04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Further, PO Delfin Balan-eg, one of the policemen who conducted Operation Kapkap, testified that he saw Bangcado and Banisa drinking beer inside the restaurant. The defense tried to destroy his credibility by establishing that he and the two (2) victims as well as the two (2) complaining witnesses were related. However, it must be stressed, that relationship, much less bias, cannot be established by the fact that two (2) persons live in different barangays that form part of the same town. The defense insist that neither could Cogasi's testimony be given any weight since his testimony in open court contradicted his sworn affidavit executed immediately after the incident before the investigating officer. While he testified that he saw the accused emerge from the Skyview Restaurant, in his affidavit, he swore that their attackers actually alighted from a red -colored car. The theory of the defense is that if the gunmen alighted from a red or maroon colored car immediately before the shooting, then they could not have come from the Skyview Restaurant, and vice versa. An affidavit taken ex parte is judicially considered to be almost incomplete and often inaccurate, sometimes from partial suggestions and sometimes from want of suggestions and inquiries, without the aid of which the witness may be unable to recall the connected circumstances necessary for his accurate recollection of the incident.[7] Further, an examination of Cogasi's sworn statement shows, however, that there was actually no contradiction. His testimony was as follows: "x x x I noticed a maroon car x x x I noticed also two persons who were immediately following us went (sic) near the parked maroon car and one of them opened the door at the driver's side but immediately closed it."[8] Quite obviously, the two (2) persons who emerged from the Skyview Restaurant intended to board the parked car but changed their minds and, instead, followed Cogasi and his friends to the Ford Fierra that was parked. The accused-appellants raise the defense of alibi which is inherently weak. To prosper, alibi must be so convincing as to preclude any doubt that the accused could not have been physically present at the crime scene at the time of the incident.[9] The alibis of the accused clearly show upon examination that this could not have been so. Bangcado testified that he stayed at home because he served his tour of duty from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 a.m. the previous day. Thus, on the day of the incident, he was at home where he slept, read the newspapers, watched television and played with his one-year-and-seven-month old daughter. After dinner, he took a nap until his mother-in-law woke him up before 11:00 p.m. so he could report to the police station before 12:00 midnight. As police officer assigned to patrol his area of responsibility, his job was to ride in the police vehicle going around La Trinidad.[10] This was confirmed by Bangcado's mother-in-law Angela Gondales when she testified for the accused. Yet, Bangcado himself told the court that Central Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, where his mother-in-law's house stood, was only five (5) kilometers away from Skyview Restaurant and could be negotiated in thirty (30) minutes using a motor vehicle.[11] The fact that La Trinidad was only thirty (30) minutes away from Baguio City was corroborated by Banisa himself.[12] And Bangcado's house is near a national elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/37955 4/16