9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J.

Martinez : First Division

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People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division

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FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. 121039-45.

January 25, 1999]

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MAYOR ANTONIO L. SANCHEZ, GEORGE MEDIALDEA, ZIOLO
AMA, BALDWIN BRION, LUIS
CORCOLON, ROGELIO CORCOLON, and PEPITO KAWIT, accused-appellants.

DECISION

MARTINEZ, J.:

. . . a plot
seemingly hatched in hell . . .

This was how Judge Harriet O.

Demetriou 1 of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court, Branch 70,
in her 132-page Decision dated
March 11, 1995 now before us on review,
emphatically described the Allan Gomez-Eileen Sarmenta rape-slay that drew
strong
condemnation from an outraged populace in the middle of 1993.
After a protracted and grueling 16-month
trial, she found all
those charged therewith, namely: Calauan Mayor Antonio
Sanchez (hereafter the Mayor), George Medialdea, Luis and Rogelio
Corcolon,
Zoilo Ama, Baldwin Brion and Pepito Kawit (appellants herein), guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of rape
with homicide on seven counts and
sentenced each one of them:

. . . to suffer the maximum penalty of reclusion perpetua for each

of the seven offenses or a total of seven reclusion perpetua
for each
accused.
In addition, the Court hereby
orders all the accused to jointly and severally pay the victims respective
families the following sums by way of civil indemnity:

1. the sum of P3,432,650.00

representing the actual damages sustained by the Sarmenta family;

2. the sum of P3,484,000.00

representing the actual damages sustained by the Gomez family;

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9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division
3. the sum of P2,000,000.00 as
moral damages sustained by the Sarmenta family;

4. the sum of P2,000,000.00 as

moral damages sustained by the Gomez family;

5. the sum of P191,000.00 as

attorneys fees and litigation expenses incurred by the Gomez family; and

6. the sum of P164,250.00 for

litigation expenses incurred by the Sarmenta family.

As to the antecedents, appellants

all appear to agree that the trial court, in the very words of counsel 2 who prepared the

consolidated brief for the Mayor

and Medialdea, made a very detailed summary of both the prosecution and
defense evidence. 3
This Court can thus conveniently provide a briefer
but fairly accurate account of the respective versions of the State and the
defense on the basis of the trial courts summary, rather than combing the
heap of evidence presented by both sides.

The prosecutions version of the

events on that horrible night of June 28, 1993 was based mainly on the
recollections of its star
witnesses Aurelio Centeno and Vicencio Malabanan (a
member of appellant Sanchez security team) co-conspirators turned
state
witnesses. Both admitted having taken part in the abduction of Eileen and
Allan, but denied any personal involvement in
the rape of Eileen and the twin
killings that followed.
Heres their
story.

Medialdea (then the Deputy Chief

of the PNP Calauan), together with Centeno who was driving an ambulance,
fetched witness
Malabanan at his residence in the early morning of June 28,
1993 on the pretext that they will apprehend one Rodolfo Calva
alias Tisoy
a notorious gun runner and drug pusher in the locality.
Next to be picked up was Ama in Barangay
Masiit, then Luis
Corcolon (hereafter, Luis) in Barangay Mabacan.
On board the ambulance, the five (5) men
made stopovers in Barangays Imok
and Wawa until they headed back for Calauan at
past 7:00 oclock in the evening, upon orders of Luis.

At the Shell gas station in the

poblacion of Calauan, the five (5) men met and picked up Rogelio Corcolon
(hereafter, Boy),
Kawit and Brion, then they proceeded to Los Baos.
Along the way, Luis announced to the group
that the real purpose behind
the Los Baos trip is to take a pretty young lass
long desired by the Mayor and offer her to him as a gift.
Luis, to satisfy his
companions curiosity,
even guaranteed that her beauty will make their saliva drip.

Not for long, the ambulance

arrived at the U.P. Los Baos grounds.
Witness Centeno drove the ambulance around the campus at
a snails pace
while Luis scoured the area with watchful eyes. As the search inside the campus proved fruitless, Luis then
ordered Centeno to slowly drive out of the university compound and to stop upon
reaching the vicinity of the Agrix complex.
Luis, Boy, Ama, Brion and Kawit alighted from the ambulance and went
inside the Agrix complex.
Witness
Centeno overheard
Medialdea informing the Boss, via the radio, that they were
already in the area.
The Boss was the
Mayor.

Inside the Agrix complex is a

restaurant called Caf Amalia.
Parked
in front of that establishment was a Tamaraw van. Eileen and
Allan were its passengers, both occupying the front
seats.
She was wearing a T-shirt, white
shorts and rubber shoes.
Armed
with
guns, Luis and Boy approached Eileen and Allan, forcibly took the two and
loaded them at the back of the van.
All
the
appellants boarded the van while Centeno and Malabanan stayed in the
ambulance.
Both vehicles then headed
for Erais Farm
situated in Barangay Curba, owned by the Mayor.

As soon as the group arrived at

the farm, the two (2) captives were brought down the van.
Eileen was gagged by a
handkerchief and her
hands, like Allan, were tied.
A white
towel was wound around Allans mouth.
The Mayor, then wearing a
jogging attire, emerged from the resthouse and
asked the group:
My children, whats
the problem?
To this Luis respondent:
Mayor, this is our gift to you, the girl youve been longing for.
Shes really beautiful.
But whos that man? asked the Mayor.
Eileens companion, boss.
Medialdea replied.
We brought him along to avoid
complications,
he continued.

The two youngsters were then

brought inside the resthouse where Eileen was taken to the Mayors room.
Allan was badly
beaten up by Luis, Boy, Ama
and Medialdea and thereafter thrown out of the resthouse.
Kawit followed-up by striking Allans
diaphragm with the butt of an armalite, causing Allan to fall against a cement
box.
Brion thought Allan was already
dead, but
Kawit said: :His death will come later.

Meanwhile, Centeno, while waiting

for further orders, joined the Mayors personal aides Edwin Cosico and Raul
Alorico watch
television at the adjacent resthouse. Alorico told Centeno that the Mayor had been eagerly waiting for
the group and worried
that they will not arrive.

At around 1:00 a.m. of the next

day, a crying Eileen was dragged out of the resthouse by Luis and Medialdea
her hair
disheveled, mouth covered by a handkerchief, hands still tied and
stripped of her shorts.
The Mayor, clad
merely in white polo,
appeared and thanked Luis and Medialdea for the
gift.
I am through with her.
Shes all yours, the Mayor uttered in
contentment.
When asked what will happen
to Allan, Medialdea assured the Mayor that they will also kill him for full
measure.
Eileen and
Allan were then loaded
in the Tamaraw van by the appellants and headed for Calauan, followed closely
by the ambulance.

En route to Calauan, Centeno, who

was driving the ambulance, noticed the van swaying from side to side.
Then he heard
gunfire coming therefrom.
The van pulled over whereupon Kawit dragged
Allan, whose head was already drenched in blood, out
of the vehicle onto the
road and finished him off with a single gunshot from his armalite.
The ambulance and van then sped
away.

The next destination was a sugarcane

field in Sitio Paputok, Kilometro 74 of Barangay Mabacan.
It was here that Luis
announced that its
tiime for the group to feast on Eileen (the exact words of Luis were Turbohin
na rin natin ang tinurbo ni
Boss).
She was laid at the back of the van, with her hands and legs being held
by the appellants while waiting for their turn.
Then the gang-rape began.
The first to ravish Eileen was Luis, then Medialdea, Boy, Ama, Brion and
finally, Kawit.
Bewailing the
helplessness of her situation, Eileen pleaded, in between sobs and whimpers,
for the torture to stop.
However, her
tears for
compassion fell, weak and ineffective, upon the insensitive
brutes.
Kawit invited Centeno to join
the sexual fiasco but the latter
refused as he cannot, in conscience, bear the
bestiality being committed on Eileen who appeared to be dead.
After Kawits turn,
Eileen knelt on the seat
of the van and begged for her life.
Unmoved, Luis muted Eileens cried by forcing an object into her
mouth
and then fired his baby armalite at her.
Centeno was thereafter ordered to get rid of Eileens dead body.
Moments later,
all eight (8) men boarded the
ambulance and proceeded to Calauan, leaving the Tamaraw van with Eileens
remains behind.
Along the way, Centeno
and Malabanan watched in dismay as Luis, Boy, Medialdea, Ama, Brion and Kawit
savored the nights
escapade, to their
sickening delight.
Appellants
and Malabanan were then brought to their respective homes by Centeno.

