[G.R. No. 138990.

January 30, 2002]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SA!
"A#ARIAS $A% Lar&'() RO*EL "A#ARIAS $A% Lar&'() +ALL!
TI#ALO) RENE AT,GAS $A-.u/%%'0(, accused,
+ALL! TI#ALO, accused-appellant.
* E # I S I O N
1IT,G, J.2
Wally Ticalo was convicted of murder by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 35,
of Ormoc City, and was sentenced to serve the penalty ofreclusion perpetua for the
death of Christopher acay! "e was charged, together with three other persons, in an
indictment that read#
"The undersigned City Prosecutor, Ormoc City, accuses SAMMY ZACARIAS,
RODE ZACARIAS, !AY TICAO and RE"E MAT#$AS o% the crime o%
M#RDER, committed as %o&&o's(
"That on or a)out the *+th day o% ,une -../, at around -*(/0 o1c&oc2 in the morning,
at Puro2 3, 4rgy5 inao, Ormoc City, and 'ithin the 6urisdiction o% this 7onora)&e
Court, the a)o8e9named accused SAMMY ZACARIAS, RODE ZACARIAS,
!AY TICAO and RE"E MAT#$AS, cons:iring together, con%ederating 'ith
and mutua&&y he&:ing and aiding one another, 'ith treachery, e8ident :remeditation
and intent to 2i&&, did then and there 'i&&%u&&y, un&a'%u&&y and %e&onious&y attac2,
assau&t, sta), hac2, and 'ound the :erson o% the 8ictim herein C7RISTOP7ER
SACAY, 'ithout gi8ing the &atter su%%icient time to de%end himse&%, there)y in%&icting
u:on said C7RISTOP7ER SACAY morta& 'ounds 'hich caused his death5 Post
Mortem Re:ort is hereto attached5
"In ;io&ation o% Artic&e *<=, Re8ised Pena& Code5"
$%&
Rene 'atugas and Wally Ticalo were arrested and put to trial( the other two
accused remained at large! 'atugas, a brother)in)law of WallyTicalo, was the first to be
ta*en into custody but, following his trial, he was ac+uitted, on %% ,pril %--., by
the Regional Trial Court of Ormoc City/Branch %01 for insufficiency of
evidence! Ticalo was apprehended on - ,pril %--2, arraigned thereafter, and then tried
under the afore+uotedinformation! On 33 4ebruary %---, he was found guilty! 5n its
decision, the court a quo concluded#
"!here%ore, a&& the %oregoing considered, the Court %inds the accused
!a&&y Tica&o gui&ty )eyond reasona)&e dou)t o% the crime o% murder and here)y
sentences him to im:risonment o% %orty ><0? years rec&usion :er:etua and to :ay the
aggrie8ed :arty the sum o% P+0,000500 as indemnity5
"I% the accused is a detainee, the :eriod o% his detention sha&& )e credited to him in %u&&
i% he a)ides in 'riting )y the terms %or con8icted :risoners, other'ise, %or on&y %our9
%i%ths ><@+? thereo%5"
$0&
The conviction of Ticalo was anchored principally on the eyewitness account of
ergio 6elicano, r! On direct e7amination, 6elicanotestified that on 05 8une %--3,
about %0#33 ,!'!, while waiting for his son to come home, he heard a commotion 9ust
outside his abode! "e opened a window overloo*ing the road and saw a teen)aged boy
being chased by ammy :acarias and Rodel :acarias! The boy, Christopheracay,
was the son of his long)time friend ,le9andro acay! econds later, his two other
neighbors, Wally Ticalo and Rene 'atugas, also went after the teen)ager who was by
then heading towards the eventh ;ay ,dventist Church, about 03 meters
from 6elicano<s house! 6elicanorushed down from his house and followed the group
until he was only about %3 meters away from where the four men finally caught up with
the boy! "e saw Rodel :acarias hold the young man while the rest too* turns in
stabbing and hac*ing the victim!
The autopsy report
$3&
on the body of the victim conducted by ;r! Calipayan indicated
that Christopher acay sustained ten hac* wounds and seven stab wounds on various
parts of his body including his lung, head lumbar vertebra, and *idney!
The accused countered with the defense of denial and alibi! Ticalo claimed that on
the day of the stabbing incident he was at his residence in Burauen, =eyte, wor*ing in
the farm of Rustico 6osion! 6osion himself recounted that on 0. 8une %--3, the feast
day of t! 8ohn the Baptist, he had a drin*ing spree in his house with the accused which
lasted until about ten o>cloc* in the evening! The following day, 05 8une
%--3,6osion again met with the accused at seven o>cloc* in the morning and together
weeded the Burauen farm! When as*ed by the court about the distance
between Brgy! =inao, Ormoc and Burauen, =eyte, 6osion answered that the towns are
far distant away from each other, and no road directly lin*ed the two towns such that
from Burauen one still had to pass through Tacloban to reach Brgy! =inao!
