing of the Gamboas by his son, Israel, and Danilo
Catundag, is not credible for, on the contrary, it
was he who had a motive for revenge for he resented Genaro’s
refusal to pay the P500 tax demanded by the NPA.  His active participation in the triple
murders was proven by the testimonies of the eyewitnesses whose credibility the
defense failed to shake.  He and his
co-accused arrived together at the scene of the crime and they left the place
together, also convincing proof of
conspiracy on the part of all the accused in the commission of the heinous crime.

Valerio’s defense of alibi crumbles in the face of
direct and positive identification of Valerio at the
scene of the crime by the prosecution witnesses.  Considering further the absence of proof that
the distance from the house of Antao in Ompao, Tarragona to Genaro’s farm
in Baesan, also in Tarragona was such as
would have made it physically impossible for him to have been at the scene of
the crimes (People v. Jara, 144 SCRA 516; People v. Alcantara, 33 SCRA 812; People V. Cabanit, 139 SCRA 94), the trial court properly rejected his alibi.

WHEREFORE, the decision sought to be reviewed is hereby
AFFIRMED in toto.  Costs against the appellant.

SO ORDERED.

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