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SECONDDI
VISI
ON

G.
R.No.133026 Febr
uar
y20,
2001

PEOPLEOFTHEPHI
LIPPI
NES,
plai
nti
ff
-appel
l
ee,

v
s.

EDWARDENDI
NO(
atl
arge)andGERRYGALGARI
Nal
i
asTOTO,
accused.

GERRYGALGARI
Nal
i
asTOTO,
accused-
appel
l
ant
.

BELLOSI
LLO,
J.:

YIELDINGt oman'sbrut
ishi
nsti
nctforr
evenge,
Edwar
dEndi
no,wi
tht
heaidofGer
ryGal
gar
in
al
iasTot o,sl
ewDennisAquinoi
nt hepr
esenceofal
adywhosel
ovet
heyonce
shared.1âwphi1.
nêt

Onabusyst r
eetinPuertoPrincesaCi tyintheev eningof16Oct ober1991,anembol dened
GerryGalgari
n,uncleofaccusedEdwar dEndi no,suddenl yandwi t
houtwarninglungedatDennis
andstabbedhi mr epeat
edlyont hechest .Dennis'girl
fr
iendClaraAgagaswhowaswi thhim,
stunnedbytheunexpect edattack,pleadedt oGal gari
nt ostop.Dennisstr
uggledandsucceeded
moment ari
lytofreehimselffrom hisattacker.Denni sdashedt owardsthenearbyMi dtown
Salesbuthisescapewasf oi
l
edwhenf rom outofnowher eEdwar dEndinoappearedandf i
redat
Denni
s.AsDenni
sst
agger
edf
orsaf
ety
,thet
wo(
2)assai
l
ant
sfl
edi
nthedi
rect
ionoft
heai
rpor
t.

Meanwhi l
e,Dennis,woundedandbl eeding,soughtref
ugeinsi
det heElohim St
orewherehe
collapsedont hefloor.Hewasgr aspi ngforbreat
handneardeat h.Clarawiththehel
pofsome
onlooker stookhi mt othehospitalbutDenni sexpir
edevenbeforehecoul dreceiv
emedical
attention.Accor di
ngt otheautopsyr eportofDr.Josephi
neGoh-Cr uz,causeofdeathwas
"cardio-respi
ratoryarrestsecondar
yt ohy povolemicshocksecondar ytoastabwoundwhich
penet ratedthehear t
."1

On18Oct ober1991,anI nf
ormat i
onf orthemur derofDennisAquinowasf i
l
edagai nstEdward
Endinoandaccused-appell
antGer ryGalgari
nandwar rant
swereissuedforthei
rarrest.However
,
asbothaccusedr emainedatlarge,thetrialcourti
ssuedon26December1991anor derputt
ing
thecaseinthearchiv
eswi thoutprejudi
cet oitsrei
nstatementuponthei
rapprehension.

On19Nov ember1992,GerryGalgar
inwasar r
estedthroughthecombi nedeff
or t
softhe
Antipol
oandPal awanpol i
ceforcesatahousei nSit
ioSto.Niño,Anti
polo,Ri
zal.Hewas
i
mmedi atelyt
akenint
otempor arycustodybytheAntipol
oPol i
ce.Earl
yintheev eni
ngofthe
fol
lowingday ,hewasfetchedfrom theAnti
poloPoli
ceSt ati
onbyPO3Gaudenci oManlaviand
PO3Edwi nMagbanuaoft hePalawanpol i
ceforcetobet akentoPalawanandbet r
ied
accordingly.

Ont hei
rwayt otheai r
port
, t
heyst oppedatt heABS- CBNt elevi
sionstati
onwher eaccused
Galgari
nwasi ntervi
ewedbyr eporter
s.Videof ootagesoft heinter
v i
ewweret akenshowi ng
Galgari
nadmi tti
nghisguiltwhilepointi
ngt ohisnephewEdwar dEndinoast hegunman.
AccordingtoGal gari
n,af
terat t
ackingAquino, theylef
tforRoxas, Palawan,
wher ehi ssi
ster
Langgingwhoi sEdwar d'
smot her,waswai ti
ng.Langginggav ethem moneyf ortheirf
aref or
Mani l
a.Theytookt heboatforBat angas,wher etheystayedf oraf ewdays,andpr oceededt o
Mani l
awher etheyseparated,withhim headi ngforAntipolo.Galgari
nappealedf orEdwar dto
gi
v ehimselfuptot heauthori
t i
es.Hisint
erviewwasshownov ertheABS-CBNev eni
ngnews
program TVPat rol
.

