PP vs. Estacio
PP vs. Estacio
PP vs. Estacio
* EN BANC.
427
as follows: (a) There is absolute necessity for the testimony of the _______________
accused whose discharge is requested; (b) There is no other direct
1 Information, Records, p. 1.
evidence available for the proper prosecution of the offense
committed, except 429
428
VOL. 593, JULY 22, 2009 429
People vs. Estacio, Jr.
428 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
People vs. Estacio, Jr. The Information was subsequently amended to implead
the other appellant, Pablo Estacio, Jr. (Estacio), and to
the testimony of said accused; (c) The testimony of said accused change the charge from kidnapping for ransom to
can be substantially corroborated in its material points; (d) Said kidnapping with murder. The accusatory portion of the
accused does not appear to be the most guilty; and (e) Said Amended Information reads:
accused has not at any time been convicted of any offense
“That on or about the 11th day of October, 1995, in Quezon
involving moral turpitude.
City, Philippipnes, the above-named accused, conspiring,
Same; Same; Error in the discharge of an accused as a state confederating with another person whose true name and identity
witness would not affect the competency and quality of his has not as yet been ascertained and mutually helping one
testimony.—Even assuming arguendo that the discharge of another, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously
Sumipo as a state witness was erroneous, such error would not kidnap one CHARLIE MANCILLAN CHUA, a businessman, with
affect the competency and quality of his testimony. the use of motor vehicle from Casa Leonisa Bar located at
Examiner Street, Quezon City and brought him to BRGY. STO.
AUTOMATIC REVIEW of a decision of the Court of CRISTO, San Jose, del Monte, Bulacan and thereafter with intent
Appeals. to kill, qualified by evident premeditation, did, then and there,
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court. willfully, unlawfully and feloniously repeatedly stab said
The Solicitor General for appellee. CHARLIE MANCILLAN CHUA on the different parts of his body
Public Attorney’s Office and Florimond C. Rous for with the use of [a] fan knife, thereby inflicting upon him serious
appellants. and mortal wounds, which were the direct and immediate cause of
his death, to the damage and prejudice of the heirs of said Charlie
CARPIO-MORALES, J.:
Mancillan Chua.”2 (Underscoring in the original.)
Appellant Maritess Ang (Maritess) was charged before
the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City with Still later, the Information was further amended to
kidnapping for ransom, allegedly committed as follows: additionally implead one Hildo Sumipo (Sumipo)3 who was,
however, subsequently discharged as state witness.4
“That on or about the 10th of October 1995, in Quezon City,
The evidence for the prosecution presents the following
Philippines, the above-named accused conspiring together,
version of events:5
confederating with two (2) other persons whose true names,
identities and whereabouts have not as yet been ascertained and
mutually helping one another did then and there, willfully, _______________
unlawfully and feloniously kidnap one CHARLIE CHUA, a
2 Id., at p. 49.
businessman, from the Casa Leonisa Bar located at Examiner
3 Id., at p. 52.
Street, Quezon City and brought him to an unknown place and
4 Id., at p. 167.
detained him up to the present for the purpose of extorting
5 Vide TSN, September 24, 1996, pp. 2-75; TSN, September 30, 1996,
ransom money in the amount of P15,000,000.00, Philippine
Currency, thereby depriving him of his liberty from October 10, pp. 2-59; TSN, October 8, 1996, pp. 2-84; TSN, October 14, 1996, pp. 2-56;
1995 up to the present, to the damage and prejudice of said TSN, October 22, 1996, pp. 3-34; TSN, November 4, 1996, pp. 2-47; TSN,
offended party.”1 November 7, 1996, pp. 3-91; TSN, November 11, 1996, pp. 3-27; TSN,
December 4, 1996, pp. 2-32; TSN, January 15, 1997, pp. 3-81; TSN,
February 24, 1997, pp. 3-77; TSN, March 5, 1997, pp. 3-45; TSN, April 14,
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1997, pp. 2-35; TSN, May 5, 1997, pp. 2-30; RTC Records, pp. 171-241, 431
243.
to the police. The police then informed the victim’s mother prompting the victim to pull out a gun from under the
that Estacio had admitted having killed her son, and that driver’s seat which he aimed at Estacio.
he offered to accompany them to the crime scene. Continuing, Maritess claimed that she tried to pacify the
The police, accompanied by the victim’s mother and quarreling men; that the car stopped at San Jose del Monte
Estacio, went to the crime scene and recovered the remains and the three men alighted; that Sumipo returned to the
of the victim who was identified by his mother by the car and was later followed by Estacio who said “Masama
clothes attached to his bones. The victim’s dentist found his raw ang nangyari,”16 he adding that he did not intend to
teeth to match his dental record. stab the victim.
