THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. RAMON RODRIGUEZ, MAXIMO RODRIGUEZ, ALIAS IMO, PEDRO RODRIGUEZ, ALIAS EDRING, AND SIANONG BACUTAN, DEFENDANTS AND APPEL…

It appears that on October 30, 1953, an encounter took place near
the house and lot of Simon de San Jose, in the barrio of Guiddem,
municipality of Abulug, province of Cagayan. As a result, Leonardo
Martinez died, eleven (11) days later, in consequence of the following
injuries inflicted upon him on said occasion:

“1.	Cut wounds on the head—fronto-Occipital
		a)	One just right on the midline, four (4) inches long and cracked the skull and meningeal membrane, with profuse bleeding.
		b)	One just left of the midline, four (4) inches long cutting the scalp, bone meningeal membrane, with profuse bleeding.
		c)	One on the right parietal region, cutting the scalp. It is curved and peeled the scalp to a distance of 1 inch above the right ear, with profuse bleeding.
2.	Cut wound on the left face. The wound is three (3) inches long.
3.	Cut wound on the left elbow (back side). This wound is 8 inches long and cut the skin, muscle and bone.
4.	Cut wound on the right shoulder. This wound is straight, clear cut, cut the skin, the capsule of the shoulder and the head of the humerus into two. This wound will produce a permanent disability of the right hand.” (Exh. C)

and Sabas Manzano, Justino Vela, Domingo Lazo and Espiridion Supnet then sustained the following injuries:

SABAS MANZANO:
	“1.	Cut wound on the right elbow. The wound is oblique, clear cut, straight and cut the skin, tendons and the head of the ulna (bone) and lower end of the humerus.
	2.	Punctured wound on the back of the right hand in mid-point. This wound is circular about one (1) cm. in diameter. There is still a foreign body lodged near the bone (i.e. the tip of the broken arrow).
	3.	Cut wound on the back right side. It is clear cut, 4 inches long and cuts the skin, two ribs and a portion of the lung (dorsal side) with profuse hemorrhage.
		4. Contusion above the left eyebrow with marked echymosis.” (Exh. E)
JUSTINO VELA:
	“Cut wound on the exterior sides of the right leg, 1-½ inches long and reached the femur with moderate bleeding.” (Exh. G)
DOMINGO LAZO:
	“1.	Contusion with moderate swelling on the right hand (dorso lateral side).
	2.	Contusion on the back, left side located on the scapular line at the level of the 9th rib.” (Exh. H)
ESPIRIDION SUPNET:
	“Wounds—
		a)	Above the medial side of the right knee. This wound is circular, about one cm. in diameter and penetrated up to the bone. This wound was caused by an arrow.
		b)	Below the medial side of the right knee. Same as in (a).” (Exh. I)

which required medical attendance for 50 days, 21 days, 14 days and 15 days, respectively.

Ramon Rodriguez, Maximo Rodriguez, alias Simo, Pedro Rodriguez alias Edring, and Casiano Bacutan, alias
Sianong Bacutan, were charged with murder in case No. 1526-A, for the
death of Leonardo Martinez, whereas said Ramon Rodriguez, Pedro
Rodriguez and Casiano Bacutan, as well as Loreto Mercado, alias
Lucas Mercado, and Florentino Maddela were accused, in case No. 1530-A,
of frustrated murder, for the aforementioned injuries of Sabas Manzano,
Justino Vela, Domingo Lazo, and Espiridion Supnet. Being interrelated,
the two cases were jointly heard, after the discharge of Florentino
Maddela Nas one of the defendants in said case No. 1530-A, to be used
as state witness. In due course, the lower court rendered in both cases
a decision, dated July 16, 1955, the dispositive part of which, as
amended by an order of August 29, 1955, reads as follows:

“In view of the foregoing, the Court hereby renders judgment—

1. Sentencing each of the accused in Criminal Case No. 1526-A to suffer cadena perpetua;
each to jointly and severally, with his co-accused, indemnify the heirs
of Leonardo Martinez in the sum of P3,000.00, without subsidiary
imprisonment; and each to pay 1/4 of the costs.

