This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2001-06-20 |
MENDOZA, J. |
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| Nor could credence be given to the supposed eyewitness testimony of defense witness Emerita Lequigan. Lequigan admitted that she did not tell the police or even the barangay captain that she saw the killing of Roel Sabejon and that she only agreed to testify when Belinda Bacus approached her and asked her to do so.[36] While this Court understands the natural reticence of witnesses to get involved in a criminal case,[37] the delay in reporting the crime must be sufficiently explained.[38] In this case, no explanation was given why Emerita Lequigan failed to come forward if she did in fact see the incident which led to the death of Roel Sabejon. Considering that she had known accused-appellant since childhood and it was known in the neighborhood that accused-appellant was arrested for the killing of Roel Sabejon, the Court is at a loss why she failed to inform anyone of her knowledge on the incident in question. The only reasonable explanation is that she did not in fact witness the killing of Roel Sabejon and was only prevailed upon by accused-appellant's common-law spouse and mother to testify in order to help accused-appellant. | |||||