PP V MORENO

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC G.R. No. L-64

October 28, 1946

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,  plaintiff-appellee, vs. MIGUEL M. MORENO, defendant-appellant.

Santiago F. Alidio for appellant. First Assistant Solicitor General Reyes, Assistant Solicitor Cañizares and Solicitor Luciano for appellee.

FERI, J.:

This is an appeal by the defendant Miguel M. Moeno fo! the "udg!ent of the Cout of #ist $nstance of %a!boanga, &hich found hi! guilty of the ci!e chaged &ith the aggavating cicu!stances of pe!editation and cuelty and &ithout any !itigating cicu!stance, and sentenced the defendant to death and to inde!nify the heis of the deceased. The appellant &as at the outbea' of the &a a pisone seving sentence in the (an Ra!on Penal Colony #a!, situated in the City of %a!boanga. )uing the *apanese occupation, he befiended and gained the confidence of the *apanese naval authoities, &as eleased fo! pison, and appointed Captain of a se!i-!ilitay ogani+ation 'no&n as aigun *eutay, co!posed of #ilipinos and sponsoed by the *apanese navy. n ctobe /, 0122, the defendant &as appointed by the *apanese naval authoities as section co!!ande of the (an Ra!on Penal Colony &ith plenay po&es of supevision and contol ove said colony and its envions. n Nove!be /, 0122, a goup of defendant3s soldies &ent to the house of Paciano de los (antos, and too' &ith the! t&o single young daughtes of said Paciano, and on the ne4t day, &hen the deceased &et to (an Ra!on Penal Colony, he &as confined in a cell by ode of the defendant. n the night of )ece!be 0, 0122, defendant gatheed all the pison officials and e!ployees of (an Ra!on Penal Colony in a !eeting in the house of P.). )ellosa then Assistant (upeintendent of the institution, and in that gatheing the accused aogantly announced that he &as not afaid to cut the head of anybody, odeed all those pesent to &itness the e4ecution of Paciano de los (antos the follo&ing day, and instucted 5egoio Magalit, a pisone e!ployee of said institution to pepae the gave fo said Paciano and issue a fo!al

!e!oandu! to that effect. A photostatic copy of &hich &as pesented as E4hibit ) duing the tial.  And in the !oning of )ece!be , 0122, Paciano de los (antos &as ta'en to a place 'no&n as #ishey )ivision of the colony &ith both hands tied at the bac', and thee the defendant odeed the victi! Paciano to 'neel do&n &ith the head bent fo&ad by the side of the gave aleady pepaed fo hi! by ode of the accused, and in that position the accused &ith a *apanese sabe held in the handle by his both hands, hac'ed the head of Paciano de los (antos, and i!!ediately 'ic'ed the postate body of the victi! into the gave. The facts above stated &ee established beyond a pe-adventue of doubt by the testi!ony of the &itnesses fo the posecution, and ae substantially ad!itted by the defendant in his testi!ony duing the tial. 6hen the defendant &as as'ed &hethe he 'illed Paciano de los (antos in the fo! and !anne descibed by the &itness fo the posecution, he ans&eed the follo&ing7 86hen $ aived at the place the deceased Paciano de los (antos &as aleady in the place &hee $ &as to e4ecute hi!, and &as ta'en thee by fou *apanese and seveal guads of (an Ra!on, and on the &ay they have instucted !e ho& should $ 'ill hi!, $ did 'ill hi! in the fo! and !anne testified to by the &itnesses fo the posecution.8 9Pp. 21, :;, t.s.n.< The attoney de oficio appointed by this cout fo the defendant contends, in the fou assign!ents of eo assigned in his bief, that the cout belo& eed 90< in tying the defendant in the sa!e day on &hich he &as aaigned and pleaded not guilty, and not ganting hi! t&o days to pepae fo tial as povided by la&= 9< in tying and convicting the accused &ithout a peli!inay investigation by the !unicipal "udge o #iscal of %a!boanga City=9/< in not co!pelling, by pocess of subpoena, the attendance of &itnesses in behalf of the defendant, and finding, despite this failue, that the latte3s testi!ony &as not cooboated by any &itness= and 92< in finding the accused guilty of !ude &ith t&o aggavating cicu!stances and i!posing upon hi! the penalty of death. 90< As to the fist assigned eo of the cout belo&, it is tue that, accoding to section >, Rule 002, the defendant afte aaign!ent is entitled to at least t&o days to pepae fo tial, e4cept &hen the case is on appeal fo! the "ustice of the peace. But this cout in seveal cases, a!ong the!, the case of People vs. Cu+ 9:2 Phil., 2, ?< $n all ci!inal posecution the accused shall be pesu!ed to be innocent until the contay is poved, and shall en"oy the ight to be head by hi!self and counsel, to be info!ed of the natue and cause of the accusation against hi!, to have a speedy and public tial, to !eet the &itnesses face to face, and to have co!pulsay pocess to secue the attendance of &itnesses in his behalf. Iindi na!in !asasangayunan ang isang hatol na !ag-uutos na putihin ang buhay ng isang tao sa ilali! ng !ga nabanggit na paglalabag sa batas. Tiya' na ala! na!in na sa a!ing palagay na ito ay a!ing inililigtas ang buhay ng isang taona !aahil ay &ala ng 'aapatan 'ahit 'aunti upang !agpatuloy lasunin ng 'aniyang hininga ang si!oy na dapat 'a!tan la!ang ng !ga taong hindi nag'a'autang ng buhay ng 'apu&a= subalit bago ang isang hu'o! o !ahistado ay pahintulutang ang 'aniyang 'a!ay ay !atig!a' ng dugo ng 'apu&a tao ay dapat niyang tiya'in ng &alang ano !ang alinglangan, na sa !ga !ahigpit na 'autusan ng batas at na ganya' ng sailing budhi ay &ala ng ibang paaan, at ang tung'ulin ay hindi !aii&asan, !atatali&asan at

!atatali'uan. (a usaping ito ay 'a!i ay hindi nasisiyahan upang sangayunan ang pasiya ng a!ing !ga'apatid sa ataastaasang Iu'u!an. $pinapasiya na!in na pa&alang bisa ang hatol ng hu'u!an unang dulugan at ibali' ang usapin sa nabaggit na hu'u!an upang litisin ng panibago pag'atapusna pag'alooban ang nasasa'dal ng isang !anananggol de oficiona tunay na!a'apagsanggalang sa 'aniya at igalang ng hu'u!an ang lahat niyang !ga 'aapatan sa buong paglilitis hanggang iga&ad ang panibagong hatol.