G.R. No. 132059 -

Ruling

Accordingly, on April 7 and 28, 1997, the prosecution presented its witnesses whose testimonies may be summarized as follows: 1. Anecita Dimson-Asoy, a farmer, testified that she is the mother of both the accused, her eldest son among her ten children, and the victim, Ester Dimson Asoy. Around 7:00 o'clock in the evening of December 22, 1996, Ester left their house in Barangay Astorga, Tunga, Leyte to buy bread in the store located one (1) kilometer away. [5] Ester, however, failed to come home that evening. [6] Anecita learned later that Ester was found dead along a brook at Brgy. Astorga. Her son, the accused, confessed to her in their house that "he was the one who killed my daughter Ester." [7] Anecita did not inquire, though, from the accused why he killed Ester. [8] After having learned of this, Anecita said, "I did nothing." [9] She did not even report the matter to the police. [10] Anecita ended her testimony by declaring, when asked by the trial court, that the accused "did not tell me that he raped my daughter", [11] and that what he only told her was that he was the one who killed Ester. [12] 2. It was Ronelo Tañola, a nephew of the accused, [13] who first saw a lifeless body lying face down on a brook in Brgy. Astorga while he was up the coconut tree gathering tuba at about 6:00 o'clock in the early morning of December 24, 1996. [14] He immediately reported what he saw to Rodolfo Asoy, a Brgy. Tanod. [15] .Then they went to verify the dead body. It was that of Ester. [16] 3. SPO4 Melecio Davocol conducted the investigation on December 24, 1996. [17] The following day, he went to the house of the accused and brought him to the police station for investigation upon being informed by "one of the bystanders...that a certain woman by the name of Ruperta Arcon found the T-shirt and the headgear cap" [18] "along the road near the brook" [19] which she allegedly saw the accused wore before the incident happened. [20] When SPO4 Davocol fetched the accused from his house, he confiscated the bladed weapon in his possession. [21] According to a certain person who was the companion of the accused in a drinking spree, the same weapon was tucked on his waist prior to the incident. [22] This certain person and Ruperta Arcon, however, did not go to the police station to report what they knew. [23] 4. Police Superintendent Angel A. Cordero, the Chief Medico-Legal Officer and Forensic Pathologist of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Region VIII, conducted the autopsy on the cadaver of Ester Asoy and identified his Medico-Legal Necropsy Report dated December 24, 1996 (Exhibits "A" and "A-1"), [24] which reads: "POST MORTEM FINDINGS: GENERAL: A fairly nourished, fairly developed female cadaver in beginning stage of decomposition. HEAD, NECK AND CHEST: - incised wound, at the anterior portion of the neck, 12 cms. in length, involving the inner structure of the neck, including the neck vessels, bilateral. There is partial fracture of the 3rd cervical ve