G.R. No. 216064 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, V. ANTONIO DACANAY Y TUMALABCAB, ACCUSED-.

Ruling

Accordingly, PO3 Santos proceeded to contact a lawyer from the Public Attorney's Office. [22] In the meantime, PO3 Santos apprised Antonio of his constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent. [23] However, as determined by both the RTC and the CA, despite having been apprised of his rights, Antonio nonetheless confessed to the crime before the media representatives, who separately interviewed him without PO3 Santos, viz : Per [Antonio]'s account, around 4:00 in the morning, he and his wife had a fight pertaining to the unaccounted amount of P100,000.00. With extreme anger, he stabbed his wife several times. Thereafter, he threw all the pieces of evidence to the river. [Antonio] further declared that he set up the first floor of their house by placing a pitcher of juice, a half-empty glass of juice and cigarette on top of the table, to make it appear that someone else went to their house and robbed the place. He also confessed that he took the missing pieces of jewelry and placed them inside his locker at PHIMCO. He allegedly admitted the killing of his wife as his conscience has been bothering him. x x x [24] Insofar as accused's confession was heard, media men Nestor Etolle from the Philippine Star and Jun Adsuara from Tanod (Bantay ng Bayan) alleged, in the same tenor, that when it was reported that the case has (sic) been solved, they each went, at different time intervals, to the detention cell of the Manila Police District to interview the suspect. Accused, however, remained consistent in admitting that he was the one who killed his wife x x x. He was alleged to have said that he has been bothered by his conscience that was why he admitted to the killing. x x x [25] (Citations omitted) Notably, the reporters, Jun Adsuara and Nestor Etoile, were presented by the prosecution during trial, wherein both testified that Antonio voluntarily admitted his complicity in the crime without any intimidation or coercion exerted on his person. [26] As a result of the interview, a news article entitled " Mister timbog sa pagpatay sa asawa " was published in the October 10, 2007 issue of Tanod Diyaryo Bayan . [27] Moreover, it was later confirmed by PO3 Santos during a follow-up operation that the missing jewelry ( e.g ., a pair of gold earrings, a necklace with a cross pendant, a necklace with an oval pendant) were indeed stored in Antonio's locker at PIDMCO, consistent with the latter's extrajudicial confession before the press. [28] Likewise, based on a medico-legal report prepared by Dr. Romeo Tagala Salen of the Manila Police District, the cause of Norma's death was due to multiple puncture wounds on the body, and that the weapon used could have been a round instrument ( e.g ., an ice pick). [29] For his defense, as summarized by the RTC, Antonio interposed the twin defenses of alibi and denial, claiming coercion and intimidation on the part of the police officers involved in the investigation of the crime, to wit: At the police station,