G.R. No. L-15961-62. October 31, 1963
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. SALVADOR SAGAYNO, ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS.
PADILLA, J.:
Primo Tabanao are charged with the crimes of frustrated
homicide and murder (Criminal Cases No. 4348 and 4349
of the Court of First Instance of Davao).
After joint trial held by agreement of the defendants and prosecuting attorney, the Court rendered judgment
finding the defendants guilty of the crimes charged in the
informations and sentencing each and everyone of the defendants in Criminal Case No. 4S48 to an indeterminate penalty
of not less than two (2) years, four (4) months and one
(1) day of prision correccional and not more than eight
(8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor; to indemnify jointly and severally the offended party in the sum of
P248.00; and in crim. case No. 4349, to life imprrisonment
(reclusion perpetua); to indemnify jointly and severally
the heirs of the deceased Tranquilino Megalbin in the
sum of six thousand (P6,000.00) pesos, without subsidiary
imprisonment in case of insolvency; and in both cases to
pay the costs.
From the verdict and sentence, the defendants had
appealed to the Court of Appeals which forwarded the
cases to this Court, the appellate jurisdiction being vested
in to the latter Court under section 17 of the Judiciary Act
of 1948, as amended. On 10 February 1960, appellant
Salvador Sagayno wrote a letter dated 8 February 1960
praying for leave to withdraw his appeal in both cases
which was granted.
The evidence for the prosecution shows that from 1952 to August 1956
Jesus Dionaldo, Tranquilino Megalbin, Salvador Sagayno and Leoncio
Sagayno were good friends. In August 1956 the friendly relation of
Dionaldo and the Sagayno brothers (Leoncio and Salvador) became
strained due to a rivalry between Dionaldo and Leoncio Sagayno who both
fell in love with Consejo Vequilla. Dionaldo claimed that she was his
sweetheart and that they were engaged to be married. Because of the
advice of Inciong Mendez and Primo Tabanao, her cousin-in-law, who both
preferred Leoncio Sagayno, because Dionaldo was lazy, drunkard,
irritable, had no work and relied upon his parents for support, Consejo
cooled off and headed for a change for the better. On one occasion in
barrio Katipunan, Leoncio Sagayno told Dionaldo to stop courting
Consejo if he still wanted to live. Dionaldo answered that he was in
love with Consejo and as he started to walk heme the four (Sagaynos,
Mendez and Tabanao) who were together derided him and threw stones at
him. On another occasion, at about 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon of 19
December 1956, while the four defendants were conversing in a
volleyball court, Dionaldo and Mengalbin arrived and asked Tabanao why
he insulted them (Dionaldo and Megalbin) in the presence of Consejo
Vequilla by teling her that they (Dionaldo and Megalbin) are jobless,
irritable and drunkards who could not support a wife. Tabanao said that
as a relative he had the right to give advice to Consejo. This angered
Dionaldo who challenged Tabanao to a fight but when the former saw the
latters three companions, he (Dionaldo) desisted from it and instead
asked Leoncio why did he grab Consejo from him (Dionaldo). Leoncio
answered that there was nothing wrong with it both being bachelors, and
added that as his sweetheart he had already kissed her. Inciong Mendez
butted in saying that as both of them were single, Consejo had the
right to make her choice and the fact that she accepted Leoncio’s
proposal showed that she disliked him (refering to Dionaldo), to which
remarked Dionaldo angrily retorted “Leche kamo, as long as I am alive
no one could take the hand of Consejo”. When they (Dionaldo and
Megalbin) started to leave the place the four defendants hooted at
them. On 22 December 1956, at 6:00 o’clock p.m., Jesus Dionaldo,
together with Martin Villanueva, Antonina Virana and his uncles, was in
his house in barrio Tulugan, Padada, Davao. Dionaldo, Villaluna and
Virana left the house to go to the house of Nicolasa Vequilla to attend
