G.R. No. 146664 - JOHN ANGCACO, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly went to the gate and later called Noe to also come out of the house. Noe and his cousin, Freddie Ganancial, did as bidden. Once they were outside the house, Noe and Freddie were flanked by petitioner Angcaco on the right side and accused Ramon Decosto on the left side. Decosto pointed an armalite at the two and warned them not to run. Noe and Freddie joined Noel Bergante. Protacio Edep approached Freddie saying, You are tough, and pushed him. Then, shots rang out from the armalite and short firearm of Decosto and Edep, as a result of which Freddie Ganancial turned around and dropped to the ground face down. Decosto was around three meters away from Freddie. In fright, Noe and Noel ran inside the house. After a few seconds, Noe saw, through the window, Lota and Angcaco turning over the body of Freddie Ganancial. After briefly leaving the body, both came back 15 minutes later. Noe said Lota brought with him an object wrapped in a newspaper, which Noe surmised was a knife. Lota placed the object in the right hand of Freddie Ganancial. Noel, on the other hand, said that he returned to the crime scene and recovered two empty shells which he gave to a certain Major Silos. Noe reported the matter to Barangay Tanods Sabino Mahinay and a certain Ramon. [6] Antonio Arosio, a neighbor of the Bergantes, corroborated the testimonies of Noe and Noel Bergante. According to Arosio, at around 4:30 a.m. of September 25, 1980, while he was asleep in his house in Bato, Taytay, Palawan, he was awakened by the sound of gunfire. He said he heard a commotion outside, followed by another volley of shots. He claimed he recognized by their voices some of the persons involved, namely, Protacio Edep, Noel Bergante, and Freddie Ganancial. Arosio claimed that accused Decosto and Felizarte fetched him from his house a short time later and took him to Edep, who was then in the house of the barangay captain. Arosio was asked about the whereabouts of the barangay captain. He told Edep that Restituto Bergante, the barangay captain, had gone to Puerto Princesa two days earlier. Arosio testified that on his way home he saw a person lying on the ground in a prone position. He later learned it was Freddie Ganancial. Arosio identified in court the policemen whom he saw that morning, that is, Edep, Decosto, Felizarte, Lota, and Angcaco. On cross-examination, Arosio claimed that he was investigated by a police officer, whose name he could not remember, three years after the incident. The investigation was held in the house of Barangay Captain Restituto Bergante, who told him that he would testify in this case. Although he was reluctant to testify because of fear, Arosio said he finally agreed to do so in 1984. Prior to the incident, he had not heard Edeps voice but only assumed that the voice he heard that morning was that of Edep as the latter was the highest-ranking policeman he later saw. [7] Although Dr. Romeo D. Valino conducted the postmortem examination on the body o