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THE
UNITED STATES,
G. R. No. 13397 April 1, 1918 -versus-SABINO AVIADO, Defendant-Appellant. MALCOLM, J :
This appeal from a Judgment of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan, in which under an Information charging murder, the defendant, Sabino Aviado, was convicted of homicide and sentenced to six months and one day of prision correccional, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the amount of P500, and to pay the costs, presents an issue of fact and an issue of law. "I am 29
years old,
married, assistant agent of the internal revenue, live in Dagupan,
Pangasinan.
I am an officially appointed agent of the Internal Revenue. About 10
o'clock
on the night of the 15th of March of this year I received information
from
one of my companions, a spy, that there were certain persons in Alitaya
who were distilling vino without a license. We went from
Dagupan
to the road leading to Santa Barbara in a carromata and from there to
the
distillery on foot. When we arrived at the place, which I calculated to
be about 50 meters from the distillery, I divided my force, three of
them
being ordered to go along one side of the canal, and I and my
companions
going direct to the distillery. Rufino S. Cruz and Fernando Soriano
went
with me. I entered the distillery with my two companions. There were
six
persons in the distillery, who were Leoncio Cariño, Juan
Soriano,
Cornelio Quiñones and three other persons. I immediately caught
hold of a person who I afterwards learned was Juan Soriano. Leoncio
Cariño
started to run away and we pursued him. I continued to hold Juan
Soriano
and said 'Alto, justicia, soy agente de rentas internas, y en
nombre
del agente de este distrito yo le arresto.' Juan Soriano spoke
several
words to me which I did not understand. I had caught him by the front
of
his camisa and as he continued to talk to me in Pangasinan, which I did
not understand, I called Fernando Soriano, who was at that time
searching
and looking for the apparatus of the distillery. And when he came to
the
place where we were, I told Fernando Soriano to tell me what this man
said,
and he replied, 'Turn him loose because he says he will not do anything
wrong.' When he said this I told him to ask the man if he recognized
his
crime for conducting this distillery without a license. As I said these
words to Fernando Soriano, I turned Juan Soriano loose and when I
turned
to find out what he was going to say I saw that he had raised his bolo
over my head, and as I did not have time to do anything else I leaned
forward
with my left hand raised up. He struck me here on the arm, [showing an
oblique scar on the front of his left forearm a little distance from
the
elbow]. When he ran away Fernando Soriano and I pursued him, and as we
were running I cried, 'Canlas, Cruz, come here, because I have been
wounded.'
And as I ran faster than Fernando I passed him and just as I passed him
I heard the voice of my companion, Juan Canlas, say, 'Who is this?' and
when I looked I saw that it was Juan Canlas. And after Juan Canlas
said,
'Who is this?' Juan Soriano raised his hand with the bolo in it with
which
he had cut me. I was at that time about 12 meters off. Upon seeing Juan
Soriano raise his hand to strike my companion, Juan Canlas, in order to
go to save the life of my companion, Canlas, I pushed my companion
Soriano
out of my way and continues to run toward Juan Soriano. Canlas warded
off
the first blow, but Juan Soriano attacked him and struck a second blow;
and in order to save the life of my companion Canlas I fired at Juan
Soriano.
After I fired the shot I went to the place where Juan Soriano was, but
I did not know until Juan Canlas told me that I had wounded him."
Sabino
Aviado, the accused,
is an internal-revenue agent. As such, the Administrative Code of 1917
gives him authority to make arrests and seizures for the violation of
any
penal law or regulation administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
[Sec. 1434]. The same Code provides the penalty for persons who operate
a distillery without a license. [Sec. 2722, in connection with Sec.
1464
(a)]. It was, therefore, the duty of the accused as an
internal-revenue
agent to suppress illicit distilleries and to arrest the persons who
were
responsible for them.
Judgment is reversed and the defendant and appellant is acquitted, with costs of both instances de officio. So ordered. Arellano, C.J., Torres, Carson, Araullo, Street, Avanceña and Fisher, JJ., concur. |
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