THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. FAUSTINO DEL MUNDO, ALIAS COMMANDER SUMULONG, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

People versus Del Mundo

The Case

This is the People of the Philippines against Faustino del Mundo, known as Commander Sumulong, a prosecution for the complex crime of kidnapping with murder. The victim was Marciano Miranda, a barrio captain of Balitucan in Magalang, Pampanga, who was seized by armed men, interrogated, and killed. The case matters for two reasons a reviewee must hold onto: it shows how the Court treats a kidnapping used as the means to commit a killing, and it shows the constitutional and statutory bar that stops the death penalty from being carried out against an accused who has grown old.

Procedural History

The killing was investigated and a complaint for kidnapping and serious illegal detention was first filed in the municipal court of Magalang. That complaint was later amended to kidnapping with murder, and the case was elevated to the Court of First Instance at Angeles City. The fiscal then filed an information for kidnapping with murder with the Circuit Criminal Court at San Fernando, Pampanga, against Del Mundo and several others.

The trial court convicted Del Mundo, together with Pangilinan, Macasaquit, and Cabrera, of kidnapping with murder, sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, and ordered him to pay an indemnity to Miranda's heirs. Two accused were acquitted, and one died during the pendency of the case. Only Del Mundo appealed. The appeal reached the Supreme Court, which modified the judgment.

Facts

In the late afternoon of October 13, 1969, an armed group led by Felixberto Macalino, known as Commander Berting, went looking for Miranda in Barrio Balitucan. Not finding him at home, they cruised the barrio and met his truck near a brook. Miranda was handcuffed and brought to Barrio Santa Lucia, where he was delivered to other commanders.

The next day, Del Mundo and Ricardo Pangilinan brought Miranda by jeepney to a sitio in Angeles City. Del Mundo interrogated him about why he was fighting Tiglao, a candidate the Huks supported. When Miranda denied the charge, Del Mundo boxed him and threatened to kill him. Meanwhile, four men began digging a grave. Del Mundo then ordered Pangilinan to bind Miranda and bring him near the grave, and told Miranda to say his prayers.

While Miranda prayed, Maximo Licup, on a signal from Del Mundo, struck him with a pipe. Miranda fell into the grave, and the others covered it. More than six months later, acting on information from Pineda, soldiers had the body exhumed. Miranda's wife and brother identified the remains by the clothing and by the missing molars. The killing was politically motivated, because Miranda had refused to support the Huk candidate and instead supported the Nacionalista candidate.

Issues

• Whether or not there was an intention to deprive Miranda of his liberty and a premeditated plan to kill him, such that Del Mundo should be convicted only of homicide.
• Whether or not the killing was attended by the qualifying circumstance that raised it to murder.
• Whether or not the complex crime of kidnapping with murder was correctly appreciated, and which penalty should be imposed.
• Whether or not the death penalty could be imposed on Del Mundo given his age.

Applicable Provisions

Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, as cited by the Court, provides:

Any private individual who shall kidnap or detain another, or in any other manner deprive him of his liberty, shall suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death, if the kidnapping or detention shall have lasted more than three days, or if it shall have been committed simulating public authority, or if any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted upon the person kidnapped or detained, or if threats to kill him shall have been made, or if he shall have been kidnapped or detained for the purpose of extorting ransom.

The Court invoked this provision because Miranda was a public officer and his kidnapping fell under its fourth paragraph, which carries reclusion perpetua to death.

Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code provides:

When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period.

This is the provision that required the graver penalty for kidnapping, which the Court found more serious than murder, to be meted out to Del Mundo.

Article 83 of the Revised Penal Code provides:

The death penalty shall not be inflicted upon a person who is under eighteen years of age or over seventy years of age at the time of the commission of the crime.

This provision barred the imposition of the death penalty on Del Mundo, who was seventy-eight years old.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court rejected the contention that there was no deprivation of liberty and no plan to kill. Miranda was forcibly removed from his barrio, deprived of his liberty for several hours, and brought to another place where he was killed. While he was being interrogated, his grave was already being prepared, and the fatal blow caused him to fall into it. The Court found a conspiracy to liquidate Miranda, with the kidnapping used as the means to attain that objective, and that Del Mundo masterminded the kidnapping.

On the second issue, the Court held that the killing was murder because Miranda's hands were bound when he was mortally assaulted.

On the third issue, the Court held that the kidnapping was covered by Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, and that even without evident premeditation, the death penalty had to be imposed because Article 48 requires that the graver penalty for kidnapping, which is more serious than murder, be meted out to Del Mundo.

On the fourth issue, the Court held that because Del Mundo was seventy-eight years old, the death penalty could not be imposed upon him under Article 83 of the Revised Penal Code. The Court therefore commuted the death penalty to reclusion perpetua with the accessory penalties provided in Article 40.

Doctrine

When a kidnapping is used as a necessary means to commit a killing, the two offenses form a complex crime under Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code, and the penalty for the most serious crime, which is kidnapping, must be imposed in its maximum period. A killing becomes murder when the victim's hands are bound at the time of the mortal assault, because that circumstance qualifies the killing. Finally, the death penalty cannot be inflicted upon a person who is over seventy years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, and the penalty is commuted to reclusion perpetua.

Disposition

The trial court's judgment was modified: the death penalty imposable on Del Mundo was commuted to reclusion perpetua with the accessory penalties, and in all other respects the judgment was affirmed, with costs de oficio.

Remember This

The single line worth memorizing is that a kidnapping used as the means to kill is a complex crime under Article 48, and the graver penalty for kidnapping is imposed. Examiners like to use this case to test the complex crime rule and the age exemption from the death penalty under Article 83.