2. Sentencing
the accused Ramon Rodriguez, Pedro Rodriguez, Sianong Bacutan and Lucas
Mercado, accused in Criminal Case No. 1530-A, to suffer an
indeterminate imprisonment of ten years, 1 month and 11 days of prision mayor as minimum, to 12 years, 5 months and 11 days of reclusion temporal,
as maximum; to indemnify, with his co-accused, jointly and severally
Domingo Lazo in the sum of P200.00 for medical treatment and the
further sum of P35.00, representing the amount he failed to earn for a
period of 14 days at P2.50 a day; Justino Vela in the sum of P10.00 for
medical treatment and the further sum of P52.50, representing the
amount he failed to earn in 21 days at P2.50 a day; Sabas Manzano, in
the sum of P250.00 for medical treatment and the further sum of P125.00
which he failed to earn in 50 days when he was incapacitated; and
Espiridion Supnet, in the sum of P250.00 for medical treatment and the
further sum of P37.50 which he failed to earn during his incapacity to
work for 15 days at P2.50 a day; and each to pay 1/4 of the costs.

It
appearing that the accused Ramon Rodriguez in Criminal Case No. 1530-A
has been preventively imprisoned for a period of 10 days, he is hereby
credited with 1/2 of said period, or 5 days, in the service of his
sentence. The other accused, Pedro Rodriguez, Sianong and Loreto
Mercado, having been preventively imprisoned, for a period of 558 days,
each of them is hereby credited with 1/2 of said period, or 279 days,
in the service of his sentence.

Exhibits A and B, two of
the bolos used in the commission of the crimes, and which were the only
ones presented in court, are hereby confiscated.”

The defendants thus convicted appealed from said decision, but,
subsequently, Lucas Mercado withdrew his appeal. Hence, we are now
concerned with the appeal taken by Ramon Rodriguez, Maximo Rodriguez,
Pedro Rodriguez and Casiano Bacutan.

The version of the prosecution is as follows: In the morning of
October 30, 1953, Sabas Manzano, Justino Vela, Leonardo Martinez,
Domingo Lazo, Gregoria Supnet, Espiridion Supnet and Catalino Cuaresma
went to the rural market in Guiddem, Abulug, Cagayan. At about 11:00
a.m., they proceeded to return to their respective houses walking
together, except Leonardo Martinez who was astride a carabao. As they
were north of the house of one Simon de San Jose, after passing by the
place where Ramon Rodriguez and Sianong Bacutan lived, they noticed
nearby a group composed of Ramon Rodriguez, Pedro Rodriguez, Maximo
Rodriguez, Lucas Mercado, Casiano Bacutan, Juan Liban, Florentino
Maddela, and Bino Aragon armed with boloes, a bow and arrows. Soon
thereafter, Casiano Bacutan boloed Sabas on the right elbow, and Ramon
Rodriguez hacked him on the back, whereas Florentino Maddela shot an
arrow at his leg, and Lucas Mercado stoned him on the forehead. There
upon, Leonardo Martinez dismounted from his carabao, but, as he did so,
Pedro Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez and Maximo Rodriguez gave him bolo
slashes on the head, the right forehead, the right shoulder and the
left elbow. When Leonardo fell down prostrate, Casiano Bacutan boloed
him several times. Noticing that Leonardo Martinez was helpless against
his aggressors, Domingo Lazo tried to succor him, but Pedro Rodriguez
met him with a blow on the right forearm, near the wrist, given with
the blunt edge of his (Pedro’s) bolo. As Domingo Lazo turned about to
flee, Pedro hit him, once more, on the back, with the same blunt edge
of his bolo. At about the same time, Florentino Maddela shot an arrow
at Espiridion Supnet, wounding him in the right leg, just below the
knee, when he tried to come to the assistance of Leonardo Martinez,
whereas Lucas Mercado boloed him (Espiridion) on the right knee.