June 29, 1993 and the day

following were tense moments for the group.
In the morning of June 29, Medialdea and Centeno
fetched Malabanan, Luis
and Ama.
They were going to Barangay
Imok to make it appear that they were conducting some police
operations in that
area.
Upon reaching Barangay Imok, the
group saw Allans body which they dumped a few hours earlier.
Luis,
Medialdea and Malabanan alighted from
the ambulance, whereupon Luis ordered Centeno to drive back to the municipal
hall.

Boy Corcolon, who was at the

municipal hall, informed Ama that a dead female loaded inside a Tamaraw van was
found in
Barangay Mabacan.
Ama then
radioed the PNP Chief of Calauan, Major Cao, who at that time was summoned by
the Mayor.
Major Cano thereafter
arrived and ordered one SPO2 Melencio Nuez to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, Centeno received
word that he was
to fetch Malabanan, Luis and Medialdea in Barangay Imok.
After picking up the three (3), Centeno
drove the
ambulance to Barangay Mabacan where the dead Eileen was found.

Eileens body lying inside the

Tamaraw van was a pitiful sight.
Her
face bore a gunshot wound; a handkerchief was stuffed in
her mouth; her T-shirt
was rolled up revealing her breasts; and her panty was rolled down on one of
her feet still with rubber
shoes on.
Medialdea covered Eileens exposed private parts by fixing her T-shirt
and underwear and by placing a sackcloth over
her lower body.
The group then escorted the van with
Eileens body in it, to the UP Los Baos police station where student milled
around and identified the cadaver to be Eileen indeed.
Later on, the van carrying Eileen, as well
as Allans body, was brought to
the Calauan municipal hall.
There, Centeno saw a prisoner named Arnold
cleaning the van.

Meanwhile, Malabanan, Ama and

Medialdea, on June 29, went to the site (Bgy. Imok) where Allans body was
found, started
asking residents about the incident and were able to retrieve an
empty armalite shell.
Malabanan
thereafter handed the empty
shell to Major Cao at the police station.
The three (3) men and one SPO3 Rizaldy Belen,
sometime in the afternoon of the same
day, visited the Mayor at his house in
Bay, Laguna.
Medialdea informed the
Mayor of the presence of people from the CIS, NBI
and press in the locality.
The Mayor flared up and blamed them for not
using their heads.
But he later on
assured them that he
could fix the problem in less the amount of a brand new
car.

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9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division
The following day, June 30,
Medialdea, upon the Mayors directive, handed a pair of white walking shorts to
Major Cao.
When
Malabanan asked
Medialdea whose pair of shorts was that, the latter replied that it was the
short of Eileen which the Mayor
wanted to be delivered to Major Cao.

That same day of June 30, Centeno

went to see the Mayor at his house in Calauan about his worries over reports
that the
driver of the ambulance involved in the rape-slay was being hunted
down.
The Mayor gave Centeno P2,000.00
and advised him
to keep silent or better yet, to go into hiding.
Centeno did hide himself until CIS agents
accosted him at the Divisoria market on
August 10, 1993.
As to Malabanan, he, Medialdea and Ama were
brought to the PNP Sta. Cruz Command to shed light on the
cleaning of the
Tamaraw van.

Coming now to the defense, each of

the appellants had an alibi to tell and sought to put the blame on Kit Alqueza,
the son of a
feared general (Dictador Alqueza) who earned the monicker Barako
from the local residents.

The Mayor claimed that he was at the residence of his mistress

Elvira in Bay, Laguna in the morning of June 28, 1993.
They
left for Makati City at about 1:00
oclock in the afternoon thereafter proceeded to San Pablo City at around 4:00
p.m., left that
city at 7:30 p.m. and then returned to Elviras house in Bay at
around 10:00 p.m.
He and Elvira retired
at around 12:30 in the
morning.
He woke
up at 5:00 a.m. Jogging was his favorite form of exercise, but foul whether
prevented him from running that
morning.
His three (3) children with Elvira greeted him at around 6:30 a.m.
before heading for school.
He took his
breakfast
and lunch at Elviras house.

Medialdea, Ama and Malabanan

arrived between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. and informed the Mayor of the rape-slay
in which Kit
Alqueza was the prime suspect.
This made the Mayor very angry, for which he ordered a thorough
investigation of the incident
to avoid any whitewash. "I will not hesitate to have the perpetrators of this crime
killed (by electric chair), whether a generals
son in involved or not, son of
a bitch!, he blurted.
The Mayor then
advised appellants not to worry if they were really innocent
and that the
primordial concern is that a full investigation be conducted.

The Mayor then went to his

residence in Calauan.
At around 4:00
p.m. of that same day (June 29), he sent his driver Mario
Puyales to Barangays
Masiit and Balayhangin to inquire from the residents about the crime.
Puyales returned at around 7:00
p.m. and
informed the Mayor that a card gambler was able to retrieve a pair of white
shorts lying near the national highway in
Barangay Balayhangin.
Puyales was sent back to that barangay to
advise the residents thereof to keep the shorts at their fence
near the highway
as it may later on aid the on-going investigation.

In the morning of June 30, 1993,

the Mayor, with some companions, jogged towards the direction of Barangay Mabacan
and at
the same time inquired from residents whether they noticed anything
unusual on the night of June 28, 1993.
A certain Mang
Torio told the Mayor that he found a pair of maong
pants lying at the side of the road but left if there.
After inspecting the dirty
maong pants,
the Mayor instructed Mang Torio to keep the pants as the former will send
someone back to pick it up.

Eventually, the Mayor got hold of

the pairs of white shorts and maong pants.
The shorts was clean, with complete beltloops and
without any tear.
He then ordered his driver Puyales to send
the articles to Medialdea for safekeeping.
But during the trial, the
Mayor, when shown the shorts and pants,
claimed that they are quite different from the articles he got hold of previously.
The
maong pants shown to him by Mang Torio
was of a darker shade of blue.
As to
the white shorts, it was the same pair he gave
to Medialdea, but now it is torn
and has some missing beltloops.

Based on his own investigation,

the Mayor came to know that Kit Alqueza is a feared and dangerous student of
the university,
being a member of an elite fraternity in the campus and a
generals son at that.
The Mayor later
informed Congressman Tingzon
of Kits probable involvement in the crime.
Congressman Tingzon, in turn, disclosed that
Kit, his nephew-in-law (the
congressmans wife is the sister of Gen. Alquezas
wife), was hiding in his house and that the legislator will call Gen. Alqueza
in
Davao City to discuss the matter.

The Mayor also testified that he

closely coordinated with Major Cao in investigating the case.
This included frequent evening
conferences
with Malabanan, medialdea and Ama who were members of Major Caos
investigation team.

Subsequently, the Mayor was

requested to facilitate the surrender of Luis and Boy Corcolon to Camp Crame
since the CIS
suspected them of being involved in the crime together with
Kit.
The Corcolon brothers, accompanied
by the Mayor, peacefully
surrendered to CIS operatives in the afternoon of July
12, 1993.