Thecaseagainstaccused-appel
l
antGer ryGal
gari
nwasest abl
ishedthroughthetest
imonyof
Clar
aAgagaswhosai dt hatshewaswi ththevi
cti
m DennisAquinostandingoutsi
dethe
SoundlabRecordi
ngStudio,abarhouseownedbyhi m, whenGalgari
nsuddenlyapproached
them andwit
houtanypriorwarningstabbedDennis.Dennist
ri
edt orunaway,butEdward,a
spur
nedloverwhoharboredil
l-
feeli
ngstowar
dsherandDenni
s,shotDenni
s.Sher
ecogni
zed
EdwardandGerrybecausethestreetwassuf
fici
ent
lyl
i
ght
ed.2

Thet est
imonyofCl araAgagaswascor roborat
edbyAni taLeong, next
-doorneighborofDennis,
whot estif
iedt hatali
ttlepastsi
xo' cl
ockintheeveningof16Oct ober1991Ger ryGalgari
n
togetherwi t
hacompani onwentt oherhouselookingf orDennis.Shei nstruct
edt hem t
o
proceedt otheSoundl abRecordingStudioasDenni smi ghtsti
llbet here.Butaf ewminuteslater
shehear daI nstinct
ively,shei
nstruct
edhert wo(2)y oungdaught erstoduckforcov erwhil
eshe
anxiouslywai t
edf orhersev en(7)-
yearolddaughterJosephi newhowasoutoft hehouseforan
errandforher .Soonenoughshehear dJosephi
neknocki ngatthei rdoor.Shewascr yi
ng
becauseshesai dherKuy aDennishadbeenshotandst abbed.3

Josephi
neconf
ir
medhermother
'stest
imonyandevensaidt
hatshehadseenGer
ryGalgar
in
stabherKuy
aDenni
sandshecouldrememberGerr
yv er
ywellbecauseoft
hemol
ebelowhis
nose.
4

Forhispart,accused-appell
antGerryGalgari
ndiscl
aimedhavingtaki
ngparti
nthesl
ayi
ngof
Dennis.Gerryassertedthaton14Oct ober1991hewasi nAnti
polotohelphi
scommon-l
awwife
MariaMar asigangivebirt
htotheirfir
stborn.Hestayedwithherunti
lthe16t
hofOct
oberwhen
shewasdi schargedf r
om thePedr agozaMat er
nit
yClini
c.5

Clari
taFlorentinoPedr agoza,
themi dwifewhodel i
v eredhi sson,suppor tedt heali
biofaccused-
appellant.Howev er,sheadmittedthatwhensher egi steredthechild'sbi r
thon13December
1993ormor ethantwo( 2)yearsafterthedeliv
ery, shei nformedtheci v
ilregist
rarthatt
hechild'
s
fatherwas" unknown. "6Hisstorywasal soconf i
rmedbyDol oresAr ciagaandMar iaTomenio,
hisco-wor kersattheKai nansaKuboSi ngAlongRest aurant,whot estifi
edt hataccused-
appellantwasf etchedbyanei ghborf r
om t herestauranti ntheearlyaf ternoonof14Oct ober
withthenewst hathiswi fewashav i
ngl aborpains.7

