THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. TOMAS BAQUINO ET AL., DEFENDANTS. PEDRO BAQUINO (ALIAS PEDRO BAGINO), APPELLANT.

PERFECTO, J.:

In a decision rendered by Judge Fernando Jugo, of the Court of First Instance
of Manila, on April 29, 1946, appellant Pedro Baquino was found guilty of the
murder of Feliciano Lopez, which took place in the afternoon of August 9, 1945,
with the qualifying circumstance of abuse of superior strength, and sentenced
him to recluswn perpetua, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the sum of
P2.000, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the
proportional part of the costs.

At the trial of this case which took place on April 12, 1946, Victor Lopez,
72 years of age, father of the deceased, being the only witness presented by the
prosecution, testified that Feliciano Lopez died on August 9, 1945, in.Bahay
Toro, having received two shots, one at the forehend and the other below one
ear. He was shot by Emiliano Beltran and Tomansing Baquino. Felicinno was struck
by four individuals, among them the appellant. After Feliciano had fallen down,
he was shot. Feliciano shouted, asking for help from his brother Jose Lopez.
Upon hearing the shout, Jose and the witness went to the place, but they were
not able to approach it because the assailants fired at them. After a while the
assailants went away, and when the witness went to see his son, the latter was
already dead. Jose Lopez, who testified at the trial against Emiliano Beltran,
was also killed on January 15, 1946, by persons who entered the Lopez’s house by
force and shot him. Feliciano was shot at half past three in the afternoon. It
was Jose who saw Emiliano Beltran and Tomansing Baquino firing at Feliciano. The
witness did not see them while in the act of firing. The afternoon was bright.
It was not raining. The witness had his back to the sun when he approached the
scene.

For the defense, three witnesses and appellant himself testified.

Maximo Ramos, supervisor of laborers of the Ordnance Bureau, in Talipapa,
Caloocan, testified that, as supervisor, it was his duty to check every morning
all laborers present or absent and to assign some work to those present. He used
to read the list of laborers at 7:30 o’clock a. m. and between 2 and 3 o’clock
in the afternoon, in the company of another, and inspect the different places
where the laborers were assigned to work. Exhibit 1 is a list of laborers who
were working- under timekeeper Benito Ramos, and it covers the period from
August 5 to 11, 1945.. Pedro Baquino, whose name appears in the list, had worked
on August 9 the whole day, that is, from 7:30 to 11:30 o’clock a. m., and from
12:30 to 4:30 o’clock p. m. The witness knew personally appellant Pedro Baquino
who, according to Exhibit 2, received his salary for the period from August 5 to
11, 1945. The camp where appellant worked is from 6 to 7 kilometers distant from
Balmy Toro. There being no direct road between the two places, one had to pass
through Balintawak. For having worked from August 5 to 11, Pedro Baquino
received as wages the amount of P8.

Houstan P. Willis, civilian personnel officer in charge of the 189th Ordnance
Battalion, testified that Exhibit 1 is the time sheet kept daily for all the
employees working at the 189th Ordnance Bureau from 5 to 11 of August, 1940: On
line 11 of said time sheet appears the name of Pedro Baquino. According to the
record he was present in his work on August 9, 1945, the whole day. The work was
from 7:30 o’clock in the morning to 4:30 o’clock in the afternoon, with an hour
allowance for lunch. The witness did not know Pedro Baquino.

Benito Ramos, foreman of the 189th Ordnance Battalion from April 2, 1945, up
to September 2, 1945, testified that it was his duty to prepare the list of the
laborers under his supervision and assign the laborers to work as ordered by his
chief. Exhibit 3 is the list for August 5 to 11, 1945. In it appears the name of
Pedro. Baquino. The accused was personally knpwn to the witness. The working
hours were from 7:30 a. m. to 4:30 o’clock p, m. He called the roll of the
laborers upon their arrival and again at 12:30 when they resumed the work for
the afternoon. Pedro Baquino was living in Banlat, Caloocan, where the witness
was also living, about two kilometers from Bahay Toro.

Appellant Pedro Baquino denied having had any participation in the killing of
Felieiano Lopez. He declared that on August 9, 1945, he was at his work at the
189th Ordnance Battalion, working as a carpenter under foreman Benito Ramos and
timekeeper Maximo Ramos. He began to work at 7:30 o’clock in the morning. He was
fetched by a truck from his residence at Banlat. He was present the whole day in
his work from 7:30 to 11:30 o’clock a. m. and from 12:30 to 4:30 o’clock p. m.
After his dismissal at 4:30 o’clock p. m. and after receiving rations from the
foreman he boarded a truck. His dairy wage was P2. He received his pay for the
period from August 5 to 11. He used to take his lunch inside the camp. He heard
of the death of Felieiano Lopez only on August 22. He was arrested in connection
with this case on February 16, 1946. He did not know Felieiano Lopez and had to
ask police authorities who Felieiano was. He was told that Feliciano was a son
of Victor Lopez. He knew Jose, the other son of Victor Lopez. No laborer could
leave his work in the camp without the permission of the American in charge.

Exhibits 1, 2, and 3 were, without objection, admitted.

Upon the evidence, we do not feel justified in pronouncing appellant guilty
of the crime for which he was charged.

In the testimony of the lone witness for the prosecution, absolutely
uncorroborated by any other kind of evidence, either oral or documentary, we do
not find the evidence that would assure us beyond all reasonable doubt that
Pedro Baquino was one of the four assailants who shot to death Feliciano
Lopez.

It is to be deplored that the prosecution was unable to call Jose Lopez to
the witness stand. It seems, as in the case of Oedipus in the Greek tragedy,
that a kind of blind nemesis has been persecuting the Lopez family. Feliciano
Lopez was killed’on August 9, 1945. His septuagenarian father, Victor, became
ill and his sight and hearing weakened. On January 15, 1946, their house was
assaulted and Jose Lopez was shot to death, thus eternally sealing his lips from
testifying against the three remaining1 killers of his brother Feliciano. Such
is their fate that the administration of justice could afford them no relief.
Fate is stronger than anybody, even stronger, according to the ancient Greeks,
than the gods.

Against the uncorroborated testimony of the old and sickly Victor Lopez,
whose sad testimony appears to bear the crushing burden of the successive loss
of two sons under tragic circumstances, there is the testimony of appellant
himself, denying any participation in the killing of Feliciano and offering a
defense of alibi, fortified by the declarations of three witnesses, all of them
unim-peached, and supported by three unquestioned exhibits. Weighed under the
standard of mere preponderance, the evidence for the defense appears heavier in
the scale. Even if the evidence for the prosecution should’ be given more weight
than that of the defense, still we cannot convict the accused, because the law
requires that his guilt must be proved beyond all reasonable doubt.

Even the Solicitor General, convinced of the futility of the evidence for the
prosecution as against the well marshalled evidence for the accused, in
compliance with unshrinkable official duty, had to plead for the appellant in
his brief.

The lower court’s decision is reversed and appellant Pedro Baquino is
acquitted, with costs de oficio.

Moran, C. J., Paras, Pablo, Hilado, Bengzon, Briones, Padilla, and
Tuason, JJ, concur.