G.R. No. 1506. February 26, 1904

On August 29, 1903, the provincial fiscal of Bulacan filed an information
charging Facundo Pineda, Benigno Baeza, Agustin de la Cruz, Pedro Tenorio,
Eulalio Reyes, Nemesio Hernandez, Francisco Benedicto, and Felix La quindamun
with insurrection, in that the said defendants, on or about the 6th day of
February of the same year, being members of the volunteer corps organized by the
government of the said province to maintain the public peace, and being provided
with guns and ammunition belonging to the Insular Government, and while
garrisoned with others to the number of 25 in the town of Obando, abandoned the
garrison and deserted from the ranks, with their arms and ammunition, and joined
the party of the so-called General San Miguel, aiding and promoting the
insurrection against the constituted government of these Islands, fighting with
the arms with which they had been intrusted against the loyal troops until they
were arrested some months afterwards in various parts of the province; this
against the statute in the case made and provided.

The evidence in the case conclusively establishes the facts that on the
afternoon of February 6, 1903, 25 volunteers, armed with rifles and under
command of Sergeant Damaso Caambol, among them the eight defendants, left their
garrison and barracks in the town of Obando, and deserted, with their arms and
ammunition, going to the barrio of Binauangan and thence to the place called
Corral na Bato, where they joined the party commanded by the so-called General
San Miguel; that while on their way they were met by some fifteen members of the
said band who had come out to receive them; that on the following day, on which
the partisans of San Miguel had a fight with the Constabulary, by whom their
encampment was attacked, the said defendants took part in the fight, aiding and
abetting San Miguel’s men; that subsequently some of the deserters concealed
themselves in the mangrove swamps at a place called Matalaba, of the township of
Paombong, where they formed another band, waiting for an opportunity to make an
attack upon the town of Hagonoy and later upon the town of Malolos, the capital
of the province, of which purpose Lieut. Jose Reyes, of the Constabulary forces,
was informed by three men, by name Crispulo Capuli, Benito Villanueva, and
Valentin de Guzman, who by orders of the said lieutenant joined the party
encamped in said mangrove swamps; that on April 30 of the same year, Lieutenant
Reyes and his soldiers attacked the party at Matalaba, dispersing it, and after
the combat captured provisions, a revolver, and a Remington rifle; that the
spies saw Nemesio Hernandez and Facundo Pineda among the members of the
band.

Juan Zorilla, the cook of San Miguel’s party, testified that he saw Eulalio
Reyes, Francisco Benedicto, Agustin de la Cruz, and Facundo Pineda among the
Obando volunteers who joined the said party; that he knew that these men had so
joined the band, because he was present when a letter from Sergeant Damaso
Caambol was read, in which letter he announced his arrival in the mountains for
the purpose of joining San Miguel’s party; that the purpose of this band,
according to San Miguel, and the leaders, Apolonio Samson, Natalio Austria,
Guillermo, and Contreras, was to fight against the Constabulary to accomplish
the independence of the country. Inspector Donato Teodoro and Lieut. Jose Reyes
identified the accused as members of the volunteer corps to whom they had
delivered guns and pay. Inspector Donato testified subsequently that Eulalio
Reyes, Francisco Benedicto, and Facundo Pineda confessed to him that after
deserting they joined San Miguel’s band.

Section 3 of Act No. 292, passed November 4,1901, reads as follows:

“Every person who incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion
or insurrection against the authority of the United States or of the Government
of the Philippine Islands, or the laws thereof, or who gives aid or comfort to
anyone so engaging in such rebellion or insurrection, shall, upon conviction, be
imprisoned for not more than ten years and be fined not more than $10,000.”

The evidence in this case, consisting of the testimony of a number of
witnesses and especially the testimony of two officers, one of them a member of
the Constabulary and another a member of the volunteer corps organized in
Bulacan, and the testimony of the witness Juan Zorilla, establishes, the fact
that on the afternoon of February 6, 1903, the eight defendants, with others up
to the number of 25, being volunteers provided with arms belonging to the
Insular Government, abandoned the garrison in which they had been stationed, and
under the direction of Sergeant Damaso Caambol joined the band of the so-called
General San Miguel, encamped at Corral na Bato, acting upon an agreement to that
end with San Miguel or some of the officers of his band, aiding and abetting and
taking actual part in the acts of rebellion and insurrection committed by the
said band against the authority of the United States and of its laws, resisting
the agents and officers of the Insular Government. No doubt they deserted for
the express purpose of joining the insurrection and opposing the authorities and
their agents. These facts are confirmed by the testimony of the accused, Reyes,
Benedicto, Hernandez, Baeza, and Pineda.

It further appears from the record that some of the defendants left San
Miguel’s band and went into hiding in the mangrove swamps of the town of
Paombong, where they proposed to form another party for the purpose of falling
upon the town of Hagonoy and subsequently Malolos, the capital of the province,
doubtless with the intent of attacking the local authorities of these towns,
upon the supposition that the said authorities would oppose their assault; and
although this purpose was not carried into effect, this was because
Lieutenant Reyes of the Constabulary attacked them beforehand, with the
Government forces and dispersed them on April 30, 1903.

The eight defendants pleaded not guilty, but nothwithstanding the
inadmissible and unsupported exculpation which five of them attempted, saying
that they only obeyed the orders of Sergeant Caambol when leaving Obando
garrison and that with the consent and by order of the latter they were disarmed
by a number of the members of the San Miguel party which surprised them while
their guns were unloaded and took them to Corral na Bato, the case nevertheless
shows more than sufficient evidence of the guilt of the defendants of the crime
of rebellion, they having taken part in actual acts of rebellion committed
against the authorities, for they did not resist the alleged disarmament and
kidnaping which they allege, and their conduct at the time of their desertion
and subsequently shows conclusively that they went into the ranks of the enemies
of peace, of law, and of the well-being of the country willfully and with full
knowledge of the gravity and consequences of their acts. The best proof of the
guilt of the accused is that on the day following that on which they joined San
Miguel’s forces they assisted the latter in the skirmish against the
Constabulary. Consequently they are guilty as principals of the crime with which
they are charged and are subject to the personal and pecuniary penalties to
which they have been condemned.

Therefore, for the reasons above stated, we are of the opinion that the
judgment of the court below, dated September 25,1903, and by which each of the
eight defendants is condemned to ten years’ imprisonment and to the payment of
10,000 Insular pesos each and to the costs must be affirmed. This decision and
the judgment hereafter to be entered in accordance therewith will be sent to the
court below for execution. So ordered,

Arellano, C. J., Cooper, Willard, Mapa, McDonough, and Johnson,
JJ., concur.