PEOPLE VS.

CABUANG, 217 SCRA 675 (1993)

Facts:
The accused were found guilty of robbery with rape and homicide. They were convicted
based on the medical report and primarily on the victim's cousin, Evelyn de Vera's sworn
statement positively identifying the accused as among the perpetrators and which she later
repeated in substantially identical terms before the trial court.

On appeal, the accused points to the entry in the police blotter which stated that the
assailants were "still unidentified". It was likewise argued that Evelyn de Vera had never
identified the appellants, who in fact had later identified the assailants from a police line-up.

Issue:
Whether entries made in the police blotter are conclusive proofs of the truth of such entries.

Held:
NO. Entries in a police blotter, though regularly done in the course of performance of official
duty are NOT conclusive proof of the truth of such entries. This Court held that entries in
official records like a police blotter are only prima facie evidence of the facts therein set out,
since the entries in the police blotter could be incomplete or inaccurate. Further, the
testimony given in open court during the trial is commonly lengthier and more detailed than
the brief entries made in the police blotter.