the last day of prayer for her deceased child. On their way, they met
Tranquilino Megalbin and Raymundo Virtuso who were also invited by
Antonina Virana. When they reached the yard of Agapita Virana’s house,
Salvador Sagayno and Consejo Vequilla joined them. Upon reaching an
artesian well (Point 2-G of Exh. “2”) Dionaldo asked Salvador Sagayno
whether it was true that he had threatened to kill him. Salvador
assaulted with his fist but the latter parried the blow and retaliated
hitting the former. Upon arrival at the house of Nicolasa Vequilla, at
about 8:00 o’clock that evening, Dionaldo, Virtuso, Megalbin and the
rest of the group stood in the yard. Nicola’s daughter was busy serving
food to the other guests in the temporary shed (camalig) constructed
near the house and lighted with a potromax lamp. After taking supper,
the group went up to greet the owner of the house before the prayer
started while Dionaldo and Martin Villaluna remained in the yard. Later
on, Dionaldo saw Salvador
Sagayno, Leoncio Sagayno, Primo Tabanao and Inciong
Mendez each armed with a cane and knife tucked on their
waists. Inciong Mendez wont up the house to light his
cigarette and came down to tho shed where he played a
game of “turneyo”. Shortly thereafter, Salvador Sagayno and Primo
Tabanao disappeared leaving the two, Leoncio Sagayno and Inciong
Mendez. Heeding a call of nature,
Villaluna, Dionaldo and Megalbin went one after the other to different
places not far from the house and there while passing water they heard
someone shout “horas na” (meaning this is the time), and turning his
face back to where
the shout came, Dionaldo saw Salvador in the act of
stabbing him on his back (right posterior axillary line)
and wounded him on the left infra clavicular fossa. Primo
Tabanao clubbed Megalbin with a “bahi” cane in his face (near the right
ear) and stabbed him with a knife. As Dionaldo faced his adversary
(Salvador) he saw Inciong Mendez and Leoncio Sagayno club Villaluna.
Leoncio Sagayno stabbed and wounded Dionaldo at the right posterior
axillary line below the last rib and Tabanao stabbed him in the middle
line of his buttocks and right arm (right axillary region). When
Dionaldo was running down
the hill to escape, Inciong Mendez inflicted a gaping wound in his
abdomen and as a result he fell flat and prostrate
on the ground face sideward; and surrounding Dionaldo,
the defendants clubbed him on his back. Leoncio Sagayno then said; “We
will leave him maybe he is already dead.” After the defendants had left
their victims,
Dionaldo wounded and holding his protruding intestines
crawled towards the house of Nicolasa Vequilla where
he met Benjamin Deniega and asked to help him but Deniega refused
saying that at any rate he (Dionaldo) was
going to die. Raymundo Virtuso approached to help but when he saw three
persons coming towards him he ran away and hid in a banana grove and
remained there until the defendants left when he went to a cornfield.
While in this place he saw Megalbin who asked to help him. Virtuso
helped as requested by Megalbin but the latter fell down and after a
while died in the arms of the former. He went to his house to inform
Fausto Alejandro, a cousin of Megalbin, of the latter’s death.
The cadaver cf Megalbin was left in the hillside of Tulugan where it
was examined the next day. The postmortem examination conducted by Dr.
Cenedicto H. Torres, then municipal health officer of Padada, Davao, on
the cadaver of the deceased shows:
FINDINGS:
- Lying on his back.
- Rigor Mortis just beginning to set in.
Slight rigidity from head to foot.
- Lividity on the entire back portion.
- Contusion at the right cheek or at the Maxillarybone. With
slight swelling about 1–½ inch in circumference.
- Lacerated wound, 2 inches in length slanting to the right,
about 6 to 7 inches in deep, at the left chest, 1-1/2 to 2
inches lateral to the left nipple, direction upward and
slightly deviated to the right, hitting tho portion of the
left ventricular portion of the heart, (fatal wound)
CAUSE
OF DEATH—Instantaneous death, secondary to Internal hemorrhage and
shock, and in turn secondary to stabwound at the left chest, hitting
the heart. (Exhbit A).
