People vs. Pablito Andan, G.R. No. 116437, March 3, 1997 Re.: Extrajudicial Confessions to Mayor and Media Admissible Facts:
Pablito Andan alias "Bobby" was accused of the crime crime of rape with homicide. The offense was committed on February 19, nd 1994 in Baliuag, Bulacan; the victim being Marianne Guevarra, 22 and a 2 year student at the Fatima School of Nursing. On said day, victim left her home for her school dormitory in Valenzuela. While on her way, appellant invited her to his house. He used the pretext that the blood pressure of his wife's grandmother should be taken. Marianne agreed to do so as the old woman was her distant relative. She did not know that nobody was inside the house. Appellant then punched her in the abdomen, brought her to the kitchen and raped her. By night time, Marianne, who was still unconscious, was dragged by appellant to their backyard that was adjacent to a vacant lot. Appellant was to tr ansfer Marianne to the vacant lot when she moved, prompting appellant to hit her head with a piece of concrete concrete block. No longer moving, he dragged her to the lot and abandoned her. her. At 11am her body was discovered. The autopsy revealed that she died of "traumatic injuries." Marianne's gruesome death drew public attention and prompted Baliuag Mayor Cornelio Trinidad to form an investigation team. The investigation pointed to the appellant. Appellant's nearby house was searched searched but he was not there. On February 24, a police team led by Mayor Trinidad traced appellant in his parents' house. They took him and brought him to the police headquarters where he was interrogated. interrogated. Initially, he denied any knowledge knowledge of Marianne's death. death. However, when the police confronted him with evidence, appellant relented but implicated two of his neighbours, and that he was merely a lookout. Larin and Dizon were likewise brought there by the police. The following day a physical examination conducted on the suspects revealed that appellant has multiple scratches on the neck, chest and back. By that time, people and media representatives were already at the police headquarters awaiting the results of the investigation. Mayor Trinidad arrived. Upon seeing the mayor, mayor, appellant approached him and whispered that they talk privately. The mayor led him to the office of the Chief of Police and there, he broke down and said "Mayor, "Mayor, patawarin mo ako! I will tell you the truth. I am the one who killed Marianne." The mayor opened the door of the room to let the public and media media representatives witness the confession. Since no lawyer was was available he ordered the proceedings photographed and videotaped. In the presence of the mayor, the police, representatives of the media and appellant's appellant's own wife and son, appellant confessed his guilt. He asked for forgiveness from Larin and Dizon whom he falsely implicated implicated saying he did it because of ill-feelings against them. them. He also said that the devil entered his mind because of the pornographic magazines and tabloid he read almost everyday. After his confession, appellant hugged his wife and son and asked the mayor to help him. His confession was captured on videotape and covered by the media nationwide. On arraignment, however, appellant entered a plea of "not guilty." guilty." He testified that on said date he was at his parent's house for the birthday party of his nephew. He, his wife and son went home after 5pm, slept at 8pm, and woke up at 6am the next day. Appellant claimed that after he was picked up by the police police on February 24, he was coerced to confess that he raped and killed Marianne. Fearing for his life, appellant appellant did as he was told. The trial court convicted the appellant and sentenced him to death. He was found guilty of the crime charged in the Information (Rape with Homicide) and penalized penalized accordingly. accordingly. Hence, the automatic review. Issue:
W/N the appellant’s confession not being assisted by a counsel is in violation of the constitution, and is therefore inadmissible as evidence against him. Held:
Under these circumstances, it cannot be successfully claimed that appellant's confession before the mayor is inadmissible. It is true that a municipal mayor has "operational supervision and control" over the local police and may arguably be deemed a law enforcement officer for purposes of applying Section 12 (1) and (3) of Article III of the Constitution. However, appellant's confession to the mayor was not made in response to any interrogation by the latter. In fact, the mayor did not question appellant at all. No police authority ordered appellant to talk to the mayor. It was appellant himself who spontaneously, freely and voluntarily sought the mayor for a private meeting. The mayor did not know that appellant was going to confess his guilt to him. When appellant talked with the mayor as a confidant and not as a law enforcement officer, his uncounseled confession to him did not violate his constitutional rights. Thus, it has been held that the constitutional procedures on custodial investigation do not apply apply to a spontaneous statement, not elicited through questioning by the authorities, but given in an ordinary manner whereby appellant orally admitted having committed the crime. What the Constitution bars is the compulsory disclosure of incriminating facts or confessions. The rights under Section 12 are guaranteed to preclude the slightest use of coercion by the state as would lead the accused to admit something false, not to prevent him from freely and voluntarily telling the truth. Hence we hold that appellant's confession to the mayor was correctly admitted by the trial court. Appellant's confessions to the media were likewise properly admitted. The confessions were made in response to questions by news reporters, not by the police or any other investigating officer. We have held that statements spontaneously made by a suspect to news reporters on a televised interview are deemed voluntary and are admissible in evidence. The Court therefore held accused-appellant Pablito Andan guilty of the special complex crime of rape with homicide.