Sumipo explained in an affidavit,9 which he identified in Branch 219 of the Quezon City RTC found both Estacio
open court,10 that Maritess got angry with the victim after and Maritess guilty of “kidnapping on the occasion of which
he lent money to her husband, one Robert Ong,11 enabling the victim was killed,” disposing as follows:
him to leave the country without her knowledge, while
Estacio was jealous of the victim with whom Maritess had “WHEREFORE, finding accused Pablo Estacio, Jr. and
a relationship.12 Maritess Ang guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
In his affidavit13 which he identified in open court, kidnapping on the occasion of which the victim was killed, the
Estacio claimed that a quarrel broke out in the car between court hereby sentences each of them to suffer the maximum
the victim and Maritess about a debt to the victim; that he penalty of Death; to jointly and severally pay the heirs of Charlie
tried to pacify the two, but the victim got angry at him, Chua the amount of P200,000.00, as actual damages, and
prompting him to point a fan knife at his neck; and that he P1,000,000.00, as moral damages; and to pay the costs.
then asked Sumipo to drive the car up to Barangay Sto. SO ORDERED.”17 (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Cristo, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan where he dragged the
The case was forwarded to this Court for automatic
victim away from the car and accidentally stabbed him.
review.18 However, the Court referred it to the Court of
When asked on cross-examination why the stabbing was
Appeals for intermediate review following People v.
accidental, Estacio replied that he and Maritess originally
Mateo.19
planned to leave the victim in Bulacan, but since there was
Estacio faulted the trial court for:
talk of the victim getting back at them, he “got confused
and so it happened.”14 I
Maritess for her part denied15 having conspired with x x x FINDING THAT THE GUILT OF HEREIN ACCUSED-
Estacio. She claimed that while on board the car, the victim APPELLANT FOR THE CRIME CHARGED WAS PROVEN
took BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT.
_______________ _______________
ELEMENTS OF DETENTION AND “LOCK UP.”20 (Emphasis SO ORDERED.”24 (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
and underscoring supplied)
Appellants manifested before this Court that
supplemental pleadings would not be necessary, all
As for Maritess, she faulted the trial court for: relevant matters having already been taken up.25
Findings of fact of the trial court, its calibration of the
“A. x x x Discharging Sumipo as State Witness and in testimonies of witnesses, and its assessment of the
Relying on His Testimony for the Conviction of probative weight thereof, as well as its conclusions
Appellant Ang.21 anchored on said findings are accorded high respect, if not
xxx conclusive effect, by this Court because of the trial court’s
B. x x x Finding That There was Kidnapping with unique advantage in observing and monitoring at close
Murder and That Appellant Ang is Guilty Thereof. range the demeanor, deportment, and conduct of the
C. x x x Not Concluding that the Crime Committed was witnesses as they testify.26 This Court need not thus pass
Plain Homicide, and That Accused Estacio is Solely upon the findings of fact of the trial court, especially if they
Responsible Therefor.”22 (Emphasis and underscoring in have been affirmed on appeal by the appellate court, as in
the original) the present case.27 Nevertheless, the Court combed through
the records of the case and found no ground to merit a
By Decision23 of May 12, 2005, the Court of Appeals reversal of appellants’ conviction.
affirmed, with modification, the trial court’s decision, The Court finds, however, that the offense of which
disposing as follows: appellants were convicted was erroneously designated.
Appellants were eventually charged with and convicted
“WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, the decision of the
of the special complex crime of kidnapping with murder,
Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in Criminal Case No. Q-95-
defined in the last paragraph of Article 267 of the Revised
63818 finding accused-appellants Maritess Ang and Pablo
Penal Code. In a special complex crime, the prosecution
Estacio, Jr. guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
must prove each of the component offenses with the same
kidnapping with murder and sentencing them to each suffer the
precision that
penalty of DEATH, is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION.
Accused-appellants are ordered to pay, jointly and severally, the
heirs of the deceased the _______________
435
436 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
People vs. Estacio, Jr.
