EN
BANC
THE
UNITED STATES,
Plaintiff,
G.
R.
No. 4999
May
13,
1909
-versus-
MELECIO
VARGAS,
Defendant.
D
E C I S I
O N
CARSON,
J:
The
defendant in this case
having been sentenced to death upon conviction of the crime of bandolerismo
[brigandage], the record of the proceedings in the trial court is
submitted
to this court en consulta [for review], in conformity with the
provisions
of law in such case.
It was conclusively
proven at the trial that the defendant was a member of a band of
brigands
which infested the Provinces of Tayabas and Ambos Camarines from the
latter
part of the year 1902 until the month of March 1908, when he was
arrested;
and that during that period the band committed a number of heinous
offenses,
among others the kidnaping and murder of one Francisco Ambas and his
son
Martin, and the sacking of the town of Alabat, in the course of which
the
brigands murdered in cold blood one Gerardo Afable, the municipal
justice
of the peace.
The defendant,
testifying
in his own behalf, admitted his affiliation with the band, so that
there
can be no doubt of his guilt of the crime of which he was convicted;
and
the only question for consideration is whether the sentence of death
imposed
by the trial court is the just and appropriate penalty for that crime.
The penalty prescribed
by law is from twenty years' imprisonment to death, but this court has
uniformly declined to affirm the imposition of capital punishment upon
persons convicted of the crime of brigandage, unless the record
disclosed,
beyond a reasonable doubt, either that the convict, while a member of a
band of brigands, had taken an individual part in the commission of
some
heinous offense, or that he had been the chief or a subchief of a band
at a time when the brigands under his command committed such an offense.
The defendant,
testifying
in his own behalf, swore that he had no direct participation in the
commission
of the above-mentioned murders, and that he was at no time in command
of
the band of which he was a member, being at all times subject to the
orders
of its chief; but the evidence of record leaves no room for doubt that,
with his own hand and in cold blood, he slew the justice of the peace
of
Alabat, and that on that occasion and also when Ambas and his son were
kidnapped he was either a chief or subchief of the band, actively in
command
of the brigands who participated in the commission of these crimes.
Four witnesses
testified
as to the assault on the town of Alabat, and the circumstances under
which
the justice of the peace of that town was murdered. Two of these, the
wife
and niece of the murdered man, saw him done to death; and the other
two,
on the night of the murder, heard the defendant boasting to his
companions
that he, personally, together with his men, had committed the crime.
Almacha Tajabo
testified
that about 6 o'clock of the evening during which the town of Alabat was
sacked, the defendant and two other strange men presented themselves in
the room of her house where she was sitting with her husband; that the
defendant ordered his companions to bind her husband; that the three
then
assaulted him with bolos, inflicting fatal wounds in his head and body,
and threw the corpse in a large box outside the house; that afterwards
they ransacked and robbed the house, threatening the inmates with death
if they made a move.
Martina Azuela, a niece
of the murdered man, corroborated the testimony of her aunt in all its
essential details, and both these witnesses identified the accused as
the
leader of the party which entered their house on that occasion, with
such
certainty, and so clearly and positively as to leave no room for doubt
in the mind of the trial court, or in Ours, as to the truth and
accuracy
of their statements.
Vicente Francia
testified
that he was president of the town of Alabat at the time when it was
sacked;
that on that occasion he was seized, bound, and carried into the street
by one of the parties, into which the brigands separated after they
entered
the town; that about three hours afterwards the defendant Vargas came
up
to the place where the witness was held a prisoner and ordered that he
be bought to the presidencia or municipal building; that when they
arrived
there the defendant said to him, among other things: "We have killed
your
justice of the peace, because he was a man of bad character," adding,
as
he showed the witness his bolo, "You can see the blood still dropping."
Dolores Nava de Angeles
testified that at the time of the sack of Alabat her husband was
presidente-elect
of the town; that he escaped from the house before the robbers arrived;
that when they entered they ordered her outside with instructions to
say
her prayers; that on her return to the house, the defendant, Melecio
Vargas,
told her that he was comandante of the band, and among other things
said:
"You should pray for the justice of the peace because we have killed
him."
Three witnesses
described
in detail the kidnapping on the 12th day of February, 1904, of
Francisco
Ambas and his son by a party of ten armed brigands, acting under the
joint
orders of the defendant [who was addressed by his followers with the
title
comandante] and another brigand called Cabayo.
Aleja
Amado, the widow
of Francisco Ambas, and Graciana Leyman, the widow of his son Martin,
described
in detail how this party of brigands seized their husbands in the house
of one Doroteo Maravit, brought them bound to their own house, which
was
sacked and robbed, and later sailed away in a boat with their booty and
their prisoners who were never seen again alive by the witnesses. These
witnesses also testified that sometime afterwards they were called to
Daet
in North Camarines to identify two skulls which the justice of the
peace
of that town exhibited to them as a part of the remains of two unknown
persons who were believed to have come to their death by violence; that
one of these skulls bore a marked indentation of such size, shape, and
location, that the witnesses were satisfied that it was the skull of
Francisco
Ambas whose head was similarly marked, and that the peculiar filing of
the teeth in the other skull proved it to be the skull of Martin Ambas.
Doroteo Maravit, from
whose house these victims of the band were kidnaped, also described the
details of the commission of that crime, adding that he himself had
been
compelled to aid the robbers in carrying the property stolen from the
house
of Francisco Ambas and his son to the boat in which the robbers made
their
escape. This witness, who knew the defendant by sight prior to the
kidnaping,
definitely and positively identified him as one of the band of about
ten
armed brigands who committed the crime.
Two other witnesses
for the prosecution, Juan Tolinto and Modesto Pamiliran, who themselves
had been kidnaped by the brigands and held prisoners for some weeks,
testified
that in the brigand camp the defendant was always addressed and spoken
of by his companions as the comandante, and that he it was who gave
orders
there.
In the light of the
foregoing testimony, no credence can be given to the statements of the
accused, who swore that he was not present at the time when Francisco
Ambas
and his son are said to have been kidnaped, and that while it is true
that
he was one of the band which sacked the town of Alabat, he was not
present
when the justice of the peace was killed, and was not in command on
that
occasion, being no more than a mere soldier under the orders of his
chief
who was called Cabayo.
In Our opinion, the
evidence of record proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant
directly participated in the assassination of the justice of peace of
Alabat
and in the kidnaping of Francisco Ambas and his son; and that, if he
was
not the supreme chief of the band of which he was a member, he was one
of the subchiefs in active command of a portion of the band at a time
when
the parties under his command were engaged in the commission of heinous
offenses. We find no errors in the proceedings prejudicial to the
rights
of the accused, and the sentence of death imposed by the trial court
should
be, and is hereby, affirmed with the costs of these proceedings against
the defendant.
Arellano, C.J.,
Torres, Mapa and Johnson, JJ., concur. |