Witness testimony tainted with improper motive

Finally, Tan's entire testimony was strongly belied by the defense witnesses whose credibilities appear to be untarnished. Dominguito Tacasa to whom Tan purportedly delivered the ballot boxes stated that such event is highly impossible as he was then detailed at Ferrol, Romblon, the whole day of the election. Siony Galus, Tan's neighbor and godmother of Tan's daughter, testified that there was no kidnapping that occurred at precinct No. 11 and neither was the voting proceedings therein interrupted. This testimony was corroborated by no less than the Chairman of the Board of Inspectors and a niece of the victim, Jessie Famadico. The minutes of the proceedings, Jessie Famadico declared, did not contain any entry about the alleged suspension or interruption brought about by the kidnapping of the victim. We find no cogent reason, and none was persuasively presented, why a relative of the victim and the other witnesses took a diametrically opposed position from that taken by Tan if it was not the truth. [G.R. No. 119722. December 2, 1996]