He testified that he examined the corpse of Tranquilino
Megalbin and that the cause of his instantaneous death
was secondary to hemorrhage and shock as a result of
a fatal lacerated stab wound on the left chest piercing
the heart caused by a sharp-pointed instrument such aa
the knives (Exhibits B and C for the prosecution), as
shown by the size, nature and position of the wound
described above.
Three policemen brought Dionaldo in a jeep to the
Municipal building for investigation. He was hospitalized
in the Brokenshire Hospital for 14 days and treated by
Dr. Torres for the following injuries:.
1) Stab wounds:
a) 1½ inches, 1 inch below right costal margin, along nipple
line;
b) 1 inch, 10th intercostal space, right along posterior axillaryline;
c) 1½ inches, 9th intercostal space, right along posterior auxillary line;
d) 1 inch, axillary region, right;
e) ¾ inch, intraclavicular fossa, left;
f) 1 inch, mid sacral region. (Exhibit E).
He spent P253.00 for hospitalization and treatment of
his six stab wounds, and was disabled to do his customary
work for a period of 6 months.
Benjamin Deniega, a farmhand in Tulugan, Padada,
Davao, corroborated the testimony of Virtuso and Dionaldo.
Salvador Sagayno claims that he acted in self-defense
when he killed Megalbin and wounded Dionaldo. He testified that in the night of 22 December 1956 he walked
with Consejo (Consuelo) Vequilla, Figuracion Aguelo and
Fred Trasmonte from the store of Prima Mascardo in
Etacura (Katipunan), Padada, to the house of Nicolasa
Vequilla to attend the last day of prayer for the latter’s
deceased child; that in the yard of the house of Agapita
Virana he saw Jesus Dionaldo, Trariquilino Megalbin,
Benjamin Deniega, Raymundo Virtuso and Martin Villaluna; that on their way to the house of Nicolasa Vequilla
he stopped at an artesian well and while washing his
feet, Dionaldo asked him if it was true that he (Salvador)
would kill him; that he (Salvador) denied it saying why
should he when they had no quarrel; that immediately
thereafter he was clubbed by Dionaldo with a cane and
when Dionaldo’s friend surrounded him (Salvador), he
escaped and ran to the house of Nicolasa Vequilla without
following the trail; that after taking his supper he went
upstairs and upon seeing Tabanao, Mendez and his brother (Leoncio) seated on the bench he sat in a corner in
front of the altar; that when the group of Dionaldo
arrived Figuracion Aguelo warned him to be careful as
Dionaldo and his friends were bent on killing him; that
when that part of the prayer called “pangamuyo” was
reached and everybody was silent he (Salvador) saw Megalbin (also referred to as Nono, Tranquilino or Franklin)
at the door with a tilted hat partly covering his face and
his companions (Dionaldo, Villaluna and Virtuso) looking
at him (Salvador) sharply; that he immediately slipped
out of tho house telling Francisco Vallejos alias “Paran”
that he (Salvador) was going out to avoid trouble; that
while crossing the corn field (Point 2-F, Exh. 2) he heard
hissing sounds of corn stalks and leaves and looking back he
saw a person armed with a hunting knife and a “bahi”
cane overtaking him and who said: “Dong, you cannot
escape now, I am going to kill you”; that he answered him
saying that he (Salvador) was not going to fight him
(the assailant); that he was immediately clubbed and
stabbed but was able to parry the blows and instead gave a
fistic blow on the right eye of his assailant; that when he was
stabbed twice again following the transfer of his (combatant’s) knife from his left to his right hand, he (Salvador) drew his dagger, and, in exchange for a flurry
of thrust aimed at him after his (Salvador’s) pleas not
to fight had been ignored, stabbed his assailant in the
left nipple that sent him staggering to the ground; that
when he saw that his victim was Megalbin and that he
was lying flat on the ground he (Salvador) walked away
and after moving about 3 arms-lengths he heard somebody
calling No, No”. and facing the direction where the voice
was coming, he saw Dionaldo and heard him saying;
“Ah, it was you. Now, you cannot escape; I am going
to kill you”; that Dionaldo clubbed and stabbed him
several times but the aims missed their marks because
of the latter’s (Salvador) timely parries; that sensing his
life wag in danger, he stabbed Dionaldo 5 to 6 times in
his right armpit, right nipple, waistline, left clavicle and
the body until the latter running fell to the ground and
crawled; tfeat lie did not follow him anymore nor finish
him to death but went straight to the house of barrio
lieutenant Candido Gelvez of Katipunan where he surrendered his weapon; that although he admitted that he and
Megalbin were the suitors of Figuration Aguelo, he (Salvador) believed that he had all the chances of winning
her love because she was his neighbor, friend and often he
was seen with her by Megalbin; and that the three
daggers (Exh. B, C and G) found and used in the incident
belonged to him, Megalbin and Dionaldo, respectively.
