G.R. No. 177566 [Formerly G.R. No. 164433] - THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ROSALINDA TRAPAGO TAN A.K.A. KAYE SUAREZ PALINO, MARIA EL FELASOL FLORES, A.K.A. MAE FELASOL FLORES, ARMANDO PANAGUITON DE LUNA, BENITO FEOLOG FELAZOL, EDUARDO FRONDOZO FELAZOL, ANGELITO ANG DIEGO AND ROBERTO TOLENTINO.D

Ruling

WHEREFORE , premises considered, the April 5, 2002 Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Biñan, Laguna, Branch 24, in Criminal Case No. 9984-B, is hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION that in view of the passage of R.A. No. 9346, the accused-appellants are suffered to serve the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua with the accessory penalties prescribed under Article 40 of the Revised Penal Code in lieu of the Death Penalty. [20] The appellate court rejected appellants' defense of denial and held that it cannot prevail over the ample amount of circumstantial evidence proffered by the prosecution which tends to prove their involvement in the crime. The appellate court likewise sustained the trial court's finding that demands for ransom had been actually made by appellants. On 22 August 2007, this Court required the parties to simultaneously file their respective supplemental briefs. [21] However, on 10 and 15 October 2007, the OSG and appellants respectively manifested that they were adopting their brief earlier filed before the Court of Appeals. [22] The fundamental issue to be resolved is whether the guilt of the appellants has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. For the accused to be convicted of kidnapping and serious illegal detention under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, the prosecution is burdened to prove beyond reasonable doubt all the elements of the crime, namely: (1) the offender is a private individual; (2) he kidnaps or detains another, or in any manner deprives the latter of his liberty; (3) the act of detention or kidnapping must be illegal; and (4) in the commission of the offense any of the following circumstances is present: (a) the kidnapping or detention lasts for more than three days; (b) it is committed by simulating public authority; (c) serious physical injuries are inflicted upon the person kidnapped or detained or threats to kill him are made; or (d) the person kidnapped and kept in detained is a minor, the duration of his detention is immaterial. Likewise, if the victim is kidnapped and illegally detained for the purpose of extorting ransom, the duration of his detention is immaterial. [23] Based on the victim's account, the ordeal he had gone through can be divided into three distinct segments, namely: (1) the forcible taking, (2) the asportation, and (3) the protracted detention. The first segment was the Mamatid (in Cabuyao, Laguna) episode where he was held by armed men at gunpoint and forcibly boarded in a car. The second segment covered the entire forced journey of the victim from Mamatid to the detention house in Taytay, Rizal. And the third segment was the Taytay episode. It covered the full length of the victim's involuntary confinement spanning eight (8) days until his stirring rescue. There is no doubt that the victim was deprived of his liberty throughout all the episodes. But the question is: was the criminal liability of the appellants in each and every episode established beyond reasonable doubt? We agree