G.R. No. 136745 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. RESTITUTO RENDAJE.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the Court hereby finds the accused, Restituto Rendaje, GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime charged. Restituto Rendaje is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of [r]eclusion [p]erpetua . He is also hereby ordered to pay the family of Lennie Rendon the amount of P21,500.00 x x x as indemnity for actual damages, and P50,000.00 x x x as indemnity for moral damages." [2] The Information, [3] dated September 27, 1994, charged appellant as follows: "That on or about the 6th day of August, 1994 in the Municipality of Dingle, Province of Iloilo, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused armed with a bladed weapon, with deliberate intent and decided purpose to kill, with treachery and abuse of superior strength, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and stab LENNIE RENDON, a fifteen (15) year old girl who is a deaf-mute, inflicting upon the latter multiple stab wounds on different parts of her body which caused her death thereafter." [4] When arraigned on December 13, 1994, appellant pleaded [5] not guilty [6] After due trial, the lower court promulgated its assailed Decision. Hence, this appeal. [7] The Facts Prosecution's Version In its Brief, [8] the Office of the Solicitor General presents the prosecution's version of the facts as follows: "On August 5, 1994, appellant Restituto Rendaje, Honorato Avenir, Jr., Bebot Abenir, Narsing Caro, John Dominado, Raymund Gelac, Eduardo Gorantes, [9] Jr. and Roger Rendaje went to Barangay Tinocuan, Dingle, Iloilo City to attend the healing ritual of a sick person named Felom[i]no Avenir. Since the healing ritual would be conducted by a `bab[a]ylan' or a quack doctor, food and drinks were prepared. Honorato, Garantes, Fred and Bebot helped in slaughtering two (2) pigs which would be used by the `babaylan' for the healing ritual. Meanwhile, appellant, who had a ten-inch knife tucked [in] his waist, was drinking liquor with his friends in another house, around fifty (50) meters away from the house of Felomino. "At around 5:00 o'clock [o]n the morning of August 6, 1994, Gorantes, Dominado, Geloc, Caro, Roger Rendaje and Jonil Lagumbayan went to a store to smoke cigarettes. While they were on their way to the house of Felom[i]no, Gorantes noticed that appellant was not with them so he told his companions `I'll catch up with him first since his fare is with me.' When Gorantes saw appellant, who was then wearing a pink shirt, rubber shoes and had a towel wrapped around his head, he observed that the latter was wet. Gorantes then asked what happened and appellant replied that he took a short cut at the sugarcane field. "On the other hand, twelve (12) year old Lodelyn Rendon was on her way home when she met her sister, Lennie `Dayday' Rendon, who was heading towards their farm in Barangay Buenavista, Dingle, Iloilo. Although Lodelyn noticed that Lennie was being followed by a man, whom she identified in court as appellant