On August 10, 1993, the Mayor

received an anonymous phone call advising him that he would better leave the
country because
he was to be arrested in three (3) days time.
He refused to heed the advice because he had
nothing to do with the crime.
And
so he
was apprehended on August 13, 1993 at his Calauan residence and brought to Camp Vicente Lim where he was
presented
to the media.
There he saw Centeno and
Malabanan who did not greet him.
General Salimbangon ordered the two
(2) witnesses to implicate the Mayor.
The general then ordered that the Mayor be
handcuffed as he is the rapist.
You
son of a
bitch, Salibangon.
You framed
me up, the Mayor cursed.

The Mayor denied having given

Centeno advice and P2,000.00 pocket money on June 30, 1993.
It was only in the courtroom
that he saw
Centeno, although he knows the latter.
The Mayor also denied Malabanans testimony implicating him in the
crime.
In fact, Malabanan wrote him
letters asking for his help.
The trial
court noted, however, that the letter adverted to by the
Mayor were all
addressed to Judge Baldo.

Appellant Medialdea was Calauan policeman until his summary dismissal on

September 10, 1993.
He claimed that he,
being
a member of a crack team formed by Major Cao and composed of Malabanan,
Luis and Ama, was preoccupied the whole day of
June 28, 1993 conducting police
operations on board an ambulance in different barangays of the town in search
of Tisoy. The
fruitless operations ended at about 9:00 p.m. of June
28.
Driving the ambulance, he got home
at around 10:30 p.m. where he
saw his wife playing mahjong with some
friends.
Medialdea joined the players
for about an hour, then he slept until 5:00 a.m.
of the next day (June 29).

The crack team met again in the

morning of June 29, 1993 to continue the manhunt for Tisoy. At around 7:15
a.m. in Barangay
Imok, they saw Tisoy speed by in a motorcycle.
Medialdea and Luis fired shots in the air
but Tisoy managed to escape.
Centeno
was not present when this event transpired because he was instructed to go to
the municipal hall with the ambulance.

Upon hearing news over the radio

that a dead body was found at Sitio Paputok, Km. 74, Barangay Mabacan,
Medialdea radioed
Centeno to fetch the group at the fishpond of one Gani.
As soon as Centeno arrived at around 8:00
a.m., they proceeded to
Km. 74 where they saw Eileens body inside the van
parked in the sugarcane field.
Major
Cao and several policemen were
already there.
Medialdea had to pull down Eileens T-shirt and roll up her underwear to
spare her from numerous kibitzers
staring at her naked body.
He recovered several scattered items inside
the van like cigarette packs, a paddle, spike shoes, and
5 bottles of
beer.
The van was then driven by a
certain Gener to the UP Los Baos escorted by the ambulance and Major Caos
police car.

Thereafter, at around 9:30 a.m.,

Medialdea, on Major Caos directive, went to the Gomez residence and asked
for Allan.
The
maid told him that Allan
has not come home since the night before and that she last saw him at around
6:30 p.m. with one Jet
Tejada.
As there
was no other person inside the house except the maid, Medialdea, with her
permission, searched for Allan
inside but to no avail.
Before leaving, he instructed the maid to
tell Allan that he better make good his hiding because Allan is a
suspect in
the crime.
At the Tejada residence, Jet
was neither there.
So Medialdea
proceeded to the boarding house of Eileen
and instructed the landlady to inform
calmly Eileens parents on what had happened to their daughter.

Medialdea then returned to the UP

Los Baos security force where he told Major Cao that Allan had escaped.
Before leaving UP
campus to bring Eileens
body to Calauan, Major Cao ordered Medialdea to still look for Allan.
When his efforts to find Allan
inside the
campus proved futile, Medialdea sought the aid of Barangay Captain Cesar Ruiz
who brought him to the barangay
hall where Jet Tejada was.
Tejada strongly objected to Medialdeas
insinuation of his and Allans participation in the crime,
saying that they can
never do anything as dastardly as that.

Afterwards, a certain Allan, a

barangay tanod, volunteered that he knew Allan. This Allan opines that if Allan was dead then Kit
had a hand on
it since Allan had earned Kits ire when the former began dating the latters
girlfriend named Rose.
Medialdea
informed Major Cao that Allan perhaps has gone to Manila with his father.
The Major replied that Allan is here, but is
likewise
dead.

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9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division
Ama then informed Major Cao that
they have a suspect named Kit who had an axe to grind against Allan.
Then someone in the
crowd uttered Ako
iyon.
Kit approached and told Ama that
he and Allan had patched up their differences three (3) months ago.
Medialdea
noticed a drop of blood on the middle of Kits right thigh.
Kit explained that the blood oozed after
punching a wall
with his right knuckle.

At the municipal hall, Ama handed

an empty armalite shell recovered from the site where Allans body was
found.
Thereafter,
Arnold (the prisoner
who was cleaning the van) was seen carrying the rubber matting of the Tamaraw
van to hang it over the
municipal fence to dry. Ama could not help but curse Arnold and ordered the latter to
bring it back.
Ama explained to Major
Cao
that they could be dragged to the case just like what happened to the
policeman in the Paraaque massacre who burned a
mosquito net and was
thereafter sacked.

Medialdea also testified that it

was Major Cao who ordered the cleaning of the van to diffuse the stench caused
by the blood
stains therein.

Then on July 6, 1993, Medialdea,

together with Ama and Malabanan, went to the PNP Sta. Cruz Command to answer
queries
about the cleaning of the van.
They were then brought to Canlubang where they executed their respective
sworn statements.
Medialdea also
recalled that Major Cao instructed them not to say anything about the cleaning
of the van.
Afterwards, they
were
brought back to the PNP Sta. Cruz and detained therein pending the filing of
formal charges against them.

Major Cao visited Medialdea the

next day, July 7.
The major advised him
that they should just point to Malabanan as the one
who cleaned the van.
Medialdea did not heed his advice for he
pitied Malabanan and besides, it was Major Cao who really
ordered its
cleaning.
The major then reiterated the
reason why he caused its cleaning (the unbearable stench of blood).

Days later, on July 16, 1993,

Medialdea and Ama, together with Malabanan, were brought to the Department of
Justice where
Fiscal Abesamis asked them to sign a waiver of their
detention.
On July 24, 1993, the three
(3) men were led back to PNP
Canlubang where Colonels Gualberto and Tiangco
began investigating then on July 27, 1993.
During the investigation,
Medialdea was being enticed by Col. Gualberto
to cooperate with the government by testifying against the Mayor, as there is
an
order from the higher echelon to bring the Mayor down.
He refused, saying that the Mayor is
completely innocent because he is
pro-poor and the Mayor even walks the church
aisle on his knees.
Col. Gualberto
threatened that he will be dragged all the
more to the case if he will not
cooperate.
Medialdea begged for mercy
and suggested that they should investigate Kit instead.
The colonel said that messing up with Kit is
like ramming into a wall.
Medialdea was
then asked to sign a statement that
contained inaccurate answers.
The inaccuracies were supplied by Col.
Gualberto.

Medialdea also professed his

ignorance before Col. Tiangco.
This
colonel was less diplomatic.
He
splashed coffee on Medialdeas
face, cursed him and whipped his face.
So was Malabanan. The investigators would hit then when they try to reason.
Back to
his cell, Medialdea heard Col.
Tiangco order somebody to have him killed in the evening.

On August 13, 1993, one Colonel

Versoza advised Medialdea to follow Malabanan in testifying against the
Mayor.
They will be
placed under the
Witness Protection Program where they would be entitled to allowances, free
housing facilities and the chance
to go abroad with their families where they
can live peacefully, Col. Versoza assured them. Medialdea refused once again.
Malabanan therafter informed him that he and Centeno had already given
false statements for they can no longer stand the
torture inflicted on them.
But Medialdea stood pat with his refusal,
for he cannot testify falsely against his companions just to
free himself.
It is still better to live than to die a
martyr, Malabanan answered.

