People vs. Alto. G.R. Nos. L-18660 and L-18661.

November 29, 1968 –

Castro, J.:

Facts:

Nueva Ecija was a Huk-infested province in the years 1949 to 1951. Eduardo Joson, the then incumbent
mayor of the municipality of Quezon, in particular, led a campaign against the Huks.

During the local elections of 1947 and 1951, Joson and Alto were the major candidates for the mayoralty
of Quezon, Nueva Ecija. In both elections, Joson won over Alto. Alto claimed that he was cheated
because the civilian guards of Joson took the ballot boxes. However, he did not file an election protest.

On Nov. 12, 1950, Joson who was in a jeep with an aide and members of his family were ambushed.
Mayor Joson and 4 others sustained physical injuries.

On December 15, 1951, the Huks ambushed Mayor Joson and some policemen. As a result, three
policemen were slain.

Alto was linked to the two offenses solely on the basis of the reward of P 2,000 he allegedly had given to
the Huks.

The trial court, relying on the testimony of Salvador convicted Alto. Salvador surrendered to the
authorities and severed his connections with the Huks. He testified that Alto offered Francisco, the
supreme leader of the various Tanggulang Bayan, the amount of P 2,000 for the liquidation of Joson.

Salvador was the only eyewitness to the handing by Alto of the amount of P 2,000 to Francisco and the
subsequent delivery of the latter to Marcial. The two other witnesses, Garcia and Pineda, were not privy
to the passing of the money form hand to hand.

Issue:
 Whether or not the sole testimony of Salvador is sufficient to convict Alto.

Held

No. The testimony of Salvador is considerably enfeebled by his own admission that he was an
accomplice. A defendant in a criminal case cannot be convicted on the evidence of an accomplice only,
and to sustain such conviction, there must be other evidence corroborating that of the accomplice
which tends to show the guilt of the defendant.

Further, the long continued silence of Salvador for a duration of almost four years, before he
suddenly volunteered to testify for the prosecution, engenders serious doubt as to his motives and
renders his testimony suspicious.