Accused- appel
l
antdisownedtheconf essi
onwhichhemadeov erTVPatrolandclai
medthatit
wasi nducedbyt het
hreatsofthearresti
ngpol
iceoff
icers.Heasser
tedthatthevideot
aped
confessionwasconst i
tut
ional
lyi
nfir
medandi nadmissibl
eundertheexcl
usionaryrul
eprov
ided
i
nSec. 12, Ar
t.I
II
,oft
heConst i
tut
ion.
8
Thet r
ialcourthowev eradmi t
tedthevideofoot
agesont hestr
engthofthet esti
monyoft he
poli
ceof fi
cersthatnof orceorcompul si
onwasexertedonaccused-appellantandupona
fi
ndingthathisconf essionwasmadebef oreagroupofnewsment hatcoul dhavedissipat
ed
anysembl anceofhost ili
tytowardshim.Thecourtgavecredencetothearr est
ingoff
icers'
asserti
ont hati
twasev enaccused-appell
antwhopleadedwiththem thathebeal l
owedt oair
hi
sappeal onnationaltelev
isi
onf orEdwardtosurr
ender.

ThealibiofGal garinwasl i
kewi
ser ej
ectedsincether
ewasnoconv incingevidencetosupport
hi
sallegat i
ont hathewasnotatt helocuscr i
minisontheev eningof16Oct ober1991.
Accordingly,accused- appell
antGerryGalgari
nwasconv ictedofmur derqualif
iedbytreacher
y9
andsent encedt or eclusionper
petua.Additi
onall
y,hewasor deredtoindemni fytheheir
sof
DennisAqui noP50, 000.00ascompensat orydamagesandP72, 725.35asact ualdamages.The
caseagai nsthisnephewandco- accusedEdwar dEndinoremai nedint hearchiveswithout
prej
udicet oitsreinstatementassoonashecoul dbear rested.10

I
nhisAppell
ant
'sBr
ief
,GerryGal
gari
nassai
l
sthetri
alcour
tforr
eject
inghi
sal
i
biandadmi
tt
ing
hi
svideot
apedconf
essionasevi
denceagai
nsthi
m.

Thear gumentt hataccused- appellantcouldnotbeatt hesceneoft hecrimeon16Oct ober

1991ashewasi nAnti
poloassi sti
nghi swi f
ewhowasgi vi
ngbi rthont he14thoft hatmont h,i
s
notper suasive.Al i
bii
saweakdef ense.Thet estimonyofCor nelioTejeroJr.,
11Phi l
ippine
Air
linesLoadCont rol
l
eroft hePuer t
oPr i
ncesaCi ty,
thatthenameof" GerryGal garin"didnot
appearont heirpassengermani festforthe16Oct ober1991Mani l
a-Puert
oPr incesaf li
ght,
couldnotber elieduponi nasmuchashehi mselfadmitt
edt hatt heycouldnotbesur eoft hei
r
passenger s'real i
denti
ti
es.Thet esti
moni esofaccused- appellant'
sco- workerst hathewasi n
Antipoloon14Oct ober1991di dnotf or
ti
f yhi
sdef enseeithersincet hesewi t
nessesdi dnot
categor i
call
yst atethattheysawhi mi nAnt i
polointheev eningof16Oct ober1991.

Withaccused-appel
lanthav ingbeenposi t
ivel
yi dentif
iedbythepr osecutionwi t
nessesast he
onewhost abbedDenni s,hisbar edenial
prov esfuti
leandunav ail
ing.JosephineLeong's
i
dentif
icati
onofaccused- appellantwasgiveni nav erycategor i
calandspont aneousmanner .
Herconfidenceastot heattacker '
sident
it
ywascl earlyshownbyherv i
vi
dr ecoll
ecti
onofhi m
havi
ngamol ebelowhi snose, whi chi
scorrect.Mor eover,i
tisinconceivableforJosephineand
Anit
atoi mpli
cateaccused- appellant,
acompl etestrangertot hem, i
ftherewasnot rut
htot hei
r
assert
ion.AsforClara,hernami ngofaccused-appel l
antasherboy fr
iend'sassail
antwasnot
doneoutofspi t
e,butwasi mpel ledbyherdesi retoseekj usti
cef orDennis.
Corroborati
ngfurtheraccused-appell
ant'
sguil
t,pr
obablywithint
enseincri
minat
ingeffect
,wer
e
hi
simmedi at
ef l
i
ghtaf t
ertheslaying,andhi
sattemptatjail
break12reveal
ingaguil
ty
conscience,hence,hispersi
stenteffortt
oevadetheclutchesofthel
aw.