We now to go appellant Luis

Corcolons story which painted the Kit Alqueza angle in greater
detail.
In the morning of June 25,
1993, three (3) men went to Luis residence
in Barangay Mabacan.
They told Luis
that their boss, Edgardo Lavadia alias Uod,
wanted to see him the next
day.
Lavadia is a very generous friend
of Luis for so many years who, as a professional forger of
checks, is being
protected by General Alqueza.

Luis arrived at Lavadias house at

around 2:00 p.m. of June 26.
There he
saw Kit and Lavadias men.
Lavadia
requested him to
abduct and kill Allan because the latter has done something
wrong to Kit.
Luis asked what Allans
fault was and then suggested
that if its just a small squabble, they better
forgive Allan.
Lavadia insisted, but
Luis appeared hesitant since it might put him in
big trouble.
Lavadia tempered his request by asking Luis
to merely help in getting rid of the body.
Luis agreed.
He and Lavadia
were
to meet again on June 28, 1993 in the Bay cockpit. After this, Luis left.

Luis was also a member of the team

formed by Major Cao to hunt down Tisoy.
At around 8:30 in the morning of June 28, 1993,
he was fetched by
Medialdea, Ama, Malabanan and proceeded to Barangay Imok on board the ambulance
driven by Centeno to
apprehend Tisoy.
At around 1:00 p.m., Luis left the group and went to Bay cockpit to meet
Lavadia, as agreed upon the
previous day.
When he arrived at the cockpit, only Lavadias men were there.
Luis then asked one of the men to tell Lavadia
that he is backing out of the agreement.
He first attended the derby being held at the cockpit before returning
to Barangay
Imok at around 5:00 p.m. and re-joined the team.
They left Barangay Imok at around 7:30 p.m.
and proceeded to Barangay
Wawa, San Pablo City where they stayed for about two
(2) hours waiting for Tisoy.
Sensing
that Tisoy would not be passing by,
the team headed back for Calauan.
Luis was driven home first and reached his
house at around 9:30 p.m.
A certain
Ernesto
Bustillo was waiting for him to borrow his passenger jeepney.
Thereafter, Luis slept at around 10:30 p.m.

At around 4:45 a.m. of the next

day (June 29) while Luis was preparing the breakfast of his children, a Tamaraw
van, driven by
Kit, stopped in front of his house honking its horn
continuously.
Four (4) motorcycle-riding
men, each wearing bonnet masks
and maong jackets, escorted the van.
Kit sought his help in burying at once the
dead female body inside the van.
Luis
inspected the van and saw a naked corpse of a woman. He refused Kits summons after which Luis immediately returned to
his
house, turned off the lights and closed door for fear that Kits escorts
would shoot him.
The convoy then headed
towards the
direction of Sitio Paputok, Km. 74.

At about 6:30 a.m., Luis, Centeno,

Medialdea and Malabanan met and continued their surveillance of Tisoy at
Barangay Imok.
They saw Tisoy pass by
at around 7:10 a.m. but were not able to apprehend him.
The group thereafter went to Ganis fishpond
at about 8:30 a.m. then proceeded to Km. 74 to verify reports of a females
death.
There they saw the Tamaraw van
with a
dead woman inside.
Luis
recognized the vehicle as that driven by Kit hours earlier, but he kept
silent.
The group then brought
the van
to the UP Los Baos campus.

In the morning if June 30, 1993,

Luis met the Mayor.
The latter instructed
him to investigate on who dumped Eileens body at
Km. 74.
Luis obliged and said that he will make a
report within a week.
He, however, did
not tell the Mayor about Kits
involvement in the crime.

On July 7, 1993, CIS agents of

Canlubang raided his house during his absence thereat.
The agents, his wife said, planted a gun
inside.
The next day, Luis read in the
papers that a P100,000.00 reward has been offered for his and brother
Boys capture. He
rushed to the Mayor who advised him to remain quiet.

In the afternoon of July 12, 1993,

Luis went to Boys house upon being summoned by the Mayor who was with General
Quizon
and Colonel Hilario.
He and Boy
were brought to Camp Crame for interview.
After the interview, the CIS took their sworn
statements.
The answers therein, Luis said, were
furnished by the agents.
He signed the
statement out to fear without the
assistance of a lawyer of his own
choice.
For several days, he was
investigated by PACC agents.
Then on or
July 20, 1993, he
and Boy were transferred to CIS Canlubang and were
interrogated by Col. Tiangco who repeatedly manhandled and cursed
him.
Luis insisted on his innocence and suggested
that it is Kit who they should investigate.
After the interview, Luis was
tortured by way of water treatment, denied
of food and was not allowed to receive visitors. In the afternoon of June 28, 1993,
Luis was brought before the
PACC where he was again manhandled during the 2-hour interrogation.
He answered yes to all the
questions
hurled at him because he was already dizzy.
He was also informed that Lavadia had already executed a statement
saying that the latter paid him.

On August 1, 1993 at the PACC-TFH

office, General Quizon was forcing him to testify against the Mayor.
He was also
interviewed by media afterwhich,
he was brought back to his cell where he met Lavadia. He cursed and strangled Lavadia.
Luis
suggested that they should now tell the truth about Kits involvement,
but Lavadia advised him to remain silent because reprisal
from General Alqueza
would be far worse.
Luis was detained
at the PACC until the start of the trial.
He also filed a complaint for
torture before the Commission on Human
Rights.

Boy Corcolon testified that he never left house on the night of

June 28, 1993.
He woke up at around
7:00 a.m. of the next
day and proceeded to the Calauan police station on his
motorcycle upon being informed of the discovery of a dead female in

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sitio
Paputok, Km. 74.
After going to the
municipal building where he saw Ama, Major Cao and Judge Baldo, Boy followed
Major
Cao and his men in going to Km. 74.
There he saw the naked body of the dead woman inside the van.
Boy thereafter followed
the van to the UP
compound.
Moments later, the van was
brought to Calauan municipal hall compound.
He did not stay in the
municipal hall, but went straight home instead.

The CIS agents raided his house on

July 7, 1993.
The next day, Boy read in
the papers that he and his brother Luis were being
haunted down by the
authorities and a P100,000.00 bounty is at stake for their capture.
He rushed to the house of the Mayor
to
inform the latter of the raid.
The
Mayor advised him to remain calm and to avoid being visible.

In the afternoon of July 12, 1993,

he and Luis were fetched by General Quizon and Colonel Hilario at Luis
residence and
thereafter brought to Camp Crame. At the camp, press people interviewed them after which they were
led to a room for taking
of their respective sworn statements.
Boy claimed that he was forced to give his
statement after being kicked, slapped and
cursed by the investigators.
He tried to correct portions of his
statement but the investigating officer did not allow him.
Boy and
Luis were detained at the camp until
charges have been filed against them, for their refusal to cooperate with the
CIS.

On July 20, 1993, the two (2)

brother were brought to an uninhabited place near a hill in Barangay Paliparan
where they were
made to stand in front of the military group consisting of
Generals Quizon and Salimbangon, Colonel Gualberto and his men.
Boy and Luis were each asked to hold an
armalite rifle, and then pictures were taken of them handing the rifles over to
the
generals.

The next day (June 21), they were

brought to CIS Canlubang and stayed there until the start of the trial in September,
1993.
Boy claimed he was subjected to
electric shock and water treatment to make him confess his guilt.

Ama, also a member of the team involved in the Tisoy

manhunt, related a similar story on the groups sorties in different
barangays
on June 28, 1993.
After the failed
mission, Centeno dropped him off at his residence in Barangay Masiit at about
10:00 p.m. of the same day and did not leave the house until the next morning.

