THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. MOROS TANJI AMBRAN, ET AL., DEFENDANTS, MOROS SAHIBUL, ISMAEL, MUKBAND, HATIB AJAK AND ARABANI, DEFENDANTS AND APPELLA…

Appeal from a decision of the Court of
First Instance of Basilan City, Hon. Gregorio D. Montejo,
presiding,finding Moros Tanji Ambran, Sahibul, Ismael, Mukband, Hatib
Ajak and Arabani guilty of the crime of murder, sentencing each and
everyone of them to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua
and jointly and severally to pay the heirs of the deceased Moro Mangao
the amount of P6,000, and to pay the costs proportionately.

The evidence for the prosecution shows that at around seven
o’clock in the morning of December 29, 1957 the deceased Moro Mangao,
his brother Moro Balais, 15, and his cousin Moro Awali, also 15, left
their house in Bohe-Canas, Lamitan, Basilan City, to go to work in
their field. While on their way the accused defendants-appellants,
Tanji Ambran, Sahibul, Ismael, Mukband, Hatib Ajak and Arabani and
others, all of them numbering eleven, intercepted and attacked Moro
Mangao. Moro Balais and Moro Awali walked ahead of Moro Mangao, who was
about five fathoms behind them. Moro, Balais declared that he heard the
shout of his brother Mangao and as he turned around he saw that his
brother Mangao was being pierced with a spear by the defendant Tanji
Moro, while the other eleven attacked and hacked his brother on all
sides. Balais and Awali, for fear of their lives, ran away because the
attackers of Mangao pursued them. They were able to reach the house of
one Apa where they stayed until the attackers of Mangao had gone away.
When they came hack they found the body of Mangao lying dead near the
intersection of the Marang-Marang road and the Canas road.

The testimony of Moros Balais and Awali was corroborated in
all respects by Parat Yakan who declared that that morning at about
five o’clock, he left his residence in Marang-Marang bound for Tuburan
to buy fish. He reached Tuburan around six o’clock in the morning and
was able to buy the fish that he wanted. After buying the fish he did
not stay long but went back. On his way home and upon reaching the
intersection of the Marang-Marang road and the Canas road he noticed
some fifteen meters away from said intersection and standing by the
roadside the accused Tanji Moro, Asam, Sandangan, Hasim, Mukband, Sama,
Ismael, Arabani, Hatib Ajak, and one whose name he did not know. Six of
them were on one side of the road and six on the other. He stopped and
hid himself at the corner of the road. After Mangao and his companions
had passed the intersection of the two roads, the twelve persons on
both sides of the road began attacking the three, namely, Mangao,
Balais and Awali. It was about seven o’clock, when this attack took
place. Tanji was the one who started the attack by thrusting his spear
at the stomach of Mangao, who was carrying a kris on his side in the
scabbard and a scythe. After Tanji had started the attack hitting
Mangao with his spear, the other eleven began hacking Mangao on all
sides.

Parat explained the possible cause or reason for the attack.
He declared that Tanji must have resented tha fact that Parat searched
for his lost carabao on the land of Tanji, with Mangao leading the way.
Mangao and Parat were able to see the hoof prints of the lost carabao
near the house of Tanji; Tanji got mad when they passed by his house
looking for the lost carabao. Parat says that Tanji must have resented
that because it was Mangao who had acted as a guide when Parat was
looking for his lost carabao.

Tanji Moro admitted having killed Mangao but declared that
he was alone when he killed Mangao; that he had surprised Mangao
embracing or abusing his wife in his house early in the morning of the
day in question, because of which he attacked Mangao with a spear, hit
him on the face and later pursued him down the house as Mangao ran
down. His wife Moro Apula corroborated his statement and declared that
that morning of December 29, while she was alone in the house, Mangao
came to the house and began embracing her with both hands while she was
sitting down; that she called for help and her husband, who had just
come from the well, came up without any arms, so he took his spear from
the place where it was and hit Mangao with it, hitting him on the head;
that they had a fight and they continued downstairs; that Tanji was
able to kill Mangao and afterwards returned with a broken spear; that
that same morning they went to the house of Imam Abdurajak to
surrender; that Imam Abdurajak was sleeping when they arrived and when
they disclosed to him that Tanji had killed Mangao, Abdurajak brought
them to Tuburan and at Tuburan Hadji Yacub accompanied both of them to
the police station at Lamitan.

The other defendants denied having participated in the
killing and said that they were at different places buying fish or
doing some other jobs.