?rlinda 'atugas, the mother of ac+uitted accused 'atugas, testified that Ticalo had
not been a permanent resident of Brgy! =inao! he said that whenever Ticalo would
come to town, he would stay at her son>s house which was 9ust a wall division away
from her own house! On the night of the fateful day, ?rlinda 'atugas swore, Ticalo was
not with her son!
The defense presented at the witness stand @irginia Audalo who related that she
and 6elicano, together with several others, were in a Red Cross Training eminar
from 0% 8une %--3 up until 33 8uly %--3! ince it was a stay)in seminar, the
participants too* supper and spent their evenings at the training
center! ,t midnight of 05 8une %--3, Audalo, on her way to the comfort room,
saw 6elicano sleeping along with other male participants 9ust outside the room assigned
for the lady participants!
5n the end, the trial court accorded greater credence to the positive declaration
of 6elicano than to the alibi of Ticalo and the testimony ofAudalo!
5n this appeal, the convicted accused claims that the court a quo has gravely erred
in finding him guilty of the crime charged!
The Court is not convinced!
5t is the peculiar province of the trial court to determine the credibility of a witness
because of its superior advantage in observing the conduct and demeanor of the
witness while testifying!
$.&
,bsent any showing of a fact or circumstance of weight and
influence which would appear to have been overloo*ed and, if considered, could affect
the outcome of the case, the factual findings and assessment on the credibility of a
witness made by the trial court remain binding on an appellate tribunal!
$5&
The conviction of appellant by the court a quo was predicated almost completely on
the eyewitness account of ergio 6elicano, r! The defense, however, would attempt to
discredit such testimony for an alleged inconsistency! On direct
e7amination, 6elicano stated that he came home from a picnic with his family on the
day of the crime! "is statement contradicted his earlier testimony in the trial of
Rene 'atugas, where he said that he was not at home but he was attending a seminar
at the Red Cross Training Center from 2#33 ,!'! to - 6!'! on that day! When
confronted on cross e7amination about this incongruence in his declarations, he
corrected himself, saying that he did not go on a picnic with his family on 0. 8une %--3
but that he was indeed attending a seminar at the Red Cross Training Center
in Owa*, Ormoc City, per his previous account although he continued that he went
home at ten o>cloc* in the evening in =inao, Ormoc City! The admitted discrepancy
should be considered an innocent lapse that would not necessarily affect the credibility
of the witness! ?ven the most truthful witness could at times ma*e mista*es but minor
inaccuracies, rather than clouding the testimony, could even enhance the veracity of the
narration and erase the suspicion of a rehearsed declaration!
$B&
The positive testimony of a single witness could be sufficient for conviction if found
to be credible, for truth is established not +uantitatively but +ualitatively!
$2&
Where there is
nothing to indicate that the witness has been actuated by improper motives, such as in
the case at bar, his positive and categorical statement under solemn oath on the
witness stand deserves full faith and credence!
$C&
5n the light of an eyewitness account, establishing appellant as being one of the
authors of the crime, the defense of denial and that of alibiare of little worth and
weight! 5t is a7iomatic that positive identification, where forthright and consistent and
without any showing of ill motive on the part of the eyewitness testifying on the matter,
prevails over denial and alibi which are basically negative and self)serving!
$-&
, word, in passing, about the manner the trial court imposed the penalty! 5n the
scales of penalties under the Revised 6enal Code,
$%3&
reclusion perpetua is the penalty
immediately higher than reclusion temporal which has a duration of twelve years and
one day to twenty years!
$%%&
The minimum range of reclusion perpetua should then, by
necessary implication, start at 03 years and % day while the ma7imum thereundercould
be co)e7tensive with the rest of the natural life of the offender! ,rticle 23, however,
provides that the ma7imum period in regard to the service of sentence shall not e7ceed
.3 years! Reclusion perpetua remains to be an indivisible penalty and, when it is the
prescribed penalty, should be imposed in its entirety, i!e!, reclusion perpetua sans a
fi7ed period for its duration, regardless of any mitigating or aggravating circumstance
that may have attended the commission of the crime!
$%0&
5n prescribing the penalty
of reclusion perpetua, its duration in years, in fine, need not be specified!
+HEREFORE, the decision in Criminal Case Ao! .0.2)3 of Branch 35 of the
Regional Trial Court of Ormoc City finding accused WallyTicalo guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of murder under ,rticle 0.C of the Revised 6enal Code
and sentencing him to reclusionperpetua, as well as to pay the heirs of the victim
653,333!33 by way of civil indemnity, is ,445R'?;!
SO OR*ERE*.
Melo, (Chairman), Panganiban, Sandoval-Gutierre, and Carpio, !!", concur!