G.R. No. L-6019. December 15, 1953

Motin
Cocoy, his younger brother Apolonio Cocoy, their father Barhin Cocoy,
one named Magdaleno Villorente and another called Abi, were originally
charged with robbery with triple murder in the Justice of the Peace
Court of Libacao, Capiz. With the exception of Abi, all were arrested
and submitted to the preliminary investigation conducted by the Justice
of the Peace who later sent the case up to the Court of First Instance.
Upon representations of the provincial fiscal that the evidence for the
prosecution was not enough to convict Barhin Cocoy and Magdaleno
Villorente, the information was dismissed as against the two. Upon
arraignment the remaining two accused Motin and Apolonio pleaded
guilty. Because of the seriousness of the offense charged and because
the two brothers were illiterate non-Christians, instead of thenceforth
sentencing them, the trial court presided over by Judge Luis N. de Leon
had Motin Cocoy take the witness stand. With his testimony the trial
judge had the impression that the two accused might not have understood
the meaning and effect of their plea of guilty and so ordered the same
to be stricken from the record and substituted with a plea of not
guilty. After trial the lower court found them guilty beyond reasonable
doubt of robbery with triple murder and sentenced them to suffer the
death penalty and to indemnify the heirs of the victims in the sum of
P3,000 plus P273.60 for the value of the things taken away, and to pay
one-half of the costs. The case is now here for review under the
provisions of Rule 118, section 9, of the Rules of Court providing for
the transmission to this Court of all criminal cases where the death
penalty is imposed by the trial court.

There is no dispute
as to the following facts. In the month of March, 1952, Jose Leyson,
his wife Maria Felix, their daughter Gardenia aged three and their son
Golpihan 1½ years old were living in the barrio of Manica, municipality
of Libacao, Province of Capiz, in a sort of temporary building commonly
known as an evacuation hut, consisting of one single room, including
the kitchen, situated near the forest and standing only about two feet
from the ground. Their nearest neighbor was about two kilometers away.
The hut was a good many miles from the poblacion, requiring many hours
hiking over trails and fording streams to negotiate the distance. In
the morning of March 12, 1952 (Wednesday) Leyson left his family in the
house to go to the poblacion to make purchases the following day
(Thursday) which was a market day. That same afternoon Wednesday,
several marauders entered his house and after killing Maria and the two
children by means of bolo blows, ransacked the house and left it clean
of its contents such as plates, kitchen utensils, money amounting to
P210, jewelry valued at P50, clothes costing P40 and one cavan of rice
worth P10. According to investigation by the police, the body of Maria
bore seven wounds, Gardenia—6 wounds and the little boy—3 wounds. The
two eyes of the boy were found to have been gouged and extracted from
their sockets.

Due to the distance of the poblacion from his
house and because upon his return home he could not cross swollen
streams, Leyson did not reach his home until Saturday afternoon March
15. We can only imagine the shock that must have stunned him and his
reactions to the scene of death and desolation that greeted his
eyes,—his dear ones whom only three days before he had left alive and
hale, now but corpses scattered on the floor, and the house itself
despoiled of all its contents. He notified his relatives and then
hurried back to the poblacion to report, and the Libacao police
repaired to his home where they arrived two or three days later.

