CASE DIGEST: People of the Philippines v. Cagadas Jr.

 

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARTIN CAGADAS, JR., MACARIO BARBERO, ROMY TULIO, CORITO PIASIDAD, RENE BALONG, ROBERTO CULTURA and TATOR SALVADOR, appellants

G.R. No. 88044  |              January 23, 1991

 

FACTS:

On June 6, 1973, while waiting inside the jeep at the Sitio Rizal Terminal, Rex Ballena and his sister, Lucia Ballena-Tabo, were approached by some members of the Integrated Civil Home Defense Force, including the accused, and were asked where they were bound for and why. Rex Ballena naively informed them that they were on their way to Tagum to withdraw money from the bank for the payment of their farm laborers. When asked if they would be returning to Longganapan that day, Lucia replied that only Rex would do so. One of the ICHDF members who approached them was identified by Lucia Tabo as Martin Cagadas Jr.

After withdrawing money and purchasing some necessities for his family, Rex returned to Longganapan the following day, leaving behind his sister Lucia in Tagum.

However, when Lucia returned to Longganapan the following day, she discovered that her brother never arrived home and was missing.

On June 9, 1983, Lucia informed their barangay councilman, Jose Magunot, that she was looking for her brother Rex. Together with other farmers living near the Bontiqui/Lapatigan Creek, they searched for Rex. On their way to Rizal, they met members of the ICHDF namely, Miguel Daub, Martin Cagadas, Jr., Macario Barbero, Romy Tulio, Corito Piasidad, Rene Balong, Roberto Cultura and Tator Salvador, who inquired about their mission and dissuaded them from continuing their search for Rex. They were advised to report the matter to the barangay officials in Binansian, Asuncion, which they did. However, no action was taken by the said barangay officials.

In the evening of June 10, 1983, the decomposed body of Rex Ballena was found lying face down in a deep ravine below the mouth of the Macjum River about one-half kilometer away from the Bontiqui Creek. His body bore multiple stab wounds in the chest and stomach, with the intestines protruding, his throat slashed, and head smashed with a hard and heavy object. His mouth was still gagged with a red handkerchief and his hands bound with boracan vines behind his back. His money was gone but his Savings Account passbook was found beside the decaying corpse. Without waiting for the Municipal Health Officer’s postmortem necropsy examination or the Municipal judge’s Inquest Report, his remains were laid to rest the next day.

More than a year later, an Information for murder was filed against the armed ICHDF members, namely: Miguel Daub, the ICHDF team leader, Martin Cagadas, Jr., Macario Barbero, Romy Tulio, Corito Piasidad, Rene Balong, Jose “Roberto” Cultura and Saturnino “Tator” Salvador, who had been seen by eyewitnesses leading Rex, with hands hogtied behind his back and his mouth gagged by a red handkerchief, towards the deep gully where his decomposing body was found.

The amended information, filed on December 3, 1984, reads:

“The undersigned accuses MIGUEL DAUB, MARTIN CAGADAS, JR., MACARIO BARBERO, ROMY TULIO, CORITO PIASIDAD, RENE BALONG, JOSE CULTURA and TATOR SALVADOR of the crime of Murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, committed as follows: xxx”

The accused were arraigned on December 14, 1984. Each entered a plea of “Not Guilty” to the charge.

After the RTC of Tagum found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of murder, the defendants appealed to the SC. One of the issues they raise was that the lowere court erred in convicting Roberto Cultura even if he was not one of those charged in the information.

ISSUE:

Whether or not mistake in the name of the accused renders the information invalid

RULING:

Appellants’ contention that the trial court erred in convicting Roberto Cultura for he was not one of those indicted in the information but “Jose” Cultura (his father’s name), has no merit. The erroneous designation of his name in the information will not vitiate it, as it was clearly proven that the accused, Roberto Cultura, was part of the group that arrested, hogtied and killed the victim. Besides, Cultura did not raise this question of his identity during the arraignment. His acquiescence to be tried under the name “Jose” at that stage of the case is deemed to be a waiver on his part to raise the question of his identity as one of the accused for the first time on appeal.