People vs Magalano, 266 SCRA 305
Criminal Case Digest:
Digested Cases
Issue :
On or about February 1, 1989 at
Sitio Tampa-on, Barangay Banawe, Pamplona, Negros Oriental,
Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the
above-named accused conspiring together and mutually helping each other, with
treachery and intent to kill, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and
feloniously attack, assault, hack and stab one Elfonio Adelantar, inflicting
upon the latter multiple injuries, which directly caused the death of said
Elfonio Adelantar. The key prosecution witness, Cirilo Manaban who was then
only fourteen years old, witnessed the killing of his brother-in-law, Elfonio
Adelantar.
Issues:
1.) The
appellant’s asserts that
their respective pleas of self-defense and denial should have been favorably
appreciated by the trial court, considering the inconsistencies and consequent
unreliability of the testimony of the prosecution’s principal eyewitness, hence
their guilt was not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
2. ) WON
the passage of Republic Act No. 7659 has transformed the indivisible nature of reclusion perpetua into a divisible one because of
its “defined duration” ranging from 20 years and 1 day to 40 years.
Decision :
Far from being corrosive of the testimony of
Cirilo Manaban, those inconsistencies are merely minor lapses and clearly of no
consequence, especially when viewed against his narration of the events before
the trial court. The essential test is that the testimony of the witness
is disencumbered, credible, and in accord with human experience.
After deliberating on the motion and
re-examining the legislative history of R.A. No. 7659, the Court concludes that
although Section 17 of R.A. No. 7659 has fixed the duration of reclusion perpetua from twenty (20) years and one (1) day
to forty (40) years, there was no clear legislative intent to alter its
original classification as an indivisible penalty.