At around 6:15 a.m. of the next

day (June 29), he was at Barangay Balayhangin to wait for Tisoy per Medialdeas
instruction.
Minutes later, he saw
Tisoy pass by on a motorcycle and thereafter reported the matter to
Medialdea.
Ama learned of Eileens
death at around 8:00 a.m. when he was at the Calauan police station.
Centeno thereafter picked him up and they,
together
with Medialdea, Malabanan and Luis proceeded to Sitio Paputok where
Eileens body was found.

From the university compound, he,

Medialdea, Malabanan and a UP student named Butch went to Allans house but the
latter
was not there.
They also went to
Jet Tejadas and Eileens boarding houses.

At
Barangay Batong Malaki, Los Baos, barangay tanod Allan revealed to Medialdea
that the dead Allans enemy was Kit.
Allan
was fond of girls and there was a time when Kit got angry at and
threatened Allan when the latter dated Kits girlfriend Rose,
the tanod
narrated.

Ama and the rest of the group were

able to talk to Jet Tejada who denied any involvement in the crime.
After Major Cao
informed him that Allan is
already dead, Ama told the major about the friction between Allan and Kit.
Then someone tapped
Major Caos shoulder
and identified himself as Kit who clarified that he had patched up with Allan
about three (3) months ago.
Kit
angrily
pointed his finger at Ama, then
Major Cao pacified them.
Ama asked Kit
about the drops of blood on his right thigh.
Kit explained that the blood came from his right knuckle. He is our
suspect Ama blurted.
Major Cao,
however, reprimanded him
for making such a loud comment.

*(On the cleaning of the van,

Amas story is similar to Medialdeas account heretofore discussed).

Thereafter, Ama, Medialdea and

Malabanan found their way to the Mayors residence in bay.
Ama revealed to the Mayor that Kit
is the
suspect.
The Mayor said that Kit comes
from a very powerful and influential family, and that his father, General
Alqueza,
is a tough man.
The Mayor
nonetheless assured them of his support.

On July 1, 1993, Ama accompanied

some CIS personnel at the site where Allans body was found.
They found drops of blood,
cigarette butts
and wrappers in the area.
Later in the
afternoon, Ama went to Canlubang as he was asked by Colonel Roxas to
make a
written report on the Kit Alqueza angle.
He completed his statement in about five (5) hours.
The officer before whom
he was sworn, Ama
noticed, was drunk.

On July 3, 1993, he received word

that he was to undergo counter-insurgency training effective that same
day.
Two (2) days
after (July 5), he
asked a certain Colonel Toco why he was being required to undergo training
again.
The colonel promised to
look
into the matter.
On that
same day, Malabanan informed him that Luis
appeared panicky and was acting suspiciously, as
the latter seemed to go back
and forth to the municipal hall and kept asking Malabanan for the names of
people investigating
the case.
Also on
that day, Ama gave the NBI Regional Director some information about Kit and
Luis which started the NBI
investigation.

On July 6, 1993, Ama, together

with Medialdea and Malabanan, executed his statement in CIS Canlubang assisted
by one Atty.
Exconde who asked him to sign the same even before Ama can read
it.
At PHQ Sta. Cruz, the Deputy
Provincial Commander for
Operations fumed when he declared in his statement
that he was absent during the cleaning of the van. He declared so
because Major Cao instructed him to keep silent
on that matter.
Subsequently (July 7),
he learned of Malabanans escape.

On July 24, 1993, Ama, Malabanan

and Medialdea were brought to CIS Canlubang.
They ate drugged food which gave him
chest pain and made him very weak
and talkative.
He saw Medialdea being
whipped on the head with a newspaper by one
official.

Five days later (July 29), they

were brought to the PACC where Luis pointed to them before the media.
The next day (July 30),
he and General
Alqueza met at the Department of Justice.
The general cursed him for dragging Kit in the case and even
challenged
him to a fistfight outside the building.

On August 7, 1993, at General

Salimbangons office, the general informed him that his summary dismissal is on
hand unless he
testifies against the Mayor.
When he refused, the general cursed him. Colonel Gualberto also tried to convince him by offering
promotion, house and lot, monthly allowance, or a chance to leave the country
with his family.
But Ama insisted on
his
innocence.

On August 13, 1993, a sobbing

Malabanan embraced Ama and asked for his forgiveness because the former has
already
implicated him falsely in the crime.
Malabanan said he could no longer bear the torture being inflicted on
him and the threats
on his life and family.
He was also advised by Malabanan to follow suit, but he refused once
again.

Brion is the Mayors nephew. He denied being in the company of any of the appellants on the
evening of June 28, 1993 as he
stayed at their house on J. del Valle St.,
Calauan the whole night.
In the morning
of July 29, 1993, he was arrested at his
father-in-laws house without any
warrant.
The arresting officer told him
that Colonel Navarro (PNP Director of Laguna) wanted
to interview him.
Brion was brought to the Calamba police
station from where he was taken to Canlubang.
There, Col. Navarro
cursed him for being so elusive.
Brion answered that he never went into
hiding.
Col. Navarro informed him that
Luis Corcolon
has revealed that he was the third man to rape Eileen.
Brion then heard Malabanan shouting that he
is taking all the blame for
the crime if they would just spare the two students
(Brion and Kawit) who are totally innocent.

Brion, together with Malabanan,

Ama and Luis, was brought to the office of the then Vice-President Estrada who
asked Ama
and Malabanan whether they raped Eileen. Ama belied the accusation.
Malabanan, too, professed innocence and said that in
the nine (9) years
he stayed in Mindanao, it is his first time to cry this way.
This convinced the vice-president of
Malabanans
innocence.
Kawit also cried
at this point.
Brion saw Luis being
held up by two men towards the room as Luis appeared to be on
the brink of collapse.
One of the escorts then raised Luis hand so
as to point at Brion.

On July 30, 1993, Brion, Ama,

Malabanan, Kawit, Luis and Boy were brought to the Department of Justice where
Fiscal Zuo
asked them to sign some papers.
Luis was instructed to re-affirm his sworn statement before the PACC
while Brion and Kawit
were asked to sign a waiver of detention.
The three (3), however, refused.
Fiscal Zuo offered them a lawyer from the
Public
Assistance Office (PAO) to assist them but Brion rejected the offer.

On August 6, 1993, General Quizon

asked Brion to sign a confession but he refused. When a second statement was prepared,
he cried because he was
allowed to read only that portion relating to his personal circumstances before
being forced to sign it

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without the assistance of a lawyer.
Thereafter, he was brought back to PHQ Sta.
Cruz at around 5:00 p.m.

Brion related having executed a

sworn statement detailing the methods of torture he underwent to force him into
implicating
the Mayor, Ama, Medialdea and Malabanan, viz:

1)
he would be placed in a doghouse-like cell
fitted with loudspeakers;

2)
his hands would be tied behind his back and
he would be tied to a bench.
A towel
would be placed over his mouth and
nostrils, then 7-up is poured on his face;

3)
his body would be whipped with guns.

No medical
examination was ever conducted on him. More, his captors would padlock his cell
whenever Atty. Arias paid him a
visit.

Kawit was a houseboy of the Mayor in his Calauan

residence.
He claimed he slept at
around 9:00 p.m. of June 28, 1993 and
woke up at 6:00 a.m. the following day to
water the plants.

On July 16, 1993, he was

interrogated in connection with the deaths of Eileen and Allan.
Later in the day, Medialdea and some
policemen fetched him at his house in Barangay Bagong Pook and brought him to
PHQ Sta. Cruz.
Kawit was led into a
room
where Medialdea, in the presence of Centeno and Malabanan, asked him the
name of the girl who was reportedly shouting
while Kawit was dragging her at
CPAMMS.
Kawit answered that there were
two (2) bar girls, whose names are Carla and Ninja
Joyce, who were shouting
at Barangay Bagong Pook.
Ama then
entered the room and requested Malabanan and Medialdea not
to hurt Kawit.
When Malabanan and Medialdea left the room,
Kawit explained to Ama that the two (2) bar girls complained of
one Melvin
Pajadan not paying them for their services.

