Cases

THIRD DIVISION

[G.R. No. 146481.  April 30, 2003]

ARTURO G. RIMORIN SR., petitioner, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.

D E C I S I O N

PANGANIBAN, J.:

Corpus delicti in its legal sense refers to the fact of the commission of the crime, not to the physical body of the deceased or to the ashes of a burned building or -- as in the present case -- to the smuggled cigarettes.  The corpus delicti may be proven by the credible testimony of a sole witness, not necessarily by physical evidence such as those aforementioned.

The Case

Before the Court is a Petition for Review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, seeking to reverse the December 22, 2002 Decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-GR CR No. 17388.  The assailed Decision modified the February 18, 1994 Judgment of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila (Branch 46) in Criminal Case Nos. CCC-VI-137 (79) and CCC-VI-138 (79), finding Arturo Rimorin Sr. guilty of smuggling under the Tariff and Customs Code.  The dispositive portion of assailed CA Decision reads as follows:

“WHEREFORE, the assailed Decision is hereby MODIFIED as follows:

(a) The Court AFFIRMS the decision of the trial court finding Felicisimo Rieta, Arturo Rimorin, Pacifico Teruel and Carmelo Manaois GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT of the crime charged.

(b) Appellants Ernesto Miaco, Guillermo Ferrer, Fidel Balita, Robartolo Alincastre and Ernesto de Castro are ACQUITTED as recommended by the Solicitor General.”

In an Information docketed as CCC-VI-137 (79), petitioner and his co-accused Felicisimo Rieta, Fidel Balita, Gonzalo Vargas, Robartolo Alincastre, Guillermo Ferrer and Ernesto Miaco were charged in these words:

“That on or about October 15, 1979, in the City of Manila, Philippines, the said accused, conspiring and confederating together and helping one another with the evident intent to defraud the government of the Republic of the Philippines of the legitimate duties accruing to it from merchandise imported into this...