March 2010 - Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions
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[G.R. No. 184059 : March 10, 2010] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES V. ROMEO YAS-AS:
[G.R. No. 184059 : March 10, 2010]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES V. ROMEO YAS-AS
Sirs/Mesdames:
Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of the First Division of this Court dated 10 March 2010
G.R. No. 184059 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES v. ROMEO YAS-AS.- Accused Romeo Yag-as appeals the decision dated February 15, 2008 rendered by the Court of Appeals (CA) in C.A.-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 00364, affirming with modification the decision dated July 26, 2004 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 6, in Baguio City, finding him guilty of robbery with homicide and imposing the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
In arguing for his acquittal, Yag-as insisted that he was at the time of the commission of the crime involved in a customary ritual in his house for the benefit of his sick mother-in-law; that the State's lone eyewitness, Helen Malicdan, described the third robber - the others being Ben Ventura and Sonny Bitao - to be of small built, who could not be him due to his height being 5 feet, 7 inches; that the original information charged Ben Ventura, Sonny Bitao, and John Doe, implying that no witness had identified him; and that his riding on the same jeepney taken by Ventura and Bitao as get-away vehicle immediately after the incident was merely coincidental, and did not suffice to implicate him without concrete and solid evidence to establish his participation in the commission of the felony.
Both the RTC and the CA rejected Yag-as' denial and alibi. We agree. Malicdan convincingly described his complicity in the commission of the felony by detailing how he fired his gun at the victim, Philip Malicdan, Jr. She explained on cross-examination that what she meant by her description of the third robber as a ''small man" was that the robber was "thin." Moreover, that Yag-as was seen on board the same jeepney used as the robbers' get-away vehicle confirmed her dentification of him as one of the robbers. Lastly, the proximity of his house in Tacay, Quezon Hill, Baguio City with 1st Road, Quezon Hill, Baguio City, where the crime was committed revealed that it was not impossible for him to be in the place of the crime.
WHEREFORE, considering the allegations, issues and arguments adduced in the appeal, the Court resolves to DISMISS the appeal for failure to sufficiently show reversible error in the assailed decision of the Court of Appeals.
SO ORDERED.
WITNESS the Honorable Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Chairperson, Honorable Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, Working Chairperson, Honorable Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Lucas P. Bersamin, and Martin S. Villarama, Jr., Members, First Division, this 10lh day of March 2010.
G.R. No. 184059 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES v. ROMEO YAS-AS.- Accused Romeo Yag-as appeals the decision dated February 15, 2008 rendered by the Court of Appeals (CA) in C.A.-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 00364, affirming with modification the decision dated July 26, 2004 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 6, in Baguio City, finding him guilty of robbery with homicide and imposing the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
In arguing for his acquittal, Yag-as insisted that he was at the time of the commission of the crime involved in a customary ritual in his house for the benefit of his sick mother-in-law; that the State's lone eyewitness, Helen Malicdan, described the third robber - the others being Ben Ventura and Sonny Bitao - to be of small built, who could not be him due to his height being 5 feet, 7 inches; that the original information charged Ben Ventura, Sonny Bitao, and John Doe, implying that no witness had identified him; and that his riding on the same jeepney taken by Ventura and Bitao as get-away vehicle immediately after the incident was merely coincidental, and did not suffice to implicate him without concrete and solid evidence to establish his participation in the commission of the felony.
Both the RTC and the CA rejected Yag-as' denial and alibi. We agree. Malicdan convincingly described his complicity in the commission of the felony by detailing how he fired his gun at the victim, Philip Malicdan, Jr. She explained on cross-examination that what she meant by her description of the third robber as a ''small man" was that the robber was "thin." Moreover, that Yag-as was seen on board the same jeepney used as the robbers' get-away vehicle confirmed her dentification of him as one of the robbers. Lastly, the proximity of his house in Tacay, Quezon Hill, Baguio City with 1st Road, Quezon Hill, Baguio City, where the crime was committed revealed that it was not impossible for him to be in the place of the crime.
WHEREFORE, considering the allegations, issues and arguments adduced in the appeal, the Court resolves to DISMISS the appeal for failure to sufficiently show reversible error in the assailed decision of the Court of Appeals.
SO ORDERED.
WITNESS the Honorable Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Chairperson, Honorable Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, Working Chairperson, Honorable Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Lucas P. Bersamin, and Martin S. Villarama, Jr., Members, First Division, this 10lh day of March 2010.
Very truly yours,
(Sgd.) ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA-VIDAL
Clerk of Court
(Sgd.) ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA-VIDAL
Clerk of Court
