THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. MALLI BASARAIN, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

In this case we are to review a sentence of death imposed upon the accused
Malli Basarain by the Court of First Instance of Sulu.

The accused was charged in the court below with double murder and frustrated
murder committed, according to the information, as follows:

“That on or about November 30, 1952, in the Walled City, Municipality of
Jolo, Province of Sulu, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Court,
the above accused, with intent to kill and by means of treachery, did then and
there willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, unexpectedly and suddenly attack and
fire with a pistol with which he has conveniently provided at a group of people
thereby hitting and inflicting upon Milagros Fernandez and Bonifacio Pila
physical injuries in different parts of their bodies which caused the
instantaneous death of Milagros Fernandez and the death of said Bonifacio Pila
two days later; and also inflicting physical injuries upon Teodosia Timbreza
which would produce her death as a consequence but, which nevertheless did not
produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the said accused, that
is, the timely intervention of third parties and prompt administration of
medical treatment.

“That the commission of the foregoing offense was attended by the aggravating
circumstance of superior strength, the crime was committed in the Catholic
Church, a place dedicated to religious worship, evident premeditation and
disrespect to sex, two of the victims being women.”

Upon arraignment the accused, who was assisted by counsel de oficio,
entered a plea of guilty. But on motion of the fiscal evidence was allowed to be
presented to justify the imposition of capital punishment.

It appears that about 4 o’clock in the afternoon of November 30,1952, the
accused came to the Mt. Carmel catholic church in the municipality of Jolo,
province of Sulu, on a car driven by himself. Alighting in front of the church,
he headed for the main entrance, where a crowd was gathered waiting for the
meeting of the Congregation of the Children of Mary, and then at close range he
began firing into the crowd with a .45-caliber automatic pistol. The crown
rushed into the church, but the accused followed them inside and continued
firing until he was seized, overpowered, and disarmed by an army sergeant who
happened to be there. The accused, however, was able to flee and went into
hiding in the house of an uncle, where he was found by the agents of the law in
an unconscious condition after he had cut off his private parts in an obvious
attempt at suicide.

Victims of the shooting were Milagros Fernandez, a 17-year old girl who was
found dead inside the church with gunshot wounds in the head and other parts of
the body; Bonifacio Pila, also found dead inside the church, with a bullet wound
through the body at the level of the fifth rib; and Teodosia Timbreza, who
received a gunshot wound in each thigh which according to the doctor, could have
been cured in 2-1/2 months, barring complications.

The trial court declared the accused guilty of double murder and frustrated
murder, with two aggravating circumstances-disregard of the sex of two of the
victims and perpetration of the criminal acts in a place devoted to worship and,
with only one aggravating circumstance offset by the plea of guilty, sentenced
him to death.

Counsel de oficio does not question the facts. He, however, contends
that the accused could not be held guilty of double murder but only of two
separate murders, in addition to the frustrated murder. The Solicitor General
concurs in this opinion, and we think it is correct. In convicting the accused
of double murder the learned judge relies on the case of People vs. Bersamin.
G.R. No. L-3098, March 5, 1951, where it was held that in the absence of a
showing that the two victims in that case died from more than one bullet, the
crime should be classified as double murder. In that case, however, this Court
took note of the fact that there was no evidence as to how many wounds the
victims received, and speculated that in the circumstances it was within the
scope of possibility that they were killed by one and the same missile,
considering that they were riding astride the same carabao and were met by the
accused who fired at them. In the present case, however, Milagros Fernandez
received three bullet wounds, Teodosia Timbreza two, and Bonifacio Pila one; and
not only were the bodies of Milagros and Bonifacio found in different places but
there was also no showing that they were so close to each other or so situated
that they were hit by one and the same bullet. The evidence further shows that
as to Timbreza she received the shot while hiding behind a baptismal font after
Milagros had fallen.

We likewise agree with counsel de oficio and the Solicitor General
that the accused is declared guilty of two separate crimes of murder and one
frustrated murder and sentenced as follows: (1) for each of the crimes of
murder, to suffer life imprisonment, with the accessory penalties prescribed by
law, and to indemnify the heirs of Milagros Fernandez in the sum of P3,000 and
the heirs of Bonifacio Pila in like amount; and (2) for the frustrated murder,
to an indeterminate penalty of from 4 years, 2 months, and 1 day of
prision correccional as minimum, to 12 years, 5 months and 11 days
of reclusion temporal as maximum, also with the accessory
penalties prescribed by law; the duration of all the penalties to be subject to
the limitation provided for in article 70 of the Revised Penal Code. With
Costs.

Pablo, Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador,
Concepcion, and Reyes, J.B.L., JJ., concur.