(Digest) Villarin-v-People
(Digest) Villarin-v-People
(Digest) Villarin-v-People
The Criminal Complaint was filed before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities,
Branch 4, Cagayan de Oro City by
City by Marcelino B. Pioquinto, Chief of the Forest
Protection and Law Enforcement Unit under the TL Strike Force Team of DENR,
petitioner Aniano Latayada and three others namely, Barangay Captain Camilo
Sudaria of Tagpangi, Cagayan de Oro City, Marlon Baillo and Cipriano Boyatac,
were charged with violation of Section 68, P.D. No. 705 as amended by Executive
Order No. 277.
At six o’clock in the evening of the same day, Barangay Captain Angeles
Alarcon noticed that the pile of timber
timber was already placed near the bridge. Since
she had no knowledge of any scheduled repair of the Batinay bridge she was
surprised to discover that the timber would be used for the repair. After inquiring
from the people living near the bridge, she learned that Latayada and Boyatac
delivered the timber.
A nother
nother prosecution witness, Ariel Palanga, testified that at seven o’clock in
the morning of January 1, 1996, Boyatac bought a stick of cigarette from his store
and requested him to cover the pile of timber near the bridge for a fee. Palanga
acceded and covered the pile with coconut leaves.
On January 13, 1996, at around ten o’clock in the morning, prosecution witness
Juan Casenas, a radio and TV personality of RMNTV8, took footages of the
timber25 hidden and covered by coconut leaves. Casenas also took footages of
more logs inside a bodega at the other side of the bridge. In the following evening,
the footages were shown in a news program on television.
On the same day, members of the DENR Region 10 Strike Force Team
measured the timber which consisted of 63 pieces of Apitong flitches and
determined that it totaled 4,326 board feet26 and subsequently entrusted the
same to Alarcon for safekeeping.
Upon further investigation, it was learned that the timber was requisitioned
by Villarin, who was then Barangay Captain of Pagulangan, Cagayan de Oro
City. Villarin gave Sudaria the specifications for the requisitioned timber.
Thereafter, Boyatac informed Villarin that the timber was already delivered on
December 31, 1995.
On January 18, 1996, Felix Vera Cruz, a security guard at the DENR Region
10 Office, received and signed for the confiscated timber since the property
custodian at that time was not around.
On March 13, 1996, the Office of the City Prosecutor of Cagayan de Oro City
issued a Resolution recommending the filing of an Information for the aforesaid
charge not only against Latayada, Baillo and Boyatac but also a gainst petitioner
Crisostomo Villarin, then Barangay Captain of Pagalungan, Cagayan de Oro
City. The dismissal of the complaint against Sudaria was likewise recommended.
Said Resolution was then approved by the Office of the OmbudsmanMindanao
through a Resolution dated May 9, 1996 ordering the filing of the Information in
the RTC of Cagayan de Oro City.
On January 14, 1997, Villarin, Boyatac and Baillo, filed a Motion for
Reinvestigation. They alleged that the Joint Affidavit of the personnel of the
DENR which became one of the bases in filing the Information never mentioned
Villarin as one of the perpetrators of the crime while the accusations against
Baillo and Boyatac were not based on the personal knowledge of the affiants.
They also asserted that their indictment was based on polluted sources,
consisting of the sworn statements of witnesses like Latayada and Sudaria, who
both appeared to have participated in the commission of the crime charged.
Instead of resolving the Motion for Reinvestigation, the RTC, in its Order
dated January 27, 1997, directed Villarin, Boyatac, and Baillo to file their Motion
for Reinvestigation with the Office of the Ombudsman Mindanao, it being the
entity which filed the Information in Court. On March 31, 1997, only Villarin filed
a Petition for Reinvestigation15 but same was, however, denied by the Office of
the OmbudsmanMindanao in an Order dated May 15, 1997 because the grounds
relied upon were not based on newly discovered evidence or errors of fact, law or
irregularities that are prejudicial to the interest of the movants, pursuant to
Administrative Order No. 07 or the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the
Ombudsman in Criminal Cases. The Office of the OmbudsmanMindanao
likewise opined that Villarin was directly implicated by Latayada, his coaccused.
The RTC thus proceeded with the arraignment of the accused who entered
separate pleas of not guilty.
In its Memorandum filed before the trial court, the defense notified the court
of Boyatac’s demise. However, the trial court did not act on such notice. Instead,
it proceeded to rule on the culpability of Boyatac. Thus, in its Judgment, the trial
court found herein petitioners and the deceased Boyatac guilty as charged. On
the other hand, it found the evidence against Baillo insufficient. The dispositive
portion of the Judgment reads:
Petitioners filed an appeal which was denied by the CA in its Decision dated
June 28, 2005. The dispositive portion of which reads:
“WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, the judgment of the court a quo
finding [d]efendant[a]ppellants Crisostomo Villarin, Cipriano Boyatac and
Aniano Latayada GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt for violating Sec. 68 of
Presidential Decree 705 is hereby AFFIRMED in toto. No pronouncement as to
cost.
SO ORDERED.”
Petitioners filed a Motion for Reconsideration which the appellate court denied
for lack of merit in its Resolution promulgated on September 22, 2006.
Moreover, petitioners contend that the evidence was insufficient to prove their
guilt beyond reasonable doubt since they had no intention to possess the timber
and dispose of it for personal gain. They likewise claim that there was failure on
the part of the prosecution to present the timber which were part of the object of
the offense.
The petition is unmeritorious. Villarin was properly afforded his right to due
process.
It is evidently clear from the Resolution dated March 13, 1996 of the Office of
the City Prosecutor that Villarin and all the accused participated in the scheduled
preliminary investigation that was conducted prior to the filing of the criminal
case.39 They knew about the filing of the complaint and even denied any
involvement in the illegal cutting of timber. They were also given the opportunity
to submit countervailing evidence to convince the investigating prosecutor of
their innocence.
Thus, the RTC, as affirmed by the CA, erroneously fixed the minimum period
of the penalty at twelve (12) years of prision mayor.
Finally, the case against Boyatac must be dismissed considering his demise
even before the RTC rendered its Judgment.