G.R. No. 116208 - THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ESMAEL SALIDO, MANNY BULOD, TENG CODALEZ, CAMARUDIN SILANGAN, ROBERT BALABAGIN, ALLAN KAWASA, FAHAD ZACARIA ALIAS "ALVIN," ALEX INEDAL, MOLIBAS SINDAD, BARTOLOME MABUTI, ROBERTO DIVINA AND JOHN DOES, ACCUSED, ALLAN KAWASA, ACCUSED-.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, accused Allan Kawasa, Molibas Sindad and Fahad Zacaria, alias Alvin, are found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of kidnapping, as charged in the aforequoted Amended Information; and they are each sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and to pay jointly and severally the offended party, Elizabeth Luega, the sum of P20,000.00, as moral damages. Accused Esmael Salido, Manny Bulod, Alex Inedal, Bartolome Mabuti and Roberto Divina, for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, are acquitted of the charge against them. As aforesaid, only Allan Kawasa interposed an appeal, and in his brief, he assigns a single error, asserting that there was a mistrial resulting in a miscarriage of justice insofar as he is concerned due to the inefficiency and negligence of his counsel. The facts of the case are as follows: On January 6, 1993 at around 7 o'clock in the morning, Loreta Chua, her two sons Stanley and Jermyn, and her housemaid Elizabeth Luega, were on board Mrs. Chua's car, driven by Bartolome Mabuti, when they were blocked by another car, along Taft Avenue. Three unidentified men, later found to be Allan Kawasa, Molibas Sindad, and "Alvin" Zacaria alighted from the blocking car, introduced themselves as Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) agents and boarded Mrs. Chuas' vehicle. Sindad took the wheel from Mabuti, Zacaria sat beside Mabuti and Stanley in the front seat, while Kawasa sat beside Luega, Jermyn, and Mrs. Chua at the back seat. They then proceeded towards South Super Highway, with the car that blocked them and another back-up car following them. Upon reaching Susana Heights at around 9 o'clock, the three vehicles stopped. Mrs. Chua alighted from her car, with Kawasa following. They talked for a while. Then Kawasa returned and boarded Mrs. Chua's car. They drove away with the occupants of the two cars, leaving Mrs. Chua behind. Luega, Mabuti and the two children were then blindfolded and their hands tied. They were brought to a nipa hut in the middle of a sugar field where they were kept. Here, Luega was raped by one the men whom she was not able to identify. On January 7, 1993, the Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted an operation in Bongo, Laguna for the rescue of the kidnapped individuals. At about 7 o'clock of the same evening, police operatives rescued Mabuti Luega, and the Chua children, from the hands of their abductors after a brief gunfight. On January 8, 1993, a team led by Chief Inspector Allen Fortes of the PNP from Camp Crame apprehended accused Bulod, Silangan, Balabagin, and Codalez in Bacoor, Cavite and brought them to Camp Crame for questioning. On their way to Camp Crame, Fortes and his team met a speeding Ford Cortina car with Plate No. NKV 997, which was suspected as one of the cars used by the kidnappers. Upon intercepting said vehicle, the peace officers found Kawasa, Sindad, Zacaria, Salido, and Medal, who were