G.R. No. L-20908. January 31, 1969
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. UNUH BAKANG AND INDANAN TARANG, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.
CAPISTRANO, J.:
Appeal by defendants, Indanan Tarang ang Unuh
Bakang, from the sentence of reclusion perpetua passed upon each of them by the Court of
First Instance of Basilan City for “double
murder, with multiple frustrated murder.”
Nine defendants were charged, as principals, with robbery in band
in Criminal Case No. 910, and with “double murder, with multiple
frustrated murder,” in Criminal Case No.
911. Only two defendants, Indanan Tarang and Unuh Bakang, stood full
trial. The other seven defendants did
not, for the following reasons: Malonzo and Awaron Nalun died before the trial; Abirin
and John Doe had not been arrested; Endo Sahim
pleaded guilty; Elias Taupan was discharged from the
information to be utilized as a State witness; Baeng
Tungol died during the trial.
After trial, Indanan Tarang and Unuh Bakang were acquitted in Criminal Case No. 910 of robbery
in band. In Criminal Case No. 911 said
defendants were found guilty of “double murder, with multiple frustrated murder” and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, with the accessory penalties of the law.
Late in the evening of June
10, 1959, nine Muslim bandits carrying bladed weapons and firearms
met in the house of one Miutong located at Candiis, Lamitan, Basilan City. They took an early supper and conversed until
late in the evening, when they left and boarded two vintas
in the direction of Pe-ek, same district and
city. At about 10:00 o’clock of the same evening, the bandits arrived at Pe-ek and went direct to the house of Paleng
Toto which they entered unannounced.
Once inside the house, they fired two shots into the air, waking up the
inmates of the house. One of the bandits
lighted a native lamp. They then
hog-tied the inmates of the house, ransacked their pockets for valuables, and
hacked them with bladed weapons on vital parts of their bodies. The bandits then left the house. Shortly after, two of the victims, Paleng Toto and Mahajiril Toto,
were found dead, while three other victims, Kapek, Sabu Paleng and Enjeng, were found to be still alive although gravely
wounded. These victims were taken to a
hospital at Isabela, Basilan City,
where due to timely medical care for about three weeks, they were saved from
death. The medical certificates,
Exhibits “A” and “C”, described the wounds inflicted upon Paleng Toto and Mahajiril Toto,
respectively, and the causes of their deaths were as follows: re Paleng Toto,
“1. Wound, incised, 2-1/2 in. long, superficial, back, left side, upper
portion. 2. Wound, incised, 4 in. long
and 2 in. deep, neck, left side. 3.
Wound, incised, 10 in. long, penetrating the abdominal cavity, abdomen,
hypochondriac region, right side, portion of large intestines protruding. 4. Wound, incised, 2-1/2 in. long and 1/2 in.
deep, wrist, right. The cause of death
of the above named deceased Moro Paleng Toto was
Acute Anemia, Secondary hemorrhage, Multiple
wounds;” re Mahajiril Toto, “Wound, incised,
10 in. long, penetrating the thoracic cavity, shoulder and back, left
side. (From clavicle,
left side to scapula, right side).
The cause of death of the above named deceased Imam Mahajiril
Toto was Acute Anemia, Secondary hemorrhage, wound penetrating the thoracic
cavity, shoulder and back, left side.” The wounds inflicted upon the other
three victims are described in medical certificates Exhibits “H”,
“I” and “J”, as follows:
Exhibit “H”, re Kapek, “Hacking
wound, occipito-parietal, left head. Hacking wound, parietal, left head. Hacking wound, arm, right. Healing time, barring complications, 2
weeks;” Exhibit “I”, re Sabu Paleng, “Hacking wound, dorsum, right hand. Hacking wound, shoulder,
right. Healing time, barring
complications, 2 weeks;” and Exhibit “J”, re Moro Enjeng, “Hacking wounds, back. Hacking wound, right arm. Hacking wound, knee, right. Healing time, barring
complications, 2 weeks.” The bandits duly identified were Baeng Tungol, Unuh
Bakang, Malonzo, Indanan Tarang, Awaron Nalun, Elias Taupan, Endo Sahim and Abirin. The ninth
bandit was not identified and was referred to as John Doe.
