The Supreme Court building in Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Thanks to the testimony of a 14-year-old deaf-mute boy, the Supreme Court has upheld the 40-year prison term meted out on a man who robbed and stabbed dead a real estate broker in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, six years ago.
The high court’s First Division, in a decision dated July 24, affirmed the conviction of Edwin Aleman based on the testimony of the lone witness, Mark Almodovar, who can neither hear nor speak.
“The mere fact that Mark is a deaf-mute does not render him unqualified to be a witness. The rule is that all persons who can perceive and, perceiving, can make known their perception to others may be witnesses. Thus, a deaf-mute is competent to be a witness so long as he or she has the faculty to make observations and he or she can make those observations known to others,” the court said in the 13-page decision written by Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.
Concurring in the ruling were the division chair, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, and members Lucas Bersamin, Martin Villarama Jr. and Bienvenido Reyes.
Records of the QC Regional Trial Court showed that the victim, Ramon Jaime Birosel, 55, was in his parked car and speaking on his cell phone in February 2007 at Sikatuna Bliss when he was held up by Aleman and another person, both of whom were wearing bonnets.
Birosel was stabbed in the neck and died on the spot. Taken from him were two mobile phones, a wallet containing cash, a necklace and ring.
Removed their bonnets
Testifying through an interpreter, Almodovar said he witnessed the crime while relieving himself after playing at a basketball court.
He said he followed the men to where they buried the knife, after which they removed their bonnets. He identified one of the men as Aleman, adding that the suspect took off his shirt that had the blood of Birosel on it. The two then left the area on a motorcycle.
Almodovar went to the police who, based on his description, identified Aleman and arrested him the following day.
Aleman denied involvement in the crime and said that he was playing billiards near his house in Project 2, Quezon City, at the time of the incident. His grandmother testified that she saw him at the billiard hall, while his sister swore that she fetched him from there.
Aleman also said Almodovar failed to identify him in a police lineup. In court, however, Almodovar tagged Aleman as the culprit.
Almodovar communicated to the court with the help of Daniel Catinguil, a licensed sign language interpreter from the Philippine Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and a teacher at the Philippine School for the Deaf.
Simple and credible testimony
In November 2005, the QC RTC convicted Aleman of robbery with homicide and sentenced him to from 20 to 40 years in prison. The judge found Almodovar’s testimony to be “simple and credible,” despite minor inconsistencies, and rejected Aleman’s defense for its “inherent weakness and implausibility.”
The court also ordered Aleman to pay Birosel’s heirs P50,000 in civil indemnity, P50,000 in moral damages and P477,000 in actual damages, including burial expenses. He was also ordered to reimburse the heirs P27,000, the value of the stolen valuables.
Aleman elevated the case to the Court of Appeals, attacking Almodovar’s credibility as a witness. When the appellate court dismissed his appeal for lack of merit in September 2007, Aleman went to the Supreme Court, insisting that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.