Plaintiff-Appellee Vs Vs Accused-Appellant: Second Division
Plaintiff-Appellee Vs Vs Accused-Appellant: Second Division
Plaintiff-Appellee Vs Vs Accused-Appellant: Second Division
DECISION
PERALTA , J : p
This is an appeal from the November 4, 2013 Decisions 1 of the Court of Appeals
(CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 05418, which affirmed the Decision 2 dated January 24, 2012
of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 59, Angeles City in Criminal Case No. 04-594.
The facts are as follows:
Accused-appellant Enrile Donio y Untalan (Donio) was charged with violation of
Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6539, otherwise known as Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972, as
amended by R.A. No. 7659. Co-accused Val Paulino (Paulino) and one @Ryan (Ryan),
both remains at-large, were similarly charged. The accusatory portion of the
Information reads:
That on or about the 26th day of November 2003, in the Municipality of
Mabalacat, Province of Pampanga, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of
this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring, confederating
together and mutually helping one another, with intent of gain and without the
knowledge and consent of the owner, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and
feloniously take, steal and carry away with them one (1) Honda TMX 155
tricycle, colored black and with Body [No.] 817, valued at Ninety-Six Thousand
([P]96,000.00) Pesos, Philippine Currency, and on the occasion thereof, Raul L.
Layug, being the driver and owner of the said Honda TMX 155 tricycle, was
killed with the use of a mini jungle bolo.
Contrary to law. 3
Pending Donio's arraignment, PO1 Ernessito N. Bansagan and the National
Bureau of Investigation, Central Luzon Regional Of ce submitted the returns on the
Warrant of Arrest against Ryan and Paulino, respectively, stating that the said persons
could not be located at the given addresses, and requested for alias warrants against
them. The trial court issued the Alias Warrant of Arrest against accused Ryan on
September 4, 2004 and against Paulino on November 4, 2004. 4 CAIHTE
At his arraignment, Donio, assisted by his counsel de oficio, pleaded not guilty to
the offense charged. During the pre-trial conference, it was stipulated that Donio is the
same person whose name appears in the Information and was arraigned before that
court.
Thereafter, the trial on the merits ensued.
On November 26, 2003, six police of cers of the Concepcion Police Station,
Tarlac City, headed by SPO4 Leodegario Taberdo (SPO4 Taberdo) , conducted a
checkpoint along the junction of MacArthur Highway in relation to the campaign of the
Philippine National Police against hijacking, carnapping, and kidnapping, hailing cargo
trucks and closed vans, and issuing cards to southbound vehicles. 5
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At 2:30 in the morning on November 26, 2003, a speeding tricycle abruptly
stopped a few meters from the checkpoint and caught the attention of the police
of cers. SPO4 Taberdo and two others approached the vehicle. The driver, later
identi ed as Donio, was noticeably agitated while repeatedly kicking the starter of the
tricycle. When asked for his identity, he introduced himself as Raul Layug (Raul) and
then handed to SPO4 Taberdo a temporary license bearing the said name. The police
of cers asked the driver and his companions, co-accused Paulino and Ryan, to bring
the vehicle, a Honda TMX 155 tricycle with Body No. 817, to the checkpoint when they
failed to produce its certificate of registration and the official receipt. 6
Upon visual search of the vehicle, they discovered a bloodstained mini jungle
bolo inside. They seized the tricycle and the bolo, and then brought the three to the
police station. At 9 o'clock in the morning, Donio asked permission to leave in order to
get the registration papers. The officers allowed him, however, he did not return. 7
Meanwhile, around 6:30 in morning of the same date, Rodrigo Layug (Rodrigo)
was searching for his brother Raul, the victim, who has not returned home since last
night. Raul was the driver of Rodrigo's Honda TMX 155 tricycle with Body No. 817.
Rodrigo met with his tricycle driver cousin from Mawaque to ask him if he saw his
brother. His cousin accompanied him to Barangay Madapdap where they found the
remains of Raul. Words spread about his death. Thereafter, a tricycle driver informed
them that he saw a vehicle similar to Rodrigo's at the Concepcion Police Station.