Thereafter, Kawit was asked by one

Major Uyami to make a statement.
After
signing the statement, Kawit was told by
investigator Cansanay that the major
wanted him to include in his statement the Mayors involvement in the
Gomez-Sarmenta
slaying, but Kawit refused.
He was thus detained for the night.
A policeman in civilian clothes thereafter asked him to sign a
paper
bearing his name and the handwritten words: Pauuwiin ka na bukas ng
umaga.
Kawit signed the paper, but he
was not
released the next day.

Before this Court, Mayor Sanchez

and Medialdea filed their consolidated Appellants Brief,
and so did Ama, Brion and Kawit.
Brothers Luis and Boy Corcolon, on the other
hand, filed separate appeal briefs.
Briefly, the pith of the assigned errors and the
focus of the
appellants arguments is the issue of witnesses Centeno and Malabanans
credibility, whose open-court narrations
served as principal basis for the
trial courts rendition of a guilty verdict.

So oftenly repeated by this Court

is that the matter of assigning values to declarations on the witness stand is
best and most

competently performed by the trial judge 4 who had the unmatched opportunity to observe the
witnesses and to assess their
credibility by the various indicia
available but not reflected in the record.
The demeanor of the person on the stand can draw
the line between fact
and fancy.
The
forthright answer or the hesitant pause, the
quivering voice or the angry tone, the
flustered look or the sincere gaze, the
modest blush or the guilty blanch these can reveal if the witness is telling
the truth or

lying in his teeth. 5 cräläwvirtualibräry

Judge Demetriou who presided over

the entire trial until its very conclusion expressed her satisfaction with the
way witnesses
Centeno and Malabanan survived the hot seat with flying
colors, so to speak.
With respect to
Centeno, the honorable Judge had
this to say:

In thus passing upon the credibility of Centeno, this Court kept

his alleged dubious reputation for veracity in mind. But, after
carefully reviewing the testimony of Centeno in his
direct examination and gruelling (sic) cross-examination for almost 3
months,
this Court, even with a jaundiced eye, could not help but be impressed about
the myriad of details in his testimony
and his frank, spontaneous and
straightforward manner of testifying.
The lengthy and punishing cross-examination by seven
lawyers to which he
was subjected failed to bring out any serious flaw or infirmity in his
perception or recollection of events or
destroy the coherence of his
narration.
That Centeno merely wove
such a yarn from his fertile imagination, conflict with a
multitude of details,
is highly improbable considering that his highest educational attainment was
sixth grade in the elementary

school. 6

Similarly,
Malabanan displayed a frank, straightforward manner of answering questions and
a desire to state all the facts within
his knowledge, and his credibility was
never shaken on cross-examination; there was no indication of prevarication or

evasiveness.
Consequently, (his)
testimony is entitled to full faith and credit, the honorable Judge observed. 7 Her impressions
of these star witnesses for the
State bind this Court, for we accord great respect if not finality, to the
findings of the trial court

on the credibility of witnesses. 8 They, therefore, ought not to be disturbed. 9 And once the prosecution witnesses are afforded

full
faith and credit, the defenses version necessarily stands discredited. 10 cräläwvirtualibräry

To recall, all the appellants

relied on the defense of denial/alibi, i.e., they were at their respective
homes on the night of the
rape-slay.
But Centeno and Malabanan confirmed the presence of all the appellants
on the night of June 28, 1993 till the early
morning of the following day and
detailed the exact participation of each in the crime.
Positive identification by credible

witnesses of the accused as the perpetrators of the crime, as we have

consistently held, demolishes the alibi 11 - the much

abused sanctuary of felons. 12 Moreover, except for the Mayor who presented Ave
Marie Tonee Jimenez Sanchez (his daughter
with his mistress Elvira) and
Medialdea who presented his neighbor Anastacia Gulay, the other appellants
failed to present
corroborating testimonial evidence to butress their
respective alibis.
The defense of alibi
is inherently weak especially when
wanting in material corroboration.
Categorical declarations of witnesses for
the prosecution of the details of the crime are more

credible than the

uncorroborated alibi interposed by the accused. 13 Ave Maries testimony is of no help to the Mayor,
since alibi
becomes less plausible as a defense when it is invoked and sought
to be crafted mainly by the accused himself and his

immediate relatives. 14 Anastacia Gulays testimony is likewise worthless

since the trial court found her testimony rehearsed. We
will not disturb this finding because it touches on
credibility.

In fine, the defense of alibi is

an issue of fact that hinges on the credibility of witnesses, and the
assessment of the trial court,

unless patently and clearly inconsistent, must

be accepted. 15 cräläwvirtualibräry

In an attempt to discredit
Centeno, appellants principally harp on the contradictions in four (4) Sworn
Statements executed by
Centeno on August 13, 1993, August 15, 1993, August 17,
1993 and August 30, 1993.
The Solicitor
Generals Office
summarizes appellants asseverations on this point, viz:

Appellants point out that while in his Sworn Statement dated

August 13, 1993, Centeno stated that after the victims were
seized, they were
brought to CPAMMS, in his Sworn Statement dated August 15, 1993, he claimed
that the two were brought
to Erais Farm (p. 86-96, Sanchez and Medialdea; p.
11-12, Luis Corcolon; p. 38, Ama, Brion and Kawit; p. 10, Rogelio
Corcolon).
Appellant also point out
that in the August 13, 1993 Sworn Statement, Centeno merely referred to a
person named
Edwin (without stating his family name) and another person he did
not know who was in the place where the victims were
brought.
In his Sworn Statement dated August 17,
1993, Centeno supplied the family name of Edwin as Cosico and the name
of the
other person whom he did not know as Lito Angeles (pp. 96-97, Sanchez and
Medialdea).

Another major contradiction pointed out is that in his August 13,

1993 Sworn Statement, Centeno mentioned that he drove the
Corcolon brothers to
the house of Edgardo Uod Lavadia in Bangkal Street, Los Baos, Laguna.
Upon arriving at the house of
Lavadia,
Centeno saw Lavadia and Teofilo Kit Alqueza talking. Later Lavadia handed an envelop to Luis Corcolon.
In the latest
Sworn Statement dated August
30, 1993, Centeno stated that they did not go to the house of Lavadia and that
during the
whole day of June 26, 1993, Centeno was with Malabanan (pp. 99-102,
Sanchez and Medialdea; pp. 37-40, Ama, Brion and

Kawit; p. 8, Rogelio
Corcolon). 16

The trial judge found Centenos

explanation on these inconsistencies satisfactory, justifying such finding with
pertinent
jurisprudence.
The Court,
therefore, affirms and adopts her disquisition on the matter, viz:

With respect to the portion of his sworn statement dated August

13, 1993 which implicated Kit Alqueza, Centeno explained that
it was dictated by
a CIS agent named Rommel.
He feared
Rommel because the latter threatened him that he would be hurt if

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he did not
cooperate.
Even when his family was
already under the custody of the CIS on August 15, 1993, he did not ask for
the
deletion of the said portion because he was still under the CIS custody.
It was only on August 30, 1993 when he was
placed
under the Witness Protection Program that he found the courage to
execute another sworn statement for the specific purpose
of deleting the
reference to Kit Alqueza.
Although he
was placed under the Witness Protection Program on August 17, 1993,
there was a
delay in his retraction of Kit Alquezas involvement due to his inability to
reach Fiscal Arellano.

Centenos explanation is quite believable because he had already

implicated the accused Sanchez in his sworn statement of
August 13, 1993.
Thus, the portion implicating Kit Alqueza
does not jibe with the main story of Centeno that Eileen Sarmenta
was abducted
by Medialdea, Ama, the Corcolon brothers, Brion and Kawit to be given as a gift
to their boss, Mayor Sanchez.

