THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. IRINEO SANTELLA AND LUCIO SABALA, DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS. THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE VS.…

Appeal from a decision of the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur, in the
above entitled cases, which were jointly tried, convicting appellant Irineo
Santella of the crime of murder in Criminal Case No. 3086 of said court
(L-16665) and of illegal discharge of firearm in Criminal Case No. 8037 of the
same court (L-16666), and sentencing him, in the first case, to life
imprisonment, with the accessory penalties provided by law, to indemnify the
heirs of the deceased Atty. Arnulfo Arcalas in the sum of P6,000, without
subsidiary imprisonment, in case of insolvency, in view of the nature of the
principal penalty, and to pay 1/2 of the costs, and, in the second case, to an
indeterminate penalty ranging from 6 months of arresto mayor to 2 years,
11 months and 10 days of prision correccional, with the accessory
penalties provided by law and to pay 1/2 of the costs.

During the election campaigns in 1957, Lucio Sabala, the mayor of Cabugao,
Ilocos Sur, and its vice-mayor, Santos Sabio, belonged to opposite political
factions. The former supported Faustino Tobia, as candidate for Congressman of
the first district of said province, whereas the latter and the deceased Atty.
Aranulfo Arcalas were political leaders of Floro Crisologo, as candidate for the
same seat in Congress.

It appears from the testimony of Vice-Mayor Sabio that, as Mayor Sabala and
Atty. Arcalas met in the barrio of Sabang, on October 28, 1957, between 4:00 and
5:00 p.m., they charged each other with indulging too much in personalities
during their campaigns. When, in the course of their mutual recriminations,
Mayor Sabala characterized the conduct of Arcalas as too abusive, the latter
replied that the former could not even discipline his policemen. Asked what he
meant, Arcalas explained that, that very morning, his driver, Gerardo Somera,
had been dragged by appellant Irineo Santella—a member of the local poMce force
assigned to escort the mayor—in front of the municipal building. Enraged by this
imputation, Santella—who was then with the mayor—approached Arcalas, jerked his
shoulder and boxed him on the right side of the abdomen. Then Santella stepped
back and loaded his carbine. Upon the other hand, addressing the mayor, Atty.
Arcalas said: “My driver is here mayor”—pointing to Gerardo Somera, who was
seated in a jeep parked nearby—”for your information”. At this juncture,
Santella fired at Arcalas, who reeled to the ground. While he was lying down on
his right side, almost face downward, Santella came nearer and fired several
shots, at the same time cursing and adding “* * * I will finish you all”. Upon
hearing this remark, Sabio souglit cover in front of the jeep aforementioned,
but Santella fired at him, thereby impelling Sabio to dash to the rear of the
vehicle. As Santella, likewise, fired in that direction, Sabio ran to where the
mayor was, in front of said jeep, and begged him, on his (Sabio’s) knees, for
forgiveness and help, but the mayor appeared impassive. Hence, Sabio ran away as
fast as he could, zig-zaging to avoid the shots that Santella kept on firing,
until he (Sabio) was able to take cover behind some rocks, from whence he
crawled safely to a forest nearby.

As a consequence, of these incidents, two informations were filed, namely,
one against Santella and Mayor Sabala, for murder of Arnulfo Arcalas (Criminal
Case No. 3086, now L-16665), and another against Santella, for attempted murder
of Vice-Mayor Santos Sabio (Criminal Case No. 3087, now L-16666). Before the
conclusion of the trial in the lower court, or on July 21, 1959, Mayor Sabala
was killed. Hence, the case for murder against him was dismissed.

Appellant tried to establish, through his own testimony and that of Constante
Gasmen and Efren Sol, that Atty. Arcalas had become so angry, on account of the
maltreatment of his driver, that he followed Mayor Sabala and his companions
(Constante Gasmen, Luciano Supaco, Jose Sison and Irineo Santella), first to the
barrio of Torod, then to that of Panayogan, still later to the barrio of
Daclapan, and lastly to that of barrio Sabang, where, after inquiring from
Arcalas where his faction planned to hold a public meeting, the mayor advised
him against resorting to personal attacks, because they were near relatives.
Arcalas denied the imputation and countered with the statement that the mayor’s
escort—pointing to appellant Santella—lacked discipline, he having dragged
Gerardo Somera, in front of the municipal building, that morning. Thereupon,
Santella approached Arcalas and suggested: “ask your driver, if what you said is
true”, at the same time pointing to Somera who was seated in the jeep adverted
to above. In reply, Arcalas boxed Santella below the right nipple, in view of
which Santella retaliated with another fist blow. Then Arcalas took several
steps back and tried to lift the lower end of his shirt up to his waist, where
Santella noticed something shiny, like the grip of a gun tucked on the right
side of Arcalas’ waist. Feeling that his life was in danger, Santella loaded his
carbine and fired. Immediately, thereafter, Santella proceeded to the
“poblacion” and surrendered to the peace officers in the municipal building.

The lower court found the testimony of the witnesses for the defense unworthy
of credence and accepted the version of the prosecution, although, it found that
the evidence was insufficient to establish appellant’s intent to kill the
vice-mayor when the former fired at him. Hence, the decision above mentioned.
Appellant merely raises questions of fact. He maintains that His Honor the trial
Judge erred in giving credence to the testimony of ViceMayor Santos Sabio,
despite his natural bias as a political enemy of the accused, and in rejecting
his plea of selfdefense.

Upon a review of the record, we find therein nothing to warrant interference
in the findings of fact made in the decision appealed from. Suffice it to say
that the testimony of Santos Sabio was borne out by the fact that the body of
Arcalas had several gunshots wounds, two (2) of which were on his back,
thus belying completely appellant’s theory to the effect that he fired only once
and in self defense.

Wherefore, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs against
appellant Irineo Santella. It is so ordered.

Bengzon. C. J., Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Reyes, J. B. L.,
Barrera, Paredes, and Dizon, JJ., concur.