Appellants Leoncio Sagayno, Inciohg Mendez and Primo Tabanao profess
absolute innocence and non-participation in the killing and wounding of
Megalbin and Dionaldo, respectively. Leoncio Sagayno testifies that he,
Mendea, Tabanao and Vallejos alias “Paran” were in the place of
Nicolasa Vequilla from 8:00 o’clock in the morning until 4:00 in the
afternoon of 22 December 1956 constructingathe temporary shed (camalig)
adjoining the house to shelter the dining table; that they remained in
the house until after the stabbing affray was over; that he saw his
brother Salvador arrived pale and tired and holding his breath and that
there were about 80 persons who were upstairs during tine prayer; that
he sat on a bench in a corner of the house facing west with Virtuso,
Deniega, Megalbin, Villaluna and other guests; that while the prayer
was going on he saw Salvador go down followed by Megalbin and passing
near Francisco Vallejos, be heard his brother inform “Paran” that he
was going down to avoid trouble; that when he heard “fight” the prayer
was stopped and he saw Dionaldo also going down asking Vallejos (Paran)
why Nono (Megalbin) was chasing Bador (Salvador Sagayno); that
immediately Vallejos shouted for help as Dionaldo was already wounded;
that seeing the friends of Dionaldo still sitting despite the shouts of
“fight” and cessation of the prayer, he (Leoncio) with his
co-defendants and the barrio lieutenant remained in their seats for
about five minutes more until Dionaldo was seen wounded and crawling;
that he denied participation of Mendez and Tabanao but rather laid the
whole responsibility for the killing and wounding of the victims on his
brother Salvador; that Francisco Vallejos told him that it was his
brother Salvador alone who had fought Dionaldo and Megalbin; that he
claimed that inspite of the fact that he came from a peaceful family
whose head was once the driver of the late President Quezon he was
included in the case for being the successful suitor of Consejo
Vequilla and not Dionaldo; and that his brother Salvador was a
preferred suitor of Figuracion Aguelo over Megalbin.
Primo Tabanao corroborated the testimony of Leoncio
Sagayno, and added that the place of struggle was 30
meters east of the house (Point 2-J, Exh. 2) since Megalbin’s body was found in said place and not 8 to 9 meters
as testified.to by Dionaldo; and that the same could not
be seen by arty. person standing at the door or stairway
of the house because it was a moonless night, raining and
the place was surrounded by growing corn and banana
plants (Point 2-E, Exh. 2). He claimed to have never
gone out of the house during the prayers because he was
all the time playing the guitar in accompaniment of the
songs of the prayer.
Inciong Mendez corroborated the testimony of the Sagayno brothers and claimed that it was only when pionaldo
called for help that he and the other guests in the house
went down; and that he and Primo Tabanao advised and
persuaded Consejo Vequilla to choose Leoncio for her life
mate and not Jesus (Dionaldo) because the, latter was
irresponsible, jobless, troublesome and drunkard.
