Republic of the Philippines - Campaign

APPELLANTS’ BRIEF
People of the Philippines vs. Fortuna, et. al.
S. C. G. R. No. 141660-64
of male persons drinking liquor and beer. The bisperas in a
rural setting is a truly-people-crowded night. The “secret
theory” of Rameses and Costibolo is thus difficult to dig.
(Joint Decision, p. 27)
In debunking the alibi presented by accused Lenido Lumanog and Rameses de
Jesus that they were in Pampanga at the time when the late Col. Rolando Abadilla was
ambushed, the trial court pronounced that the “secret-theory” of the accused is difficult to
dig. The trial court reasoned out that “the bisperas in a rural setting is a truly people-
crowded night” and as such it would have been impossible for the accused to be digging
for gold, as what they are advancing in their defense because the presence of a lot of
people. This reasoning by the trial court is not supported by any evidence but is rather
based on mere conjectures.
While it may be a tradition among rural folks to observe the bisperas of an
occasion, yet this is not always the case. It normally depends, first and foremost, on the
nature and grandness of the celebration and the means of the celebrants. Fiestas and
weddings would normally include the bisperas in the celebration but not wedding
anniversaries which, oftentimes, just involve immediate family members.
It was thus error for the trial court to anchor its disregarding of Lumanog’s and
Rameses de Jesus’ alibi on this basis.
From the testimony of Costobolo and Rameses de Jesus, they helped in the
cooking when they woke up at 10:00 a.m. of June 13, 1996. That the food were cooked
just in time for lunch indicate that the wedding anniversary celebration was just a small
one and therefore, disproving the trial court’s unsupported objection that there might
have been a lot of people in the vicinity where the accused were secretly digging for gold
from midnight until the wee hours of June 13, 1996.
In assailing the defense presented by Lumanog the trial court reasoned out:
c) Rameses and Costibolo executed sworn statements
before the attorneys of the Human Rights Commission several
days after their arrest complaining of torture, and yet, they never
revealed anything about their alleged activities – gold-digging –
on June 12 and 13, 1996 and subsequent days. By June 26, 1996
they would have known what the police authorities were blaming
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