Apropost hecour taquo'sadmi ssi

onofaccused- appell
ant'
sv i
deotapedconfessi
on,wef i
nd
suchadmi ssi
onpr oper.Theintervi
ewwasr ecordedonv ideoandi tshowedaccused-appell
ant
unburdeninghi sguil
twi l
li
ngly
, openlyandpubl iclyint
hepr esenceofnewsmen.Such
confessiondoesnotf orm partofcust odiali
nvest i
gat
ionasi twasnotgiventopoliceoffi
cers
buttomedi ameni nanat temptt oelicitsympat hyandforgivenessfrom t
hepubli
c.Besides,if
hehadi ndeedbeenf orcedintoconf essing,hecoul dhaveeasilysoughtsuccorfr
om the
newsmenwho, inalll
ikeli
hood, wouldhav ebeensy mphateti
cwi thhim.Asthetri
alcourtstat
ed
i
nitsDeci sion13-

Furt
hermor e,accused,i
nhisTVint
erv
iew(Exh.H),f
reel
yadmi t
tedthathehadstabbedDennis
Aquino,andthatEdwar dEndi
nohadshothim( Aqui
no).Ther
eisnoshowi ngthatthei
nter
view
ofaccusedwascoer cedoragai
nsthi
swil
l.Hence,t
hereisbasistoacceptt
het r
uthofhis
stat
ement stherein.

Weagr ee.However ,
becauseoft heinherentdangerintheuseoft elevi
sionasamedi um for
admitti
ngone'sguilt
,andt herecurrenceoft hisphenomenoni nseveralcases, 14itisprudent
thattr
ialcour
tsareremi ndedthatext remecaut i
onmustbet akeni nfurtheradmi tti
ngsimilar
confessi
ons.Forinallprobabil
ity,thepoli
ce, wit
htheconnivanceofunscr upulousmedi a
practi
ti
oners,mayattemptt olegiti
mi zecoercedextraj
udici
alconfessionsandpl acethem
beyondtheexclusionaryrulebyhav i
nganaccusedadmi tanoffenseont elevi
sion.Sucha
sit
uati
onwoul dbedet r
iment altotheguar anteedri
ghtsoftheaccusedandt husi mperi
lour
cri
minaljusti
cesystem.1âwphi 1.nêt

Wedonotsuggestt hatvideotapedconfessionsgivenbeforemedi amenbyanaccusedwi ththe

knowledgeofandinthepr esenceofpoli
ceof fi
cersarei
mper missi
ble.Indeed,t
hel i
nebetween
properandinv
ali
dpolicetechniquesandconducti sadiff
icultonetodr aw, par
ti
cularl
yincases
suchast hi
swhereiti
sessent ialt
omakeshar pj
udgment sindet er
mi ni
ngwhet heraconfession
wasgi v
enundercoerciv
ephy sicalorpsychologi
calatmospher e.
Awor dofcounselt
hentolowercourts:weshouldnev erpresumet hatallmediaconfessions
descri
bedasv ol
unt
aryhavebeenfreelygi
ven.Thi
st y
peofconf essionalwaysremainssuspect
andtherefor
eshoul
dbet hor
oughlyexaminedandscr utini
zed.Detecti
onofcoer ced
confessi
onsisadmit
tedl
yadi f
fi
cultandarduoustaskf orthecourtstomake.Itrequires
persi
stenceanddet
erminati
oninseparati
ngpoll
utedconf essionsfrom untai
ntedones.Wehav e
aswor ndutytobevi
gil
antandprotecti
veoftheri
ghtsguar anteedbyt heConstit
uti
on.