There are various circumstances in the record, which are not
disputed, which render the story of the defense incredible, and which
tend to prove conclusively the truthfulness and certainty of the story
given by the witnesses for the prosecution.

In the first place, the sanitary inspector who made a
post-mortem examination of the body of the deceased Mangao found no
less than nineteen wounds on the person of the latter in various parts
of the body, on the face, on the shoulder, in the breast, on the
stomach, at. the nape, etc., as witness the following certificate,
Exhibit A :

1. Wound, stabbed, 1 inch long, upper eye lid, left.
2. Wound, stabbed, 3/4 inch long, upper eye lid, right.
3. Wound, incised, 1-1/2 inches long, face, right.
4. Wound, stabbed, 3/4 inch long, shoulder, right.
5. Wound, stabbed, 1-1/2 inches long, breast, right.
6. Wound, stabbed, 1 inch long, belly, right.
7. Wound, stabbed, 2 inches long, penetrating the abdominal cavity, left. ‘ .
8. Wound, stabbed, 1-1/2 inches long, thru and thru, right hand.
9. Wound, incised, 5 inches long, nape.
10. Wound, incised, 4 inches long, nape.
11. Wound, stabbed, 1 inch long, back, left,
12. Wound, stabbed, 2 inches long, back, right.
13. Wound, stabbed, 2 inches long, back, right
14. Wound, stabbed, 1 inch long, shoulder, right.
15. Wound, stabbed, 1 inch long, back, right.
16. Wound, stabbed, 2 inches long, back, right.
17. Wound, incised, 5 inches long, back, left.
18. Wound, incised, 4 inches long, back, left.
19. Wound, incised, 3 inches long, back, left.

The cause of death of the above mentioned deceased was acute
anemia, secondary hemorrhage, multiple wounds.

Note that the 7th wound penetrates the abdominal cavity, left.
This corroborates the declarations of the witnesses for the prosecution
that Mangao was speared in the stomach by Tanji Moro. If the fight was
between Tanji and Mangao alone there would not have been so many wounds
on the nape, at the back, on the shoulder, etc., of the deceased. The
existence of these wounds in front and at the back, on the shoulder,
etc., shows that Mangao was attacked from all sides by many persons-the
fact testified to by the eyewitnesses Parat Yakan, Balais and Awali.

In the second place, the scene of the killing as brought out
by the cross-examination made by counsel for the defense, is at the
intersection of two roads. The place does not appear to be close to the
house of Tanji Moro. If the declaration of Tanji Moro that he surprised
Mangao in his house the body of Mangao would have been found somewhere
near the house of Tanji Moro, which is not a fact. The place where the
body was found according to Exhibit “1” is a hundred meters away from
the house of Apa, thus corroborating the testimony of Moros Balais and
Awali that upon being pursued by the attackers of Mangao they ran away
to the house of Apa. The instruments found in the place, like the
broken spear, the scythe (of Mangao), etc., also corroborate the story
of the witnesses for the prosecution.

The appellants declared that some of them were at home
resting, one declared that he was fishing until morning. It may be true
that they had gone fishing or had gone to buy fish early in the
morning, but these circumstances would not prevent them from being
present at the place where Mangao was ambushed and killed which appears
to be around a kilometer or more from the place where the fish is
caught or bought or from the place where defendants resided. It is to
be noted that not all of the twelve assailants of Mangao were present
at the time of the trial.

Those who were identified as present and who were
convicted and found guilty by the court as having participated in the
killing or ambush are Tanji Ambran, Sahibul, Ismael, Mukband, Hatib
Ajak and Arabani. All these defendants, in addition to Tanji Moro were
identified by the three witnesses for the prosecution. It is not
possible that three persons would have made a mistake as to their
identity considering that the witnesses and the accused appear to be
known to each other. We therefore find, in view of the wounds and ths
arms found, as well as the testimony of the witnesses for the
prosecution, who fully identified the appellants, that the latter had
taken part in the assault on the person of the deceased Mangao.

This appeal concern the defendants other than Moro Tanji,
who did not appeal from the decision. We affirm the finding of the
court below that the accused had committed the crime of murder, all
having conspired to attack and kill the deceased. Therefore everyone of
them must be declared guilty of the crime committed. The crime is
qualified by alevosia and aggravated by the circumstance of
superior strength. Considering that the Solicitor General has
recommended that the sentence imposed be affirmed, and considering
further that the crime of physical injuries and homicide are not
considered so grave a crime among the accused, who are moros, we
believe that the sentence imposed is justified.

Wherefore, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs against the defendants-appellants proportionately.

Bengson, C. J., Padilla, Bautista Angela, Conception, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.