618 Phil. 1
BRION, J.:
That on or about the 7th day of October 1996, at about 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon, and for sometime subsequent thereto, at Cebu City, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, above- named accused ARTURO C. CABARON, a public officer, being an Assistant Provincial Prosecutor of Cebu in such capacity and committing the offense in relation to office, taking advantage of his public functions, conniving, confederating and mutually helping with accused BRIGIDA Y. CABARON, his wife and a private individual, with deliberate intent, with intent of gain and evident bad faith, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously solicit/demand from one Richter G. Pacifico, mother of Abraham Pacifico, Jr., who have pending cases before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for preliminary investigation the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND (P50,000.00) PESOS, Philippine Currency in consideration for the consolidation and handling by him of the case entitled "Ohyeen Alesna vs. Abraham Pacifico, Jr.," for Rape (IS No. 96-11651), which is assigned to Provincial Prosecutor Rodolfo Go, with another criminal case entitled "Abraham Pacifico, Jr. vs. Alvin Alesna," for Frustrated Murder, which is handled by accused Arturo C. Cabaron, and the giving of a lawyer to defend Abraham Pacifico, Jr. who bears similar family name with the Provincial Prosecutor of Cebu, in order that Abraham Pacifico, Jr. can get a favorable Resolution in the above-mentioned cases, thus, accused in the course of his official functions solicited/demanded anything of monetary value from litigants, which act is prohibited under Sec. 7(d) of R.A. 6713, "The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees," to the detriment of public service and interest.The Sandiganbayan issued warrants of arrest against the petitioners on September 16, 1997. The petitioners voluntarily surrendered to the Sandiganbayan on October 3, 1997 and filed a motion for reconsideration/reinvestigation[7] alleging, among others, that the Ombudsman's findings were based on a false assumption of fact. The Office of the Special Prosecutor recommended the withdrawal of the Information and the dismissal of the case in its order[8] of December 15, 1997. The Ombudsman, however, disapproved this recommendation and directed the petitioners' prosecution.[9]
CONTRARY TO LAW.[6]
WHEREFORE, this Court finds accused ARTURO C. CABARON and BRIGIDA CABARON GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt, of the crime of Violation of Sec. 7(d) R.A. 6713, hereby sentences both accused to each suffer an imprisonment for TWO (2) YEARS and ONE (1) DAY, and to pay the costs. Likewise, both accused are solidarily liable to Richter Pacifico in the amount of P30,000 as moral damages.The petitioners moved to reconsider this decision, but the Sandiganbayan denied their motion in its resolution dated January 23, 2003. The Sandiganbayan, however, applied the Indeterminate Sentence Law and modified the dispositive portion of its decision as follows:
SO ORDERED.[13]
WHEREFORE, this Court finds accused ARTURO C. CABARON and BRIGIDA Y. CABARON GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of violation of Sec. 7(d), R.A. 6713, hereby sentences both accused to each suffer the indeterminate penalty of ONE (1) YEAR AS MINIMUM to TWO (2) YEARS AND ONE (1) DAY AS MAXIMUM, and to pay the costs. Likewise, both accused are solidarily liable to Richter Pacifico in the amount of P30,000.00 as moral damages.Petitioners filed a petition for review on certiorari before this Court, alleging, among others, that the Sandiganbayan erred -
SO ORDERED.[14] [Emphasis and underscoring in the original]
The defense tried to thrust upon this court that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses are incredible as the same were tainted, impelled as they are and used by Atty. Valencia as "willing tools" in his vendetta against accused prosecutor Cabaron.As the tribunal with the full opportunity to observe firsthand the demeanor and deportment of the witnesses, the Sandiganbayan's findings that the witnesses for the prosecution are to be believed as against those of the defense are entitled to great weight. It may not be amiss to reiterate that on the issue of credibility of witnesses, appellate courts will not disturb the findings arrived at by the trial courts - the tribunals in a better position to rate the credibility of witnesses after hearing them and observing their deportment and manner of testifying during the trial; it is not for this Court to review again the evidence already considered in the proceedings below. This rule stands absent any showing that facts and circumstances of weight and value have been overlooked, misinterpreted or misapplied by the lower court that, if considered, would affect the result or outcome of the case.[22] The Sandiganbayan rulings The Sandiganbayan rulings in this case suffer no such infirmities, notwithstanding the efforts of the petitioners to create a contrary impression.
This imputation of sinister motive upon the prosecution witnesses is lame and apparently made to save themselves from prosecution. It is worthy to note that although they alleged improper motive on the part of the prosecution witnesses, accused-movants failed to substantiate the same by clear and convincing evidence. In the absence of substantial evidence showing the improper motive so attributed to the prosecution witnesses, the logical conclusion is that no such improper motive exists, and their testimony is therefore worthy of full faith and credence.
Furthermore, in light of the categorical testimonies of the prosecution witnesses showing the accused-movants Cabarons' accountability, their bare denial must fail. As between a categorical testimony that rings of truth on one hand and a bare denial on the other, the former generally prevails. This is so because denial, if unsubstantiated by clear and convincing evidence, is a negative and self-serving evidence which cannot be accorded greater weight than the testimony of credible witnesses who testify on affirmative matters.
x x x x[21]
[T]he assessment of the credibility of a witness is primarily the function of a trial court, which had the benefit of observing firsthand the demeanor or deportment of the witness. It is well-settled that this Court will not reverse the trial court's assessment of the credibility of witnesses in the absence of arbitrariness, abuse of discretion or palpable error. It is within the discretion of the Sandiganbayan to weigh the evidence presented by the parties, as well as to accord full faith to those it regards as credible and reject those it considers perjurious or fabricated. Moreover, the settled rule is that absent any evidence showing a reason or motive for prosecution witnesses to perjure their testimonies, the logical conclusion is that no improper motive exists, and that their testimonies are worthy of full faith and credit.