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Pacifico B. Arceo, JR vs. People of The PHILIPPINES. G.R. No. 142641. July 17, 2006
Pacifico B. Arceo, JR vs. People of The PHILIPPINES. G.R. No. 142641. July 17, 2006
PAROL EVIDENCE
LECHUGAS v. CA (LOZAs)
G.R. No. L-39972 & L-40300
GUTIERREZ, JR; August 6, 1986
FACTS:
JOSE SILVESTRE shoot one Luisito Palencia hitting him four (4) times on the different parts of his body, as a
consequence said Luisito Palencia, sustained injuries which directly caused his death.
The prosecution presented three witnesses: the victim's widow, Marina Palencia; an eyewitness to the
shooting, Felicitas Torres; and the arresting officer, SPO2 Benjamin Querubin.
Marina Palencia testified that she was the widow of the victim, Luisito Palencia; that they have three children:
Harry, 18; Regine, 16; and Carmille, 11; and that when he was alive, he was employed as an installer and
repairman of P.L.D.T. earning P14,877.00 a month. As a consequence of the death of her husband, she had
incurred actual expenses in the amount of P66,500.00.
Felicitas Torres testified that on 11:45 a.m. of January 18, 1996, she bought bread from the Concepcion Bakery
in Malabon, Metro Manila. While waiting for a ride in front of the said bakery, she observed a man and a woman
talking with each other. She then heard two shots fired. When she turned her head, she saw a man on the
ground face down and beside him, a man holding a gun. She sought cover "for a short while", then saw the
man with a gun fire two more times at the fallen man. She boarded a jeep after the last two shots were fired.
While boarding, she heard someone say "binaril na ni Jojo si Palencia".
On February 5, 1996, she went to the branch office of P.L.D.T. in Malabon to pay for the telephone bill of her
employer. While there, she overheard that no one was willing to testify about the shooting. She informed one of
the employees that she was a witness to the incident, and was brought to the manager who asked her to testify
as one of the witnesses in the case. On the same day, she was accompanied by a certain Jun, an employee of
the P.L.D.T., to the police station to give her statement.
At the police station, she identified the only person presented to her for purposes of identification as the
assailant. She was later informed that this person was Jojo Bungo. In court, Torres also identified the accused
Jojo Bungo, whose real name is Jose Silvestre, as the assailan
The prosecution's last witness was SPO2 Benjamin Querubin who testified that on February 5, 1996, Jojo
Bungo was arrested outside his residence at Bagong Bantay, Quezon City after a six-hour stakeout. At the time
of arrest, a .38 snub nose "paltik" revolver was recovered from Silvestre after he was frisked. He also identified
Jojo Bungo in court.
the Regional Trial Court rendered its decision finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime
of murder.
ISSUE:
Whether the court a quo erred in treating the judicial admission of the statement
of Bernadette Matias made by the prosecution as hearsay
RULING:
The appellee's admission only referred to the fact that the statement was made by Matias. In People
vs. Gaddi, 31it was ruled that when testimony is presented to establish not the truth but the tenor of the
statement of the fact that the statement was made, it is not hearsay. 32 The lower court was therefore
correct in admitting only the existence and contents and not the truth or veracity of the unsworn statement
of Matias as an "independently relevant statement". 33 This statement cannot be used to establish the
veracity of it; it would hearsay as Matias was not presented in Court.
Appellant cannot fault the prosecution for the failure to present Bernadette Matias. The prosecution has
discretion to decide on who to call as witness during trial and its failure to do so did not give rise to the
presumption that "evidence willfully suppressed would be adverse if produced" 34 since the evidence was at
the disposal of both parties. 35 If the defense believed that the testimony of Bernadette Matias was
important to its case, it should have insisted on presenting her as a witness, or as the appellee points out,
made a tender of excluded evidence of the witness in question under Section 40, Rule 132 of the Rules of
Court. The same may be said of Joanna Santiago, another supposed witness to the shooting, who was
also not presented during trial.
Facts:
Accused was convicted with a crime of rape with homicide of a 4 year old girl. He was arrested and during
the interrogation he made a confession of the crime without the assistance of a counsel. By virtue of his
uncounseled confession the police came to know where to find the evidences consisting of the victims
personal things like clothes stained with blood which was admitted to court as evidences. The victim
pleaded guilty during the arraignment and was convicted with the death penalty. The case was forwarded
to the SC for automatic review.
Issue:
Whether or Not the death penalty proper.
Held:
No. The records do not reveal that the Information against the appellant was read in the language or
dialect known to him. The Information against the appellant is written in the English language. It is
unknown whether the appellant knows the English language. Neither is it known what dialect is
understood by the appellant. Nor is there any showing that the Information couched in English was
translated to the appellant in his own dialect before his plea of guilt. The RTC violated section 1(a) of Rule
116, the rule implementing the constitutional right of the appellant to be informed of the nature and cause
of the accusation against him. It also denied appellant his constitutional right to due process of law. It is
urged that we must presume that the arraignment of the appellant was regularly conducted. When life is
at stake, we cannot lean on this rebuttable presumption. There could be no presumption. The court must
be sure.
The trial court violated section 3 of Rule 116 when it accepted the plea of guilt of the appellant. Said
section requires that the court shall conduct a searching inquiry the voluntariness and full comprehension
of the consequences of his plea and require the prosecution to prove his guilt and the precise degree of
culpability. The accused may also present evidence in his behalf. The trial court simply inquired if
appellant had physical marks of maltreatment. It did not ask the appellant when he was arrested, who
arrested him, how and where he was interrogated, whether he was medically examined before and after
his interrogation, etc. It limited its efforts trying to discover late body marks of maltreatment as if
involuntariness is caused by physical abuse alone.
Further, there are physical evidence to prove Khazie was raped. These consists of a pillow with
bloodstains in its center 14 and the T-shirt 15 of the accused colored white with bloodstains on its bottom.
These physical evidence are evidence of the highest order. They strongly corroborate the testimony of
Luisa Rebada that the victim was raped.These are inadmissible evidence for they were gathered by PO3
Danilo Tan of the Iloilo City PNP as a result of custodial interrogation where appellant verbally confessed
to the crime without the benefit of counsel.