The prosecution further proved that Pedro Rodriguez harbored
ill-feeling towards Leonardo Martinez, for, prior to the occurrence,
both wanted to dance with a given lady and the latter chose to dance
with Leonardo. In fact, in the morning of October 16, 1953, Pedro
Rodriguez, who was then accompanied by Casiano Bacutan, unsheathed his
(Pedro’s) bolo for the purpose of attacking Leonardo Martinez, at the
rural market in Guiddem, but the presence of soldiers in that place and
their timely intervention prevented Pedro from carrying out his intent.
However, he warned: “There will be a time for you people from Bunnong,”
which is the barrio in which Leonardo Martinez and Domingo Lazo reside.

Upon the other hand, the defense tried to prove the following: While
Casiano Bacutan was in said market, on October 30, 1953, he found Sabas
Manzano and Espiridion Supnet drinking liquor. Sabas invited Casiano to
drink, but the latter declined to do so, whereupon Sabas drew out his
bolo and tried to attack him. Casiano ran away towards the house of
Ramon Rodriguez, he being the auxiliary barrio lieutenant, but having
noticed that he (Ramon) was in the nearby house of San Jose, he
(Casiano) cried out to Ramon for help. Ramon was then in said house,
with his son, Pedro Rodriguez, to borrow a “banca”. Having heard
Casiano’s calls for help, Ramon went down the house and inquired from
Sabas why he was chasing Casiano. In reply, Sabas cursed Ramon and
stabbed him in the abdomen. Ramon tried to flee, but Leonardo Martinez
gave him a slash on the forehead. As Ramon fell to a somewhat sitting
position, Domingo Laze hacked him with a bolo on the right knee. Ramon
attempted to stand up and run away, but Catalino Cuaresma came and,
with a bolo slash, wounded the middle finger of Ramon’s left hand and
the posterior part of his left forearm, with which he had sought to
parry the blow.

Noticing that the wound in the abdomen of his father (Ramon) left
his intestines exposed, Pedro Rodriguez ran towards him (Ramon), but
Sabas came to his (Pedro’s) encounter and tried to attack him. So Pedro
ran away, only to be met by Espiridion Supnet, who boloed him on the
right arm, just above the elbow. Maximo Rodriguez, another son of
Ramon, was then in the ricefield, near the house of San Jose. Having
heard screams coming from their house, he approached it and saw his
father trying to go up the house with his intestines protruding in the
abdomen. He tried to give his father a helping hand, but Leonardo
Martinez gave him (Maximo) a bolo slash that wounded the palm of his
left hand. He (Maximo) then held the bolo of Leonardo with one hand,
and unsheating his (Maximo’s) own bolo, with the other hand, he
(Maximo) hacked him (Leonardo) several times until he fell down.

Meanwhile, Pedro Rodriguez had returned to the house of San Jose,
where he lay down. He was soon followed by his father, Ramon, and then
by Maximo. They noticed that Florentino Maddela was in one of the
windows of said house, shooting arrows with his bow. Casiano Bacutan
had, in turn, gone to his own house.

Loreto Mercado denied having been present in Guiddem at the time of
the occurrence, or having participated in it. He was then, he claimed,
in the barrio of Bulala, where he resided. As already adverted to, he
withdrew his appeal from the judgment of conviction of the lower court.