Withalltheevi
dencet i
ghtlyri
ngedaroundaccused-appell
ant,
thequest i
ont hatnextpresents
i
tselfi
swhet herthetri
alcourtcor
rectl
ydenominatedthecrimeasmur derqualif
iedbyt reacher
y.
Doubtless,t
hecr i
mecommi tt
edisoneofmur derconsideri
ngt hatthev i
ctim wasst abbedwhi l
e
hewassi mpl
ystandingont hepavementwithhisgirl
fr
iendwai ti
ngf oraride,bli
ssfull
yoblivi
ous
oftheaccused'scriminaldesi
gn.Thesuddennessoft heassaul tonanunsuspect i
ngv icti
m,
wit
houtt hesli
ghtestprovocati
onfrom hi
m whohadnooppor tunitytoparryt heatt
ack, cert
ainl
y
quali
fi
est heki
ll
ingtomur der.
15

WHEREFORE, theDeci sionofthecour taquof i

ndingaccused-appellantGERRYGALGARI Nal
ias
Totoguil
tyofMur derqual i
fi
edbyTr eachery
,sentencinghimt oreclusionperpetua,andorder
ing
hi
mt oindemnifythehei rsofDennisAquinoi ntheamountofP50, 000.00ascompensat or
y
damagesandP72, 725.35asact ual
damages, i
sAFFIRMEDwi ththeMODI FICATIONt hat
accused-
appell
anti sfurtheror
deredtocompensat ethedecedent'shei r
sP50,000.00asmor al
damagesf ort
heiremot ionalandment alanguish.Costsagainstaccused- appel
lant.

SOORDERED.

Mendoza,
Qui
sumbi
ng,
Buena,
andDeLeon,
Jr.
,JJ.
,concur
.

Foot
not
es:

1SeeExh."
C;"Or
igi
nal
Recor
ds,
p.75.

2TSN,
19Mar
ch1993,
pp.80-
126.
3TSN,
25June1993,
pp.127-
155.

4TSN,
28Jul
y1993,
pp.
156-
186.

5TSN,
3Febr
uar
y1994,
pp.322-
350.

6TSN,
28August1995,
p.365.

7TSN,
22Nov
ember1993,
pp.228-
266.

8Sec.12.xxxx( 2)Not or
ture,
force,vi
olence,thr
eat,
inti
midat
ion,oranyothermeanswhich
vi
ti
atethefreewil
lshal
lbeusedagai nsthim.Secretdetent
ionplaces,
soli
tar
y,i
ncommunicado,
orothersi
mi l
arf
ormsofdet ent
ionareprohibit
ed.

(
3)Anyconfessi
onoradmi ssi
onobtai
nedi
nvi
olat
ionoft
hisorSect
ion17her
eofshal
lbe
i
nadmi
ssibl
einevidenceagainsthi
m.

9Thelowercour
tchar
act
eri
zedt
heat
tackagai
nstDenni
sAqui
noassuddenandunexpect
ed;
Rol
l
o,p.32.

10Deci
sionpennedbyJudgePanf
il
oS.Sal
va,
RTC-
Br.49,
Puer
toPr
incesaCi
ty;
Rol
l
o,pp.25-
33.

11TSN,
7Febr
uar
y1996,
pp.389-
399.

12InhisOrderdated9Mar ch1994thenPr
esi
dingJudgeSabasR.Acost
atooknot
eofaccused
-appel
l
ant'
sattemptedescapefrom t
hePNPHeadquarter
sDetent
ionCel
lsomet
imeinOctober
of1993;Ori
ginalRecor
ds,p.180.
13SeeExh."
H,"p.8;
Rol
l
o,p.32.

14Peoplev
.Vi
zcar
ra,No.L-
38859,
30July1982,
115SCRA743; Peopl
ev .Ber
nar
do,G.
R.No.
97393,
17March1993,220SCRA31;Peopl
ev.Andan,
G.R.No.116437,3March1997,
269
SCRA95.

15Peoplev.Sumalpong,G.R.No.124705,20January1998,
284SCRA464; Peoplev.Medi
na,
G.R.No.113691,
6Febr uar
y1998, 286SCRA44; Peopl
ev.Ebrada,
G.R.No.122774,
25
September1998,296SCRA353.

TheLawphi
lPr
oject-Ar
ell
anoLawFoundat
ion