Francisco Vallejos alias “Paran” aside from corroborating the testimony of the three appellants testified that
he was the “chief” cook during the last day of prayer
for the deceased child of his aunt Nicolasa Vequilla; that
Megalbin and Dionaldo refused to take the supper preceding the prayer when he (Paran) called them, both
saying that they were full and that they did not come to
eat; that he did not hear any shout “horas na” when the
commotion commenced; that despite the commotion that
was going on, he did not leave the stairway as he was
watching the food on the table downstairs and denied the
testimony of Virtuso that Megalbin died in the arms of the
former; and that when he brought the petromax lamp
to the scene of struggle where he saw the dead body of
Megalbin lying 30 meters away from the house with face
on the ground, both hands stretched forward and his
right hand holding a hunting knife (Exh. C) and on his
waist (back) was the scabbard (Exh. C-1) with initials
T. M. inscribed in it (Exh. 3-B), he still saw the three
accused holding the guitar.
Figuracion Aguelo, for whose love Salvador Sagayno and
Megalbin were engulfed in bitter rivalry besides corroborating the testimony of Vallejos, testified that she was
in the group with Salvador Sagayno, Consejo Vequilla and
Alfredo Trasmonte near the artesian well when Salvador
was clubbed by Dionaldo with a cane after the former had
denied having threatened to kill the latter; that Salvador
ran away for safety when he was surrounded by armed
friends of Dionaldo who mocked at him saying “Salvador
ran faster than the fastest bird” and “that they will kill
Bador;” that she admitted. that Salvador Sagayno and
Megalbin were her suitors and to stop Megalbin whom
she claimed to be vagrant, quarrelsome and drunkard from
pestering her, she turned him down saying that she had
already given her heart to Salvador; that upon hearing
her remark Megalbin turned pale, stood up and warned
her as he had no more chance he would not permit anybody including “Bador (Salvador Sagayno) to get her;
that when she asked him why he made those remarks,
Megalbin replied that he was going to kill “Bador” (Salvador) simultaneously drawing his dagger and striking it
hard on a bench near him and then left until he saw her
again on 22 December 1956; and that she was aware of the
incident in the artesian well and was concerned over the
safety of her friend and neighbor Salvador Sagayno but
did not inform the latter’s brother and friends about it.
The defense of non-participation by the appellants in the killing
of Megalbin and wounding of Dionaldo cannot be given credence in the
fact of the clear, direct and positive testimony of Dionaldo,
corroborated by the testimony of Benjamin Deniega and Raymundo Virtuso
who were just a few meters away from the scene of the crime. The
contention of the defense that the two victims were killed and wounded
by Salvador Sagayno alone in its last-ditch attempt to save the other
three appellants cannot be sustained. Autopsy findings show that the
contusions, swellings and various stab wounds on the different parts
and bodies of the victims were caused by different bladed and blunt
instruments including knives (Exhs. B & C) and that their positions
show that the same could not have been inflicted by one person only. It
can hardly be believed that Salvador could have evaded easily the knife
stabs and cane blows from his two adversaries to emerge from the fight
unscathed. It cannot be believed that he has not received or suffered
even a scratch when the deceased (Megalbin) was more well-built man as
compared to him (Salvador) (p. 329 t.s.n., Adao).
The appellants’ pretense that they remained in their
seats unruffled even after Salvador had left the house and
after Vallejos had shouted about the fight downstairs is
indeed incredible, for granting that Leoncio did not know
of the incident at the artesian well involving his brother;
and Dionaldo, he would have gone down or looked-below to verify what was happening because he saw his
brother going down previous to the shouting of “fight”. The witnesses for the defense testified to occurrences the
appellants now rely as their defense but these alleged
events could not have happened for they run counter to
the normal conduct of man.
The claim of Leoncio Sagayno that he was implicated
because as a suitor compared to Dionaldo, he had the
winning edge over the affection of Consejo Vequilla, and
that the two other appellants, Tabanao and Mendez, were
likewise included because by their advice, Consejo who
at first had a brewing love for Dionaldo, cooled off until
finally she shifted to Leoncio Sagayno, cannot be sustained,
for Deniega and Virtuso who were certainly not parties
to the love affair of the two women testified convincingly
on their (Mendez and Tabanao) direct participation.