Rodolfo, Raul and Rodrigo's other brother, went to the station where he learned that
Paulino and Ryan were released. 8
Sometime in December 2003, the brothers returned to the station upon learning
that Donio was apprehended. On December 7, 2003, the Chief of Police summoned
SPO4 Taberdo to identify the driver who asked permission to retrieve the registration
papers but did not return at the Concepcion Police Station. Upon seeing Donio, the
disgruntled SPO4 Taberdo asked him, "Why did you do that?" He was referring to the
incident when Donio did not return. It was also that same day that he learned Donio's
real identity. 9 DETACa
Records show that all the elements of carnapping in the instant case are present
and proven during the trial.
The tricycle was de nitely ascertained to belong to Rodrigo, as evidenced by a
Deed of Conditional Sale in his favor. 2 6 Donio was found driving the vehicle in the early
morning of November 26, 2003, the same day Rodrigo was looking for his missing
brother Raul. Also, SPO4 Taberdo positively identi ed Donio as the driver he agged
down at the checkpoint in his testimony, viz.:
xxx xxx xxx
Q- On or about that time 2:45 early in the morning of November 26, 2003,
could you recall if there was any unusual incident that required your
attention as Police Officers manning the check-point?
A- Yes, sir.
Q- What is that incident?
A- During that time, we are issuing pass card among vehicles going to South
when suddenly a speeding tricycle approaching our PCP its engine
suddenly stop.
Q- Who was driving the tricycle when the engine suddenly stop[s]?
A- The one who gave me the Driver's License was Raul Layug.
Q- If this person who gave his license as Raul Layug is here present today,
will you be able to identify him?
A- Yes, sir.
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Q- Will you please look around the premises of the Court and point to him.
A- This one, sir. We came to know later on that his real name is Enrile Donio.
INTERPRETER:
Witness pointed to accused Enrile Donio.
xxx xxx xxx 2 7
"Unlawful taking" or apoderamiento is the taking of the motor vehicle without the
consent of the owner, or by means of violence against or intimidation of persons, or by
using force upon things. It is deemed complete from the moment the offender gains
possession of the thing, even if he has no opportunity to dispose of the same. 2 8
Section 3 (j), Rule 131 of the Rules of Court provides the presumption that a person
found in possession of a thing taken in the doing of a recent wrongful act is the taker
and the doer of the whole act. cSEDTC
After a careful perusal of the records, this Court nds that the con uence of the
following pieces of circumstantial evidence, consistent with one another, establishes
Donio's guilt beyond reasonable doubt:
First, Donio was driving the tricycle when he, Paulino and Ryan were accosted
during a checkpoint at the junction of the MacArthur Highway by elements of the
Concepcion Police Station at around 2:30 in the morning on November 26, 2003;
Second, his possession of the vehicle was not fully explained as he failed to
produce its registration papers;
Third, he was in possession of the victim's temporary license. He even presented
it and introduced himself as Raul to the police;
Fourth, a bloodstained mini jungle bolo was found inside the tricycle;
Fifth, Rodrigo ascertained that Raul was the driver of his tricycle, and that he was
looking for him on the same day that Donio and the others were flagged down;
Sixth, Raul was last seen driving the tricycle at 10:00 in the evening on November
25, 2003 when he passed by at the Mawaque Terminal at the corner of MacArthur
Highway and Mawaque Road. 3 4
Seventh, the Bantay Bayan of Madapdap Resettlement found Raul's body at
around 6:30 in the morning on November 26, 2003 at a vacant lot towards the road to
Sta. Lucia Resettlement corner Barangay Dapdap.
Eighth, Raul sustained multiple stab wounds caused by a sharp instrument as
depicted in the post-mortem examination sketch by Dr. Dizon and re ected in the
Certificate of Death, which states:
17. CAUSES OF DEATH:
I. Immediate Cause: Cardio respiratory arrest
Antecedent Cause: Hemo-pneumothorax L acEHCD
As for Donio's defense of alibi, he argues that it must not be looked with disfavor,
as there are instances when the accused may really have no other defense but denial
and alibi which, if established to be truth, may tilt the scales of justice in his favor,
especially when the prosecution evidence is inherently weak. He insists that he was
tortured and subjected to harsh treatment during arrest. He insinuates that the police
arrested the first person they suspected without conducting any in-depth investigation.