VOL. 593, JULY 22, 2009 435
People vs. Estacio, Jr.
would be necessary if they were made the subject of
separate complaints.28
amounts of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity; P25,000.00 as
In the case at bar, kidnapping was not sufficiently
exemplary damages and P500,000.00 as moral damages.
proven. Although appellants bound and gagged Chua and
In view of the death penalty imposed, let the entire records of
transported him to Bulacan against his will, they did these
this case be forwarded to the Honorable Supreme Court for
acts to facilitate his killing, not because they intended to
further review.
detain or confine him. As soon as they arrived at the locus
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criminis, appellants wasted no time in killing him. That later that afternoon after a sufficient interval for consultation and
appellants’ intention from the beginning was to kill the deliberation among the felons who had killed the victim around
victim is confirmed by the conversation which Sumipo five hours earlier.
heard in the car in which Maritess said that a knife would x x x The fact alone that ransom money is demanded would not
be used to kill him so that it would not create noise.29 The per se qualify the act of preventing the liberty of movement of the
subsequent demand for ransom was an afterthought which victim into the crime of kidnapping, unless the victim is actually
did not qualify appellants’ prior acts as kidnapping. restrained or deprived of his liberty for some appreciable period of
People v. Padica30 instructs: time or that such restraint was the basic intent of the accused.
Absent such determinant intent and duration of restraint, the
“We have consistently held that where the taking of the victim mere curtailment of freedom of movement would at most
was incidental to the basic purpose to kill, the crime is only constitute coercion.”31 (Underscoring supplied)
murder, and this is true even if, before the killing but for purposes
thereof, the victim was taken from one place to another. Thus, The crime committed was thus plain Murder. The killing
where the evident purpose of taking the victims was to kill them, was qualified by treachery. The victim was gagged, bound,
and from the acts of the accused it cannot be inferred that the and taken from Quezon City to an isolated place in Bulacan
latter’s purpose was actually to detain or deprive the victims of against his will to prevent him from defending himself and
their liberty, the subsequent killing of the victims constitute the to facilitate the killing.
crime of murder, hence the crime of kidnapping does not exist and This Court’s finding that the offense committed is
cannot be considered as a component felony to produce the Murder notwithstanding, the resulting penalty is the same.
complex crime of kidnapping with murder. In fact, as we held in Under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, murder shall
the aforecited case of Masilang, et al., although the accused had be punished by reclusion perpetua to death. The use of a
planned to kidnap the victim for ransom but they first killed him motor vehicle, having been alleged in the Information and
and it was only later that they demanded and obtained the proven, can be appreciated as a generic aggravating
money, such demand for ransom did not convert the crime into circumstance. There being one generic aggravating
kidnapping since no detention or deprivation of liberty was circumstance, the resulting penalty is death. In view,
involved, hence the crime committed was only murder. however, of the enactment of Republic Act No. 9346 on
June 24, 2006 prohibiting the imposi-
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28 People v. Larrañaga, G.R. Nos. 138874-75, February 3, 2004, 421 SCRA 530,
580. 31 Id., at pp. 371-372.
29 TSN, February 24, 1997, p. 70-71.
30 G.R. No. 102645, April 7, 1993, 221 SCRA 362. 438
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438 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
VOL. 593, JULY 22, 2009 437 People vs. Estacio, Jr.
People vs. Estacio, Jr.
tion of death penalty, the penalty is reduced to reclusion
That from the beginning of their criminal venture appellant perpetua, without eligibility for parole.
and his brothers intended to kill the victim can be readily deduced Respecting the assigned error in discharging Sumipo as
from the manner by which they swiftly and cold-bloodedly snuffed a state witness, the same does not lie.
out his life once they reached the isolated sugarcane plantation in The conditions for the discharge of an accused as a state
Calamba, Laguna. Furthermore, there was no evidence witness are as follows:
whatsoever to show or from which it can be inferred that from the
“(a) There is absolute necessity for the testimony of the
outset the killers of the victim intended to exchange his freedom
accused whose discharge is requested;
for ransom money. On the contrary, the demand for ransom
(b) There is no other direct evidence available for the proper
appears to have arisen and was consequently made as an
prosecution of the offense committed, except the testimony
afterthought, as it was relayed to the victim’s family very much
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