THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. JANAHUDIN PAKAH ET AL., ACCUSED AND APPELLANT.

PERFECTO, J.:


On March 24, 1946, Luciano Aizon was found killed in his house in the sitio
of Calanasan, Curuan, City of Zamboanga, and, somewhere in the vicinity of the
house, his wife Perfecta Contemplado. When the authorities came to investigate,
it was found out that goods and personal belongings have disappeared and a trunk
was found open, abandoned nearby the house.

At about six o’clock p.m. of said day, Agustin Bonifacio arrived in front of
the house and near the stairs he saw two persons. Without suspecting anything
wrong, he proceeded towards the kitchen, and upon nearing it, he heard Perfecta
address Janahudin Pakah: “It is up to you, what you want to get.” But upon
seeing Bonifacio, Janahudin unsheated his bolo and chased him. Bonifacio ran
away and went to the police station of Curuan. There he met Fortunato
Evangelista, a policeman, and with the latter and five others, he repaired to
the house of Luciano, who was found by them in the kitchen dead with a severe
cut on his neck. Early the following morning, the peace officers found in a
banana grove in a nearby hill the dead body of Perfecta with a wound across the
lower part of the body towards the neck. The peace officers found disorder
inside the house. Pillow cases were scattered around, and outside the house they
found an empty trunk forcibly opened. Upon data furnished by Agustin Bonifacio
and Eduardo Contemplado, the following were found missing: clothes for men and
women worth P300; jewelries worth P120; cash of P500; one .22 caliber shotgun
valued at P110. The latter was recovered, and the total value of the things not
recovered amounts to P985.

Nine persons, including appellant, were prosecuted for robbery in band with
double homicide. After the evidence for the prosecution was presented, the case
was dismissed as against four, and after the hearing, the remaining accused were
acquitted, with the exception of appellant who was sentenced to reclusion
perpetua and to indemnify the heirs of Luciano Aizon in the amount of
P2,000 and the heirs of Perfecta Contemplado in the amount of P2,000 and to pay
one-ninth of the costs.

The evidence on record justifies the lower court’s judgment : finding
appellant guilty. Even accepting his testimony to the effect that he was forced
to make his confession, Exhibit D, and that the same must be disregarded, there
is evidence on record to prove conclusively appellant’s direct participation in
the crime, although no one saw him actually killing either one of the deceased
couple. His conduct at the time Agustin Bonifacio was proceeding towards the
kitchen, around which Perfecta Contemplado made an unusual address to appellant
who, upon seeing Agustin, chased him with his bolo, would show to any reasonable
person that appellant is responsible for the crime evidence of which was found
the same night by Agustin Bonifacio, Policeman Portunato Evangelista and five
others in the disorder in the house and in the dead body of Luciano Aizon.

Shotgun, Exhibit I, one of the articles missing from the house of the crime,
was found in appellant’s house. When he was arrested, upon investigation, he
readily admitted having killed Luciano Aizon and surrendered at the same time
his blood-stained bolo and its scabbard. At the arraignment before the Acting
Municipal Judge of the City of Zamboanga, appellant pleaded guilty. His
allegation that he did it through fear deserves no credit, as he was already
under the protection of the court before which he could have complained of the
danger of being maltreated or tortured if he would fail to plead guilty.

The prosecution suggests that the lower court erred in appreciating against
appellant the aggravating circumstance that the crime was committed “by a band,
as according to the evidence only two of the malefactors were armed. The
contention is correct, as to appreciate said circumstance, Article 14 of the
Revised Penal Code requires that there should be more than three armed
malefactors. The prosecution proposes that the aggravating circumstance of
dwelling should be considered instead. There being no evidence that the offended
party has not given provocation, which is an essential element of the
circumstance as provided by No. 3 of Article 14 of the Revised Penal Code, the
proposal cannot be accepted.

There is no question that the mitigating circumstance of lack of instruction
should be considered in favor of appellant, although it can not affect the
result.

As the appellant is guilty of robbery with homicide, the lower court acted
correctly in sentencing him to reclusion perpetua, the penalty provided
by Article 294, No. 1, of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Article 63, No.
3, of the same Code. As suggested by the prosecution, the appellant should be
also ordered to pay the heirs of the deceased espouses the sum of P985. With
this modification the appealed judgment is affirmed, with costs

Paras, Actg. C.J., Feria, Pablo, Bengzon, Briones, Padilla, and
Tuason, JJ., concur.