Donio maintained that he rst learned of the carnapping charge when the police
came to his house in Madapdap, Mabalacat, Pampanga on December 6, 2003.
However, he also alleged that as a stay-in sugarcane plantation worker in Capas, Tarlac
with a six-month work period ending in January, he never left the workplace and that his
wife visited him instead. Donio testified during direct and cross examination as follows:
xxx xxx xxx
ATTY. LOPEZ
Q: Mr. Witness, prior to your incarceration at the Angeles District Jail, where
were you residing?
A: Madapdap, Mabalacat, Pampanga, sir.
Q: On November 25, 2003 at around 10:00 o'clock in the evening to November
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26, 2003, do you remember where [you were] on the said dates?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Where were you, Mr. Witness?
A: At home, sir.
Q: Who were your companions there?
A: My family, sir, my wife and child.
xxx xxx xxx 4 2
PROS. HABAN
Q: Where are you working again?
A: Capas AScHCD
SO ORDERED.
Carpio and Mendoza, JJ., concur.
Del Castillo * and Leonen, ** JJ., are on official leave.
Footnotes
* Designated Additional Member in lieu of Associate Justice Francis H. Jardeleza, per Raf e
dated September 1, 2014. (On official leave)
** On official leave.
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1 . Penned by Associate Justice Danton Q. Bueser, with Associate Justices Amelita G.
Tolentino and Rodil V. Zalameda, concurring, rollo, pp. 2-12.
2. Penned by Presiding Judge Ma. Angelica T. Paras-Quiambao, CA rollo, pp. 42-61.
3. Id. at 42.
4. Id. at 43.
5. Id. at 46.
6. Id.
7. Id.
8. Id. at 45.
9. Supra note 5.
10. Id. at 49.
11. Id. at 61.
12. Id. at 56.
13. Id. at 57.
14. Rollo p. 8.
15. Id. at 12. (Emphasis in the original)
16. Id. at 22-24.
17. CA rollo pp. 71-91.
18. Rollo pp. 27-28.
19. Supra note 16.
20. People v. Bali-balita, 394 Phil. 790, 814 (2000).
21. People v. Victor Padit, G.R. No. 202978, February 1, 2016.
22. Id.
23. People v. Bernabe and Garcia, 448 Phil. 269, 280 (2003).
24. People v. Fabian Urzais y Lanurias, G.R. No. 207662, April 13, 2016.
25. People v. Aquino, 724 Phil. 739, 757 (2014).
26. CA rollo p. 44.
27. TSN, May 11, 2006, pp. 8-9.
28. People v. Lagat, et al., 673 Phil. 351, 367 (2011).
29. People v. Geron, 346 Phil. 14, 25 (1997). (Emphasis supplied).
30. People v. Bustinera, G.R. No. 148233, June 8, 2004, 431 SCRA 284.
31. Id.
32. People v. Baez y Baylon, G.R. No. 198057, September 21, 2015.
33. People v. Lagat, et al., supra note 28.
34. Records, p. 11, Advance Information Report, Mabalacat Municipal Police Station.
35. CA rollo p. 52.
36. Id. at 53-54.
37. People v. Dulay , G.R. No. 92600, January 18, 1993, 217 SCRA 103, 119, citing Solis, Legal
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Medicine 127 [1987 ed.] (underscoring supplied).
38. 2:45 in other parts of Records.
39. People v. Dela Cruz, 4459 Phil. 130, 137 (2003).
40. People v. Abat, G.R. No. 202704, April 2, 2014, 720 SCRA 557, 564.
41. Corpuz v. People, 734 Phil. 353, 391 (2014).
42. TSN, September 24, 2009, p. 6.
43. TSN, August 3, 2010, pp. 3 and 5.
44. People v. Regaspi, G.R. No. 198309, September 7, 2015.
45. People v. Mallari, 707 Phil. 267, 281 (2013).
46. People v. Torres, et al., G.R. No. 189850, September 22, 2014, 735 SCRA 687, 704.
47. Emphasis supplied.
48. People v. Ireneo Jugueta, G.R. No. 202124, April 5, 2016.