PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. GREGORIO HERMOSA and GABRIEL ABELINDE, accused-appellants. G.R. No. 131805, September 7, 2001.
“The appellants' defense of DENIAL and ALIBI cannot prevail over their POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION . ALIBI is the weakest defense as it is easy to concoct. For alibi to prosper an accused must not only prove that he was ABSENT at the crime scene at the time of its commission, but also, that it was PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for him to be so situated at said distance.35
In the case at bar, it was established that, at the time of the incident, appellant Abelinde was residing in San Pedro, a barangay ADJACENT to barangay Gahit (the locus criminis). The distance of his house from the victim's house was about three hundred (300) meters.36 Appellant Hermosa himself admitted that, from the said distance, it would only take him FIVE (5) MINUTES TO REACH the victim's place on foot.37 Thus, even assuming that the appellants went to Abelinde's house after the dance, it was NOT IMPOSSIBLE for them to go to the house of the victim and commit the crime.”
