PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.

BERNARDINO
DOMANTAY, @ "JUNIOR OTOT," accused-appellant. However, the SC agreed with the Solicitor General that accused-appellant's
confession to the radio reporter, Celso Manuel, is admissible. In People v.
Andan, the accused in a rape with homicide case confessed to the crime
FACTS: Appellant, 29 years old, was charged with rape with homicide for during interviews with the media. In holding the confession admissible,
the death of Jennifer Domantay, a 6-year old girl whose body was found in a despite the fact that the accused gave his answers without the assistance of
bamboo grove with 38 stab wounds at the back and whose hymen was counsel, this Court said: [A]ppellant's [oral] confessions to the newsmen
completely lacerated on the right side, though found fully clothed in blue are not covered by Section 12 (1) and (3) of Article III of the
shorts and white shirt. The trial court found appellant guilty as charged and Constitution. The Bill of Rights does not concern itself with the relation
was sentenced to death. between a private individual and another individual. It governs the
relationship between the individual and the State. The prohibitions
Conviction was based primarily on the testimonies of SPO1 Espinoza and therein are primarily addressed to the State and its agents.
Celso Manuel, a radio reporter. SPO1 Espinoza testified that appellant
confessed to the killing of Jennifer and disclosed to him the location of the
bayonet used which was submitted as evidence for the prosecution.
According to him, appellant waived assistance of counsel but the waiver was
not put in writing nor made in the presence of counsel. On the other hand,
Manuel declared that appellant, in an interview, admitted the brutal killing of
Jennifer; that he was just outside the cell when he interviewed appellant
accompanied by his uncle inside the jail, that the nearest policemen were
about 2-3 meters from him and that no lawyer assisted appellant during the
interview. Also presented as a witness was Dr. Bandonill, medico-legal
expert of the NBI, who testified that it was possible that the lacerations on
the victim could have been caused by something blunt other than the male
organ.

ISSUE: W/N the two confessions made before SPO1 Espinoza and Manuel
which appellant claimed to have been obtained from him were admissible.

HELD: The right to counsel of a person under custodial investigation can be

waived only in writing and with assistance of counsel and that confessions or
admissions obtained in violation thereof are inadmissible in evidence.
However, this prohibition does not apply to confessions or admissions
made to private individuals, such as radio reporters.

For an extrajudicial confession to be admissible, it must satisfy the following

requirements: (1) it must be voluntary; (2) it must be made with the
assistance of competent and independent counsel; (3) it must be express;
and (4) it must be in writing.

In the case at bar, when accused-appellant was brought to the Malasiqui

police station in the evening of October 17, 1996, he was already a suspect,
in fact the only one, in the brutal slaying of Jennifer Domantay. He was,
therefore, already under custodial investigation and the rights guaranteed in
Art. III, §12 (1) of the Constitution applied to him. . . . But though he waived
the assistance of counsel, the waiver was neither put in writing nor made in
the presence of counsel. For this reason, the waiver is invalid and his
confession is inadmissible. SPO1 Espinoza's testimony on the alleged
confession of accused-appellant should have been excluded by the trial
court. So is the bayonet inadmissible in evidence, being, as it were, the "fruit
of the poisonous tree."