We agree with the trial court and the solicitor general that the
evidence adduced during the trial is conclusive that Motin Cocoy and
his brother Apolonio Cocoy and according to them one named Abi were
responsible for the robbery and the killing of the three victims.
According to the testimony of Motin and Apolonio, together with Abi and
upon suggestion of the latter they all went to the house of Leyson late
in the afternoon of Wednesday. Upon arrival there Abi asked for food
telling Maria that they were hungry and the housewife said she would
prepare for them. After a long wait Abi impatient asked her about the
food promised them and she answered that there was no food in the
house, whereupon Abi began boloing and otherwise attacking Maria and
the two children Golpihan and Gardenia until they were all dead. Motin
said that he did not see the killing because at the time he was at the
window looking toward the forest. His brother Apolonio equally
disclaimed having witnessed the actual killing, because according to
him he was at the door looking out and when the two brothers turned
around, Maria and her children were already lying dead on the floor. We
do not blame the trial court for calling and considering this story of
the two brothers “too fantastic, a downright lie.” The infliction of
the seven wounds on Maria, six wounds on Gardenia and three wounds on
the little boy could not have been accomplished in an instant like the
explosion of a bomb but must have taken some time, and undoubtedly
accompanied by resistance even if ineffective, shouts or even noise and
commotion produced by the assault, and yet Motin and Apolonio would
have the court believe that all these happened without their knowledge
because they were engrossed in contemplating the scenery. There is
every reason to believe and to find that there was a previous agreement
on the part of the two brothers and Abi to rob the house and to kill
the inmates in order to better hide the crime, an agreement which they
actually carried out. This is supported not only by the very testimony
of the two brothers Motin and Apolonio, admitting that after the
killing they took part in ransacking the house and taking away money
and articles, but by the testimony of Roque Idala who according to him
responded to Maria’s shouts for help and witnessed part of the killing
by the two brothers from his place of hiding and observation, a
distance of several meters from the house. He also saw the killers,
including the two brothers leave the house carrying in bundles what
they had taken from Leyson’s dwelling. According to Idala after the
marauders had left he entered the house and saw the dead bodies on the
floor. The participation of Motin and Apolonio in the killing and the
robbery is further supported by their own affidavits, Exhibits A-1 and
B-1, wherein they admit that once in the house of Leyson and after
Maria had told them that there was no food in the house, the two
brothers took part in killing the inmates after they saw Abi initiate
the murderous assault. This, to say nothing of their spontaneous plea
of guilty to the charge of robbery with triple murder, although this
plea was subsequently stricken from the record. As to the voluntariness
of the affidavits, Exhibits A-1 and B-1, Eufronio A. Escalona, Justice
of the Peace of Libacao, before whom they were sworn assured the court
that he read to the affiants the contents in the local dialect and told
them that they could either affirm or deny the truth thereof, but that
they told him that they contained the truth. Even during the trial
Motin and Apolonio told the court that they were neither intimidated
nor maltreated by the constabulary or the police.

The crime committed by appellants which is the complex crime of robbery with homicide, not robbery with triple murder,^[1]
was truly hideous and shocking, not only because of the massacre of
three innocent persons but because the killing of two of the victims
was clearly unnecessary. Even if the two children had been spared, they
were too young (aged 3 and 1½ years) to remember and to relate the
occurrence and identify the culprits; and the gouging of the eyes of
the little boy as confessed by Apolonio is a manifestation of wanton
cruelty and brutality. Ordinarily, this horrifying crime deserves the
death penalty imposed by the trial court because of the presence of
several aggravating circumstances, such as dwelling, uninhabited place,
abuse of superior strength, etc., but some members of this tribunal are
inclined to reduce the penalty to life imprisonment not only because of
the ignorance and lack of instruction of the defendants but because of
their being non-Christians and their lack of association with a
civilized community. They lived more or less in isolation in the
mountains. Apolonio told the court that he had never been to the
poblacion of Libacao within whose territorial jurisdiction he had been
living since birth.

Lacking the necessary number of votes to
impose the extreme penalty, the death penalty imposed by the trial
court is hereby reduced to life imprisonment; and following the
suggestion of the solicitor general, the indemnity to the heirs imposed
by the trial court for the killings should be raised to P6,000, and the
value of the articles taken away raised from P273.60 to P303.60.

We notice that Abi, the person who according to the two brothers, was
the leader, up to now has not yet been arrested despite the issuance of
the corresponding warrant against him and although according to the
appellants he was still living in the sitio of Taroytoy not far from
their home. The authorities should continue or renew their efforts to
bring him to justice. We quote with approval a paragraph of the
decision appealed from on this point.

“The court
notes that Abi was a co-accused in the Justice of the Peace of origin.
A warrant was issued for his arrest. The record does not show what
happened with the case with respect to Abi after the warrant of arrest
was issued. This, in spite of the fact that Abi, according to the
herein accused, is not hiding. He is in Taroytoy. This shows reluctance
on the part of the peace and prosecuting officers to bring Abi to the
bar of justice. Such an attitude cannot fail to create in the minds of
many a belief that, at times, the law is not applied equally to all. It
cannot fail to create a resentment in the hearts of the herein accused
because, whereas they are to suffer the extreme penalty of the law for
the crime, Abi, who is as guilty, if not more, as they are, is free.
Cases as this is one of the causes of the people’s losing respect for
the law and faith in the government. But the non-prosecution of Abi
cannot be an impediment to the conviction of the accused if they are
really guilty.”

With the modifications above
enumerated, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs.
Let a copy of this decision be furnished the Department of Justice and
the Chief, Philippine Constabulary.

Paras, C. J., Pablo, Bengzon, Padilla, Tuason, Reyes, Jugo, Bautista Angelo and Labrador, JJ., concur.

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^[1] U. S. vs. Landasan, 35 Phil., 359; People vs. Manuel, 44 Phil., 333.