Larrañaga, through his witnesses, sought to establish that on July 16, 1997, he was in Quezon City

taking his mid-term examinations at the Center for Culinary Arts. In the evening of that day until
3:00 o'clock in the morning of July 17, 1997, he was with his friends at the R & R Bar and Restaurant,
same city. Fifteen witnesses testified that they were either with Larrañaga or saw him in Quezon
City at the time the crimes were committed. His friends, Lourdes Montalvan,[39] Charmaine
Flores,[40] Richard Antonio,[41] Jheanessa Fonacier,[42] Maharlika Shulze,[43] Sebastian Seno,[44]
Francisco Jarque,[45] Raymond Garcia,[46] Cristina Del Gallego,[47] Mona Lisa Del Gallego,[48]
Paolo Celso[49] and Paolo Manguerra[50] testified that they were with him at the R & R Bar on the
night of July 16, 1997. The celebration was a "despedida" for him as he was leaving the next day for
Cebu and a "bienvenida" for another friend. Larrañaga's classmate Carmina Esguerra[51] testified
that he was in school on July 16, 1997 taking his mid-term examinations. His teacher Rowena
Bautista,[52] on the other hand, testified that he attended her lecture in Applied Mathematics. Also,
some of his neighbors at the Loyola Heights Condominium, Quezon City, including the security
guard, Salvador Boton, testified that he was in his condo unit in the evening of July 16, 1997.
Representatives of the four airline companies plying the route of Manila-Cebu-Manila presented
proofs showing that the name Francisco Juan Larrañaga does not appear in the list of pre-flight and
post-flight manifests from July 15, 1997 to about noontime of July 17, 1997.

Meanwhile, James Anthony Uy testified that on July 16, 1997, he and his brother James Andrew
were at home in Cebu City because it was their father's 50th birthday and they were celebrating the
occasion with a small party which ended at 11:30 in the evening.[53] He only left his house the next
day, July 17, 1997 at about 7:00 o'clock in the morning to go to school.[54] The boys' mother, Marlyn
Uy, corroborated his testimony and declared that when she woke up at 2:00 o'clock in the morning
to check on her sons, she found them sleeping in their bedrooms. They went to school the next day
at about 7:00 o'clock in the morning.[55]

Clotilde Soterol testified for Alberto and Ariel. She narrated that on July 16, 1997, at around 7:00
o'clock in the evening, Alberto brought the white Toyota van with Plate No. GGC-491 to her shop to
have its aircon repaired. Alberto was accompanied by his wife Gina Caño, co-appellant Ariel, and
spouses Catalina and Simplicio Paghinayan, owners of the vehicle. Since her (Clotildes') husband
was not yet around, Alberto just left the vehicle and promised to return the next morning. Her
husband arrived at 8:30 in the evening and started to repair the aircon at 9:00 o'clock of the same
evening. He finished the work at 10:00 o'clock the following morning. At 11:00 o'clock, Alberto and
his wife Gina, Ariel and Catalina returned to the shop to retrieve the vehicle.[56] Alberto,[57]
Gina[58] and Catalina[59] corroborated Clotilde's testimony.

To lend support to Josman's alibi, Michael Dizon recounted, that on July 16, 1997, at about 8:00
o'clock in the evening, he and several friends were at Josman's house in Cebu. They ate their dinner
there and afterwards drank "Blue Label." They stayed at Josman's house until 11:00 o'clock in the
evening. Thereafter, they proceeded to BAI Disco where they drank beer and socialized with old
friends. They stayed there until 1:30 in the morning of July 17, 1997. Thereafter, they transferred to
DTM Bar. They went home together at about 3:00 o'clock in the morning. Their friend, Jonas Dy
Pico, dropped Josman at his house.[60]

Concerning state witness Rusia, on August 7, 1998, when the prosecution moved that he be
discharged as an accused for the purpose of utilizing him as a state witness,[61] Larrañaga and
brothers James Anthony and James Andrew opposed the motion on the ground that he does not
qualify as a state witness under Section 9, Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of Court on Criminal
Procedure.[62] On August 12, 1998, the trial court allowed the prosecution to present Rusia as its
witness but deferred resolving its motion to discharge until it has completely presented its
evidence.[63] On the same date, the prosecution finished conducting Rusia's direct
examination.[64] The defense lawyers cross-examined him on August 13, 17, and 20, 1998.[65] On
the last date, Judge Ocampo provisionally terminated the cross-examination due to the report that
there was an attempt to bribe him and because of his deteriorating health.[66]

Resenting the trial court's termination of Rusia's cross-examination, the defense lawyers moved for
the inhibition of Judge Ocampo.[67] When he informed the defense lawyers that he would not
inhibit himself since he found no "just and valid reasons" therefor, the defense lawyers withdrew en
masse as counsel for the appellants declaring that they would no longer attend the trial. Judge
Ocampo held them-guilty-of direct contempt of court. Thus, defense lawyers Raymundo Armovit,
Edgar Gica, Fidel Gonzales, Ramon Teleron, Alfonso de la Cerna and Lorenzo Paylado were ordered
jailed.

In the Order dated August 25, 1998, the trial court denied the motion for inhibition of the defense
lawyers and ordered them to continue representing their respective clients so that the cases may
undergo the mandatory continuous trial. The trial court likewise denied their motion to withdraw as
appellants' counsel because of their failure to secure a prior written consent from their clients. On
August 26, 1998, appellants filed their written consent to the withdrawal of their counsel.

Thereafter, Larrañaga, Josman and brothers James Anthony and James Andrew moved for the
postponement of the hearing for several weeks to enable them to hire the services of new
counsel.[68] On August 31, 1998, the trial court denied appellants' motions on the ground that it
could no longer delay the hearing of the cases. On September 2, 1998, the trial court directed the
Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to act as counsel de oficio for all the appellants.[69]

Trial resumed on September 3, 1998 with a team of PAO lawyers assisting appellants. Larrañaga
objected to the continuation of the direct examination of the prosecution witnesses as he was not
represented by his counsel de parte. The trial court overruled his objection. The prosecution
witnesses testified continuously from September 3, 1998 to September 24, 1998. Meanwhile, the
cross-examination of said witnesses was deferred until the appellants were able to secure counsel
of their choice. On the same date, September 24, 1998, Atty. Eric C. Villarmia entered his
appearance as counsel for Larrañaga, while Atty. Eric S. Carin appeared as counsel for brothers
James Anthony and James Andrew.