In view of the conflicting versions of both parties, the
determination of this case depends upon the credibility of the
testimony of their respective witnesses. Upon a review of the record,
we are satisfied that the same does not warrant interference in the
findings made by His Honor, the Trial Judge, who saw the witnesses and
observed their behaviour during the trial, and was, thus, in a better
position than We are to gauge the veracity of their testimony. What is
more, the following circumstances are strongly indicative of the
artificiality of the theory of the defense, and of the fact that the
story given by the witnesses for the prosecution is substantially
closer to the truth:

1) The defense did not try to explain the injuries sustained by
Sabas Manzano, Domingo Lazo and Justino Vela. By making reference to
the fact that Florentino Maddela had been shooting arrows with a bow
from a window in the house of Simon de San Jose, it merely intimated
that all other lesions not specifically testified to by appellants must
have been caused by said arrows. However, Domingo Lazo sustained only
contusions, produced by blows with a blunt instrument. The lone injury
suffered by Justino Vela was caused by a bolo, not an arrow, such as
that used by Florentino Maddela. Upon the other hand, Sabas Manzano had
two (2) bolo wounds and one (1) contusion, produced, obviously, by a
blow with a blunt instrument, apart from the punctured wound caused by
an arrow.

2) If the occurrence was merely a consequence of Casiano’s failure
to accept the invitation of two (2) presumably inebriated persons—Sabas
Manzano and Espiridion Supnet—to take part in their drinking spree, why
is it that Catalino Cuaresma and Justino Vela, according to the
evidence for the defense, joined Sabas Manzano and Espiridion Supnet in
allegedly chasing Casiano Bacutan?

3) It may not be amiss to note that the relation between the latter
and Loreto Mercado—who withdrew his appeal—was not merely casual. Both
had previously been jointly charged with robbery. In short, they were
partners in crime.

4) The defense tried to prove that, when Ramon Rodriguez inquired
why Sabas Manzano was chasing Casiano Bacutan, the complainants in this
case gave up their pursuit and concentrated their fury on Ramon
Rodriguez; that, when his son Pedro came, said complainants ganged up
on him, while Ramon Rodriguez was retreating to the house of Simon de
San Jose; that when, at this juncture, Maximo Rodriguez appeared at the
scene of the occurrence, Leonardo Martinez attacked him; that,
meanwhile, Casiano Bacutan had returned to his house, whereas Pedro
Rodriguez and Ramon Rodriguez had found refuge in the house of Simon de
San Jose; and that Maximo Rodriguez had thus been left alone to face
Leonardo Martinez.

Had the latter and Sabas Manzano, Espiridion Supnet, Catalino
Cuaresma and Justino Vela been sent on liquidating the members of the
Rodriguez family, as the defense would have us believe, appellant
Maximo Rodriguez would have surely been cut down to pieces by the
concerted attack of said complainants and the deceased Leonardo
Martinez. Now that they could have closed in upon Maximo, Sabas
Manzano, Espiridion Supnet, Catalino Cuaresma and Justino Vela did
nothing to attack him, and, instead, allowed him (Maximo) to unsheath
his bolo and slash Leonardo seven (7) times in different parts of the
body.

5) The defense did not even try to explain why appellants did not
prefer criminal charges against their alleged assailants, despite the
injuries allegedly inflicted by the latter upon the former.

6) In point of fact, Sabas Manzano, Espiridion Supnet and Justino
Vela hailed from different places and were together with Leonardo
Martinez and Domingo Lazo by sheer coincidence. Sabas resided in
Magurano, Luna, Apayao, Mt. Province, whereas Espiridion lived in the
very barrio of Guiddem, and Justino Vela was a resident of Payagan,
Ballesteros. They merely happened to be going in the same direction.
Hence, they could not have conspired, and did not conspire, to attack
appellants herein.

Modified only as to the penalty in Case No. 1526-A (G.R. No. L-10046), which should be reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, instead of cadena perpetua,
which no longer exists, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed,
therefore, in all other respects, with costs against appellants Ramon
Rodriguez, Maximo Rodriguez, Pedro Rodriguez and Casiano Bacutan.

Paras, C.J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador and Endencia, JJ., concur.
Padilla and Endencia, JJ., voted and concurred in toto.