G.R. No. 178322 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. GENEROSO ROLIDA Y MORENO @ KA DAVID/KA RAQUEL.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE AND IN VIEW OF ALL THE FOREGOING, the court finds accused GENEROSO ROLIDA alias Ka David and alias Ka Raquel guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of MURDER defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 7659 and hereby sentencing ( sic ) him to suffer the penalty of DEATH. Accused is ordered to pay the heirs of Froilan Roman the amount of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity; P50,000.00 as moral damages, exemplary damages in the amount of P30,000.00. Accused is further ordered to pay the amount of P18,320.00 as actual damages. In so far as ALEX MALABANA alias Ka Aldrin, Rodelio Verdagera alias Ka Abel, Nelson Cay alias Ka Noel, and one alias Ka Manuel ( sic ) are concerned, who are presently at large, case is hereby ordered ARCHIVED until their arrest. Let an alias warrant of arrest be issued for their apprehension. [12] In his brief filed with the Court of Appeals to which the case was elevated on automatic review, [13] appellant argued that he was mistakenly identified by the victim's family which did not have ample opportunity to observe the faces of the malefactors in view of the rapid turn of events, as well as the shock and panic that had overcome them; [14] and that his alibi was not improbable, the location of his residence being borne out by the records; and that he did not flee, unlike his co-accused, indicates his innocent conscience. [15] The Solicitor General countered that there was no doubt as to the identity of appellant as one of the malefactors since Pamela and Maryann positively identified him through the scar on his left cheek; [16] and that appellant's alibi cannot prosper considering his failure to prove that it was physically impossible for him to have been at the scene of the crime at the time of its commission. [17] By Decision dated March 5, 2007, [18] the appellate court affirmed that of the trial court, with modification in that the penalty was reduced to reclusion perpetua pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 9346, and the award of exemplary damages was lowered to P25,000.00. [19] Thus it disposed: WHEREFORE, the judgment of the court a quo finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder qualified by treachery and with the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation is hereby affirmed with modification in the sense that the penalty of DEATH is modified to Reclusion Perpetua pursuant to Republic Act 9346 which prohibits the imposition of the death penalty. The award of P30,000.00 as exemplary damages is likewise modified to P25,000.00. The rest of the awards are affirmed. The alias warrants of arrest for the apprehension of Alex Malabana alias Ka Aldrin, Rogelio Verdagera alias Ka Abel, Nelia Cay alias Ka Noel and one alias Ka Marcel stay. Hence, this appeal. In separate manifestations, appellant and the Solicitor General informed that they were no longer filing supplemental briefs, their respective positions having been adequately