As to his sworn statement of August 15, 1993 where he stated that

the victims were taken to Erais Farm instead of CPAMMS as
originally indicated
in his August 13, 1993 sworn statement, Centeno explained that when he gave his
first statement he was
still hoping that Mayor Sanchez would help him.
Furthermore, he feared the power and
influence of the Mayor.
Thus, according
to him, he gave the wrong place to mislead his investigators.
It was only on August 15, 1993 when the
accused Sanchez was
already in prison that Centeno decided to correct his
previous statements.

This Court is inclined to accept the explanation of Centeno that

his earlier attempt to mislead the investigators by saying that
the victims
were taken to CPAMMS was out of fear of the Mayor. Our Supreme Court has recognized that the inherent fear of
reprisal by witnesses who refuse initially to disclose what they know about a
crime is quite understandable, especially when the
accused is a man of power
and influence in the community (People v. Catao, 107 Phil. 861 [1960]).

In a recent case, People v. Pascua (206 SCRA 628 [1992]), the

Supreme Court observed that Fear for ones life explains the
failure on the
part of a witness to immediately notify the authorities of what exactly
transpired.
And, [o]nce such fear is
overcome by a more compelling need to narrate the truth,
the Supreme Court went on to say, then the
witness must be
welcomed by the courts to help dispense justice.

Consequently, this Court will not reject the testimony of Centeno

on the basis of inconsistencies in his sworn statements taken
by police
authorities which have been sufficiently explained. What is more important is that Centeno testified on the witness
stand in a categorical, straightforward, spontaneous and frank manner and
remained consistent on cross-examination.
This

Court, therefore, finds Centeno a credible witness. 17

To further
fortify this observation, we advert to that all-too familiar rule that
discrepancies between sworn statements and

testimonies made at the witness

stand do not necessarily discredit the witnesses. 18 Sworn statements/affidavits are generally
subordinated in importance to open court declarations because the former are
often executed when an affiants mental faculties

are not in such a state as to

afford him a fair opportunity of narrating in full the incident which has
transpired. 19 Testimonies

given during trials are mush more exact

and elaborate. 20 Thus, testimonial evidence carries more weight than
sworn
statements/affidavits.

Appellants would also quibble on

the following portions of Centenos testimony, to wit:

1)
he could not give exactly where the
appellants went after sexually abusing Eileen;]

2)
he was unsure whether it was Eileens left
or right foot that hit the chair of the van when she was struggling;

3)
he was unsure of their speed while on their
way to the UP compound;

4)
he could not give the exact distance between
the ambulance he was driving and the van;

5)
he said he could see the protruding end of
the roof of a kubo when he parked the ambulance in front of the Big J
restaurant.
Appellants claim that from
where Centeno was allegedly standing, there was no way he could see the roof of
that
kubo;

6)
he was able to recall what appellants were
wearing on that night of June 28, 1993;

7)
he saw Kawit hit Allan at his diaphragm with
the butt of an armalite, but the medico-legal finding of Dr. Escueta revealed
no injury in the abdominal region of Allan;

8)
his testimony that the appellants raped
Eileen inside the van which was very limited space, while appellants could have
chosen a far more comfortable or remote place to do the crime.
With respect to the Mayor, it was very
unbelievable for him to
commit rape inside his room filled with religious
adornments and in the process risk his reputation as mayor and an established
man in the community;

9)
his testimony to the effect that appellants
rolled their pants down to their knees and then climbed the van to rape
Eileen.
Appellants would consider such
testimony impossible, claiming that the narrow circumference of the waistline
will
impede and obstruct the upward movement of the legs.

10)
his admission that he can lie for money, or
out fear.

It may be conceded that these inconsistencies marred Centenos

testimony, but they refer to trivial details which do not, in

actuality, touch
upon the whys and wherefores of the crime committed. 21 Equally settled is the rule that inconsistencies in
the
testimony of witnesses when referring only to minor details and collateral
matters do not affect either the substance of their
declaration, their
veracity, or the weight of their testimony.
Although there may be inconsistencies on minor details, the same
do not
impair the credibility of the witnesses
where there is consistency in relating the principal occurrence and
positive

identification of the assailants, 22 as in this case.

Slight contradictions in fact even serve to
strengthen the sincerity of a witness

and prove that his testimony is not

rehearsed. 23 They are fail-safes against memorized perjury. 24 Besides, errorless

testimonies cannot be expected

especially when a witness is recounting details of a harrowing experience. 25 Even the most

truthful witnesses can make mistakes

but such innocent lapses do not necessarily affect their credibility. 26 Consequently,
Centenos and Malabanans credibility
still remains intact notwithstanding these inconsistencies.

Other pieces of evidence further

enhance the damaging testimonies of Centeno and Malabanan.
For one, a missing belt loop
from the pair
of white shorts worn by Eileen on the night of the crime was recovered from
Erais Farm by prosecution witness
Major Lulita Chambers who, together with Col.
Gualberto and other officers, went there on August 19, 1993 to effect service
of
the search warrant issued by RTC Judge Geraldez. Major Chambers, a forensic chemist, conducted a series of
laboratory
examinations and later concluded that the retrieved beltloop matched
in color, size and fiber composition with a beltloop she
detached from the
white shorts of Eileen which she (Major Chambers) used as a standard.

Another corroborating evidence is

the M16 empty bullet shell recovered at the site where Allans body was
found.
The ballistic
examination on the
empty shell conducted by FID-PNP Chief Ballistician Vicente de Vera revealed
that the striations of the
empty shell were the same as those registered by the
cartridges from M16 rifle bearing Serial No. 773159 surrendered by Luis
Corcolon.
Mr. De Vera also found the
metallic fragments recovered from Eileens body, after conducting microscopic
examinations thereof, to bear the same characteristics as those from a bullet
fired from an M16 rifle.

The autopsy and vaginal

examination conducted by prosecution witness Dr. Vladimir V. Villaseor,
medico-legal officer of the
PNP-CIS, on Eileens cadaver buttresses all the
more the gang-rape story of the prosecution.
Dr. Villaseors findings, in a
nutshell, disclosed the presence of
multiple contusions on Eileens body, fresh shallow lacerations on her hymen, a
congested
cervix, a gaping labia majora and oozing whitish fluid (tested
positive for spermatozoa) from the vaginal opening. Oozing
spermatozoa, Dr. Villaseor explained, means that the
amount of semen was much more than the vaginal canal could contain
and that
there were several seminal ejaculations that occurred therein.
He also noted that a great quantity of
whitish fluid
continued to ooze from Eileens vaginal opening despite her death
for several hours.
Taking into account
all these findings, Dr.
Villaseor ruled out the possibility of any consented
sexual intercourse.
In this connection,
appellants would belittle Dr. Villaseors
findings by insisting as the more
convincing opinion the defenses medical expert witness, Dr. Ernesto Brion who
testified to the
effect that there can be no multiple rape if there is only one
laceration on Eileens hymen as testified to by Dr. Villaseor.
We
dismiss appellants argument by
reiterating anew that the absence of extensive abrasions or contusions on the
vaginal wall does

not rule out rape because the slightest penetrations enough. 27 It is not an indispensable element for the
successful prosecution

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9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division
of said crime. 28 Moreover, Dr. Brion is an uncle by consanguinity and
erstwhile counsel of record of the Mayor, thus making his
objectivity highly
questionable.