The lower court found the defendants, Indanan
Tarang and Unuh Bakang, guilty as principals. The finding is correct, it being clear from
the evidence that there was conspiracy or previous concert of criminal design.
The trial court held that there was treachery because the victims
were hog-tied and defenseless when some of the bandits hacked them with bladed
weapons on vital parts of their bodies.
The trial court was correct in so holding.
However, the lower court erred in finding the defendants, Indanan Tarang and Unuh Bakang, guilty of
“double murder, with multiple frustrated murder,”
that is, of complex crimes. The crimes
were not complex because there were different acts of hacking performed by
different bandits. For this reason
Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code on complex crimes is not applicable. (People vs. Pantoja, G.R. No. L-18793, October 11, 1968.) There were, therefore, two
distinct murders and three distinct frustrated murders and the two defendants
are criminally liable for each and every one of them.
The lower court was correct in finding that the aggravating
circumstance of by a band was offset by the mitigating circumstance of
illiterate non-Christians. (Sec. 106,
Administrative Code of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu.)
The civil indemnity for the deaths of Paleng
Toto and Mahajiril Toto should be raised from P6,000 to P12,000 for each of them. (People vs. Pantoja, supra.)
The civil indemnity of P500 granted by the lower court to each of
the three victims of frustrated murder cannot be increased in the absence of
evidence to justify an increase.
The only witness presented for the defense was Endo Sahim, the defendant who previously pleaded guilty to the
information. With respect to his
testimony, the trial court, Judge Geronimo R. Marave,
presiding, made the following findings:
“To overcome the evidence for the prosecution, the defense
introduced the lone testimony of Endo Sahim who
claims that he, Malonzo and Awaron were the only ones who committed the crime. This testimony was not at all corroborated,
not even by the accused Indanan Tarang
or Unuh Bakang
themselves. When Endo Sahim was arraigned by the reading of the above quoted informations and translated in the dialect known to him,
he admitted that he, together with his co-accused, Baeng
Tungol, Unuh Bakang, Indanan Tarang, Elias Taupan, conspiring
and confederating together, aiding and assisting with their co-accused Moro Abirin, and one John Doe who is still at large, Malonzo and Awaron Nalun who are already dead, committed the crime. In short, when he was arraigned and apprised
that Indanan Tarang and Unuh Bakang were among his
companions in the commission of the crime, he was not heard to have stated that
Indanan Tarang and Unuh Bakang were not with him.
“From the evidence therefore, the guilt of the accused Indanan Tarang, and Unuh Bakang of the crime charged
in the information was proved beyond reasonable doubt.”
We agree with the above quoted findings
of the trial court.
PREMISES CONSIDERED, the appealed judgment is modified
by: 1. sentencing each appellant to the
penalty of reclusion perpetua with the
accessory penalties of the law for the murder of Paleng
Toto; 2. sentencing each appellant to the penalty of reclusion perpetua with the accessory penalties of the law for
the murder of Mahajiril Toto; 3. ordering the
appellants to pay in solidum the sum of
P12,000 to the heirs of Paleng Toto and the sum of
P12,000 to the heirs of Mahajiril Toto; 4. sentencing
each appellant to an indeterminate penalty of from 6 years of prision correccional
as the minimum, to 13 years of reclusion temporal as the maximum,
for the frustrated murder of Kapek; 5. sentencing
each appellant to an indeterminate penalty of from 6 years of prision correccional
as the minimum, to 13 years of reclusion temporal as the maximum,
for the frustrated murder of Sabu Paleng;
6. sentencing each appellant to an indeterminate penalty of from 6 years of prision correccional
as the minimum, to 13 years of reclusion temporal as the maximum,
for the frustrated murder of Enjeng; and 7. ordering
the appellants to pay in solidum civil
indemnity in the sums of P500 to Kapek, P500 to Sabu Paleng and P500 to Enjeng.
The sentences of reclusion perpetua
and the indeterminate penalties shall be served successively.
Costs against appellants.
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Zaldivar, Sanchez, Castro, Fernando, Teehankee,
and Barredo, JJ., concur.