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*FIRST DIVISION.
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LEONARDODE CASTRO,J.:
On appeal is the Decision1 dated November 20, 2009 of
the Court of Appeals in CAG.R. CR.H.C. No. 00329MIN,
which affirmed with modification the Decision2 dated
November 25, 2004 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC),
Branch 16, City of Davao, in Criminal Case No. 46,88801.
While the appellate court sustained the conviction of
accusedappellant Gerry Sabangan (Sabangan) for the
murder of Barangay Captain Abe Felonia (Felonia), it
acquitted the other accused, Noli Bornasal (Bornasal), of
the same crime.
When the Information was filed before the RTC on
February 21, 2000, only Sabangan was identified by the
police and Bornasal, who was still atlarge, was referred to
therein as John Doe.
During his arraignment on April 14, 2000, Sabangan
pleaded not guilty to the crime charged.3
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1 Rollo, pp. 529 penned by Associate Justice Dante Q. Bueser with
Associate Justices Romulo V. Borja and Elihu A. Ybaez, concurring.
2CA Rollo, pp. 2133 penned by Presiding Judge Emmanuel C. Carpio.
3Records, p. 30.
526
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pull the bag from him, she saw the face and it registered in her
mind. On February 7, 2000, she was shown several pictures, one
of which she recognized as the same person who shot Abe Felonia.
She finally personally saw accused Gerry Sabangan for the second
time on February 18, 2000 near a police outpost in Kidapawan.
She identified accused Gerry Sabangan in open court. She
identified her affidavits as Exhibits [C] and [C1].
On crossexamination, she disclosed that Abe Felonia is a well
known personality with good reputation and a long time barangay
captain in Barangay Duroluman, Arakan, Cotabato. She describes
Navales store as selling school supplies and is located in front the
jeep terminal for Arakan. She estimates the size of the store as
half of the courtroom or 4x6 meters with 4 meters open entrance,
more or less. She entered the store between 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. to
wait for her husband Flora Navales who was doing something
[waved] at her. Abe Felonia came in to buy commodities and they
had brief conversation. She thought accused Gerry Sabangan was
a customer. After the shooting took place she shouted for help as
Abe Felonia sprawled to the ground bathed with blood.
Bystanders brought Felonia to the Kidapawan Hospital where he
expired. She followed at the hospital pleading to the doctors to
save the life of Felonia. Later she went home to
530
change her clothes smeared with blood from Felonia. She was
rattled, nervous with the incident that she did not leave their
house.
Police authorities tried to interview her a day or two after the
shooting incident but she pleaded for time to recover from the
traumatic and tragic event. She could not sleep and had to see a
doctor. She was afraid to give her statement for fear that if she
did, the killer will return to kill her. However with conscience
bothering her, she finally decided to come out and declare what
she saw as an eyewitness, by executing sworn statements about
the December 27, 1999 shooting incident. (TSN, Jan. 29, 2003,
pages 5558 and 62).
She further disclosed that she was inside a tinted jeep when
she was asked by the police if she recognized accused Gerry
Sabangan and she said she recognized accused Gerry Sabangan
because she saw him shot Felonia. (TSN, Jan. 29, 2003, page 60).
Flora Navales says she owns a school supplies store at Metro
Mega Market, Kidapawan City. While tending the store at about
1:30 p.m. on December 27, 1999, together with a helper, she saw
inside the establishment Ate Eden Allado, a young man and an
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old man tigulang. Said old man who intended to buy ballpen
was talking to Eden. Then she noticed a young man coming in and
out the store, asking the price of a binder which enabled her to
see the face of the young man (later identified as accused Gerry
Sabangan). Suddenly she saw accused Gerry Sabangan pull a
revolver from the left waist and pointed it to the old man. Sensing
danger she raised her hands and shouted Ate Eden to put Eden
on guard. Three gunshots rang from the revolver of Gerry
Sabangan and at a distance of 1 meters she saw the old man
fell down. In short, she saw accused Gerry Sabangan shot the old
man three times: the first shot aimed at the head while the
succeeding shots aimed at the back. Her Ate Eden was shouting
and asking for help. The old man was later identified as Abe
Felonia. Furthermore, she saw accused Gerry Sabangan picked
up the bag of
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Abe Felonia and ran outside the store towards Serquina Store.
(TSN, Jan. 29, 2003, pages 6471).
Navales says that upon the invitation of a certain Sir Salmorin,
she was able to see and recognized accused Gerry Sabangan at a
police outpost in Kidapawan as the same person who shot Abe
Felonia. She executed two sworn statements in relation to the
case dated February 9, 2000 and February 18, 2000. She
identified accused in open court, saying that I recognize the face
and I remember he has a mole. (TSN, Jan. 29, 2003, pages 71
73).
On crossexamination, Navales says that when attending her
store she would ask the needs of customers who enter the store
she is tending. She saw accused Gerry Sabangan passed by the
counter and moved around the open shelves for notebooks at the
middle of the store before he pulled out his revolver with which he
shot Abe Felonia at the back. Felonia was side by side with
Allado. Abe Felonia was rushed to the hospital and then
policemen arrived. She was nervous such that all she could
manage to say to police investigators was somebody was shot and
I did not want any trouble. Right after the incident she did not
want to be investigated about the crime she initially did not
cooperate despite the repeated urgings of the police until her
cousins told her to cooperate and tell what she witnessed. After
identifying accused Gerry Sabangan through several pictures, she
was invited by the police on October 18, 2000 if he can identify a
suspect who was at a police outpost and she identified that
suspect (Gerry Sabangan) as the same person who shot Abe
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14).
When crossexamined, Sabangan admits that he has gone to
Kidapawan several times and is familiar with the place like the
Kidapawan Market and the jeep terminal. It takes an hour to ride
from Luhong to Kidapawan. He did not bother to tell friends and
relatives to execute affidavits for his defense. He does not know as
he learned about the identity of the victim only when he was in
jail. (TSN, Nov. 6, 2003, pages 1418).
Accused Noli Bornasal also claims innocence saying that he
was in Arakan Valley the whole day of December 27, 1999 tending
the store of his sister. He was arrested by the Police on June 20,
2002 while buying commodities in Kidapawan, and was brought
to the City Hall for his involvement in shabu and the killing of
Abe Felonia. He knows Abe Felonia as the barangay captain of
Duroloman, Arakan Valley but denies participation i[n] the
killing. He denies knowing accused Gerry Sabangan. (TSN, Nov.
6, 2003, pages 2124).
When crossexamined: QUESTION If a person would ask
you to identify for him, you would be glad to do that, because you
know and you could identify Abe Felonia, ANSWER Yes sir,
that is the barangay captain. Moreover, he admits about his
familiarity with Kidapawan Market, including terminals where
he goes when buying commodities. It takes threehour ride from
Arakan Valley to Kidapawan. He did not request his sister and
father who are aware of his detention to execute affidavits to
support his claim of nonparticipation of the
537
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39Rollo, p. 28.
40Id., at pp. 3943.
41Id., at pp. 5156.
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Jr.
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51Records, pp. 259261 and 263265 see Exhibits C and E.
548
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549
SO ORDERED.
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