Obviously the defense wants the statement of Jesus Dionaldo to the
effect that he was stabbed by one alias “Bador” (Salvador Sagayno)
because of rivalry (Exh. 1) to conform to the statement of Salvador
Sagayno wherein the latter admitted having killed Megalbin and woundel
Dionaldo in the yard of Nicolasa Vequilla about 20 yards from the house
when the two assaulted and fought him ‘(Exhibit 0) so as to acquit the
three other Appellants. But Dionaldo testified that when investigated
that night by Pat. Domaguin and Sgt. Alcoy at the scene of the stabbing
and in the jeep at the police station cf Padada, respectively, in the
presence of Patrolmen Tabanao and Ancajas and a brother of Dionaldo and
after Domaguin placed a diaper on his (Dionaldo) wound, he answered
that Salvadcr Sagayno, Primo Tabanao, Inciong Mendez and Leoncio
Sagayno inflicted the wounds in his body. Ho also testified as to its
incompleteness (referring to Exhibit 1) and that he had signed
(thumbmarked) it then a b!ank paper before it was prepared. Pat.
Domaguin and Atty. Federico Ncbleza corroborated the testimony of
Dionaldo in this respect. The statement of Dionaldo (Exh. 1) cannot
therefore be considered as ante-mortem satement, but at most, merely
admitted as a part of the testimonies to bs taken into account with the
ether evidence. The fact that Pat. Alcoy entered in the police blotter
only those matters that favored the appellants and that he refused to
take down the statements of Raymundo Virtuso, Martin Villaluna, Consejo
Vequilla and Benjamin Deniega who volunteered to go to the police
station to shed ligiht on the stabbing affray indicates that some of
them were interested in freeing some of the appellants.
Because the attack was preceded by an incident near the artesian
well involving Jesus Dionaldo and Salvador Sagayno and that before the
assault somebody shouted “horas na” the offended parties had been
warned. The fact that the fatal stab wound piercing the heart of
Megalbin was a frontal one as well as his admission to Raymundo Virtuso
when he (Megalbin) asked for help while running in the cornfield after
he had been fatally wounded that he (Megalbin) fought Primo Tabanao and
his companions, shows that the victims were facing the appellants and
therefore the qualifying circumstance of treachery cannot be deemed to
have attended the commission of the crime. Likewise, as the assault
followed closely the incident near the artesian well, the qualifying
circumstance of evident premeditation cannot’ be deemed to have
attended the commission of the crime. [1]
The qualifying circumstance of “abuse of superior
Strength” not having been alleged in the information
(crim. case No. 4349) nor proven during the joint trial
that the appelants abused their superiority, the same
cannot be considered to qualify or aggravate the crime
committed.
People vs. Gonzales, 76 Phil. 473.
vs. De Venecia, et al.
The offense committed in the killing of Tranquilino
Megalbin is homicide, and pursuant to Article 249 of
the Revised Penal Code, the penalty for homicide is reclusion temporal in its medium period, or from 14 years,
8 months and 1 day to 17 years and 4 months. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law the appellants are
sentenced to suffer a minimum penalty of six (6) years
and 1 day of prision mayor and to a maximum penalty
of 17 years and 4 months of reclusion temporal the
accessories of the law and to “pay indemnity imposed
by the trial court and the costs.
The other crime committed by the appellant is frustrated homicide and the penalty is prision mayor in
its medium period, or from eight (8) years and one (1) day to ten (10) years. Applying the Indeterminate
Sentence Law the appellants are sentenced to suffer a
minimum penalty of two (2) years, four (4) months
and one (1) day of prision correctional and to a maximum penalty of eight (8) years and one (1) day of
prision mayor, the accessories of the law, to indemnify
the offended party in the sum of P253.00 and to pay
the costs. No subsidiary imprisonment shall be suffered
by the appellants if they fail to pay the indemnity as
the principal penalties imposed in both cases are afflictive.
Bengzon, C. J., Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion,
Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.
[1] People vs. Gonzales, 76 Phil. 473