Appellants Ama, Kawit and Brion

would assail the trial courts finding that they were part of the conspiracy to
commit the rape-
slay.
Their concurrency
of sentiment with the other appellants, however, was evident from the time they
abducted Eileen and
Allan, brought the two to Erais Farm where Eileen was raped
by the Mayor and Allan beaten up black and blue, headed for a
sugarcane field
killing Allan along the way, sexually abused Eileen in rapid succession and
finally killed her.
In not an instance

did any of the three appellants (Ama, Kawit and Brion) desist from that common
design. 29 Likewise, the complicity of the
Mayor in the crime
can be deduced from the following conversations he had with some of the
appellants at the Erais Farm (per
Centenos testimony), viz.:

LUIS CORCOLON: Mayor, ito po yung regalo namin sa

inyo.
Ito po yung babae na matagal na
po ninyong kursunada.

MAYOR: Aba, and

ganda talaga ng babaeng yan.
Pero sino
yung kasama ninyong lalake?

MEDIALDEA: Boss, kasama ho yan ng babae

yung lalake.
Isinama na rin ho namin
para wala pong bulilyaso.

After raping Eileen, the Mayor had

this short exchange with Medialdea:

MAYOR: O
sige mga anak, salamat sa regalo ninyo.
Salamat sa regalo ninyo sa akin.
Tapos na ako, sa inyo na iyan.
Bahala
na kayo diyan.
Ano naman
ang gagawin ninyo diyan sa lalake?

MEDIALDEA: Boss, papatayin na

rin po namin ito para wala pong bulilyaso.

Finally, on appellants claim that

the publicity given to this case impaired their right to a fair trial, we need
only to revisit this
Courts pronouncements in People v. Teehankee, Jr.
(249 SCRA 54), viz:

We cannot sustain appellants claim that he was denied the right

to impartial trial due to prejudicial publicity. It is true that the
print and broadcast media gave the case at
bar pervasive publicity, just like all high profile and high stake criminal
trials.
Then
and now, we rule that the
right of an accused to a fair trial is not incompatible to a free press.
To be
sure, responsible reporting
enhances an accuseds right to a fair trial
for, as well pointed out, a responsible press has always been regarded as the
handmaiden of effective judicial administration, especially in the criminal
field x x x.
The press does not simply
publish
information about trials but guards against the miscarriage of justice
by subjecting the police, prosecutors, and judicial
processes to extensive
public scrutiny and criticism.

Pervasive publicity is not per se prejudicial to the right

of an accused to fair trial.
The mere
fact that the trial of appellant was
given a day-to-day, gavel-to-gavel
coverages does not by itself prove that the publicity so permeated the mind of
the trial
judge and impaired his impartiality.
For one, it is impossible to seal the minds of members of the bench from
pre-trial and other
off-court publicity of sensational criminal cases.
The state of the art of our communication
system brings news as they happen
straight to out breakfast tables and right to
our bedrooms.
These news form part of
our everyday menu of the facts and fictions
of life. For another, our idea of a fair and impartial judge is not that
of a hermit who is out of touch with the world. We have not
installed the jury system whose members are overly
protected from publicity lest they lose their impartiality.
Criticisms against
the jury system are
mounting and Mark Twains wit and wisdom put them all in better perspective
when he observed: When a
gentleman of high social standing, intelligence, and
probity swears that testimony given under the same oath will outweigh
with him,
street talk and newspaper reports based upon mere hearsay, he is worth a
hundred jurymen who will swear to their
own ignorance and stupidity x x x.
Why could not the jury law be so altered as
to give men of brains and honesty an equal
chance with fools and miscreants?
Our judges are learned in the law and trained
to disregard off-court evidence and on-camera
performances of parties to a
litigation.
Their mere exposure to
publications and publicity stunts does not per se fatally infect
their
impartiality.

At best, appellant can only conjure possibility or prejudice on

the part of the trial judge due to the barrage of publicity that
characterized
the investigation and trial of the case.
In Martelino, et al. v. Alejsndro, et al., we rejected this standard of
possibility of
prejudice and adopted the test of actual prejudice as we ruled that to warrant
a finding of prejudicial publicity,
there must be allegation and proof that the
judges have been unduly influenced, not simply that they might be, by the
barrage
of publicity.
In the case at
bar, the records do not show that the trial judge developed actual bias against
appellant as a
consequence of the extensive media coverage of the pre-trial and
trial of his case.
The totality of
circumstances of the case
does not prove that the trial judge acquired a fixed
opinion as a result of prejudicial publicity which is incapable of change even
by evidence presented during the trial.
Appellant has the burden to prove this actual bias and he has not
discharged the
burden.

And so we come to hear another

tale of woe, of an infamous public figure and his minions indicted for having
raped and killed a
young lady and a budding lad, of these victims who had led
short obscure lives that earned an equally ignominous end, and of
a criminal
enterprise so despicable only the unthinking beasts can orchestrate.
It was, indeed, a plot seemingly hatched in
hell.
And let it not be said that the
full protection of the law had been deprived appellants.
Even a beast cannot deny this.

WHEREFORE, the assailed decision is hereby AFFIRMED in all

respects.
In addition, each of the
appellants having been found
guilty of seven (7) counts of rape with homicide
and considering that existing jurisprudence pegs the amount of indemnity for
the death of the victim at Fifty Thousand (P50,000.00) Pesos, this Court
hereby orders each of the appellants to pay the
respective heirs of Eileen
Sarmenta and Allan Gomez the amount of Seven Hundred Thousand (P700,000.00)
Pesos as
additional indemnity.

SO ORDERED.

Davide, Jr., C.J., (Chairman),

Melo, Kapunan, and Pardo, JJ., concur.

Endnotes:

1
Nor Chairman of the COMELEC.

2
Atty. Juanito Andrade.

3
Brief for Appellants Sanchez and Medialdea, p. 4.

4
People v. Tacipit, 242 SCRA 241; People v. Sarabia, 266 SCRA 471.

5
People v. Espinosa, 180 SCRA 393.

6 RTC Decision, pp. 109-110.

7
RTC Decision, pp. 114-115.

8 People v. Tayco, 235 SCRA 610.

9
People v. Apolonia, 235 SCRA 124.

10
People v. Calegan, 233 SCRA 537.

11
People v. Tabaco, 270 SCRA 32; People v. Piandong, 268 SCRA 555;
People v. Dinglasan, 267 SCRA 26; People v. Navales, 266 SCRA
569; People v. Ferrer,

255 SCRA 19; People v. Abrenica, 252 SCRA

54; People v. Vivar, 235 SCRA 257.

12 People v. Plandez, 132 SCRA 70.

13
People v. Villalobos, 209 SCRA 304.

14 People v. Danao, 253 SCRA 146;

People v. Rio, 201 SCRA 702.

15
People v. Apa-ap, 235 SCRA 468.

16
Consolidated Brief for the Appellee, pp. 38-39.

17 RTC Decision, pp. 112-114.

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9/13/21, 11:48 AM People vs Sanchez : 121039-45 : January 25, 1999 : J. Martinez : First Division
18 People v. Ferrer, 255 SCRA 19;
People v. Sarellana, 233 SCRA 31; People v. Quiming, 222 SCRA
371.

19
People v. Padao, 267 SCRA 64.

20
People v. Miranda, 235 SCRA 202.

21
People v. Muoz, 163 SCRA 730.

22
Sumalpong v. CA, 268 SCRA 764; People v. Sison, 189 SCRA 643.

23
People v. Letigio, 268 SCRA 227; People v. Mendoza, 254 SCRA 61.

24
People v. Roa, 167 SCRA 116.

25 People v. Ibay, 233 SCRA 15.

26
People v. Calegan, 233 SCRA 537.

27 People v. Cervantes, 222 SCRA 365;

People v. Tismo, 204 SCRA 535; People v. Cruz, 180 SCRA 765;
David v. CA, 182 SCRA 675; People v. Taneo, 284 SCRA

251.

28
People v. Julian, 270 SCRA 733; People v. Balsacao, 241 SCRA 309.

29 People v. Peralta, 251 SCRA 6.

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