EN
BANC
THE
PEOPLE OF THE
PHILIPPINES,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
G.
R.
No. L-1838
January
7, 1949
-versus-
EXEQUIEL
LACANLALE,
Defendant-Appellant.
D
E C I S I
O N
TUASON,
J :
Exequiel
Lacanlale was
prosecuted in the People's Court, charged with treason on eight counts.
The prosecution introduced evidence only on the first four counts, the
rest having been abandoned. The trial court pronounced the defendant
guilty
and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua with the accessory
penalties
and to pay a fine of P10,000 and the costs.
The four charges which
were pushed through are to the effect that during the Japanese Military
occupation, in the Province of Pampanga, the accused served as agent of
the Imperial Japanese Forces, and that on or about March 22, 1944, in
the
municipality of Arayat, Province of Pampanga, he arrested Capt. Jose M.
Tinio, Filemon Pascual and Nicolas Dizon for being guerrillas or for
guerrilla
activities and maltreated the prisoners.
These charges have
been substantiated by the testimony of two or more eye-witnesses. Other
overt acts of the same character have also been established. Although
the
latter acts are not averred in the information, they are nonetheless
material
as proofs of adherence to the enemy and help to rebut the appellant's
defense
that his collaboration was a sham.
Following are the
salient
points in the evidence against the appellant:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
On March 22, 1944,
Japanese troops with the accused, who was carrying a cowhide, picked up
at their homes about fifteen residents of Arayat and marched them to
the
local Japanese headquarters. Jose M. Tinio was one of the persons
arrested.
Addressing him "You," the accused asked him if he knew Jose Nuguid.
When
he said he did not, the defendant twice punched him with the hard end
of
his strap on the stomach. Lacanlale gave the prisoners a lecture and
said
that the good Lacanlale was dead but the bad Lacanlale was alive. The
accused
left after the lecture but soon came back, held Escolastico Salak, one
of the prisoners, by the hair and knocked Salak's head against the
concrete
wall. Then he kicked Salak with the toes of his shoes on the stomach.
Salak
reeled on the floor and, as he was sprawled writhing in pain, the
accused
stepped on his breast with all his weight. Later, he stepped on Salak's
neck and kicked him on the lips. Salak moved to the side of the wall
and
leaned against it whimpering and groaning. The accused left but
afterward
returned and asked Salak if he had enough. Salak did not answer and the
accused held Salak's fingers and sarcastically said that they were nice
fingers, good for pulling gun triggers. Then the accused told Salak to
put his forefinger flat on the floor and knocked it twice with the butt
of his .45-caliber pistol, smashing it. From Salak, the accused turned
his attention to Captain Tinio and whacked the latter on the head.
Filemon Pascual,
another
prisoner was hit by the accused with his whip.
Leon Ramirez, also
a prisoner, received a strong blow on the chest from Lacanlale.
Nicolas Dizon on being
seized from his house greeted Lacanlale with "Good morning, Mr.
Lacanlale."
Defendant answered,
"What good morning," squeezed Dizon's neck, and struck him with his
cowhide
or a piece of guava wood in the stomach and on the back, knocking him
down.
Romeo Espino was
"jiu-jitsued"
by Lacanlale. Before Espino was brutally tortured by the Japanese, the
accused asked him if he knew Casto Alejandrino and when he said no, the
accused told him that he had better tell the truth or he, the accused,
would kill him.
On February 8, 1944,
the Japanese with the accused herded about 200 people to the chapel in
barrio Lamit. Lacanlale read a list of persons who were wanted. Three
of
these persons were in the chapel. These three were taken out by
Lacanlale
and no one knew what happened to them except that their cries were
heard.
Later, Lacanlale came back to the chapel and picked out eight more
people,
whom he likewise took outside. Only three of the eleven victims were
seen
alive after that.
The appellant's brief
does not dispute the truth of the foregoing facts but alleges that his
collaboration was a mere front used to help the guerrillas. He has made
only one assignment of error which is confined to the discussion of his
motives.
The accused has not
adduced reliable evidence to prove his alleged connection with the
underground.
His evidence comprises the testimony of two witnesses both of whom are
his townmates.
Querubin D. Basilio,
then a captain in the United States Army, stated that the defendant was
a co-organizer of a guerrilla unit, according to his information. And
Marcelino
Bustos testified that the accused was a sergeant in the Luzon Guerrilla
Forces in 1942; that the said accused was arrested by Japanese in
Manila,
whereupon he (witness), on instruction of one guerrilla Captain
Hernandez,
contacted the defendant and told him to remain with the Japanese. He
further
said that in 1943, after the defendant had been captured, the witness
and
others would have been caught in a cockpit by Japanese troops had not
the
defendant informed them, through the occupation Mayor's brother, that
the
Japanese were coming to search them; and that in 1944 many people
suspected
as guerrillas were arrested but through the help of Lacanlale were
released.
Basilio's testimony
is hearsay. And no tangible evidence has been presented to corroborate
Bustos'. The defendant's membership in the guerrilla forces, if it had
existed, could have been proven in a more substantial manner by the
testimony
of more trustworthy witnesses possessing a neutral and disinterested
background.
Assuming Bustos' veracity, his testimony does not preclude the
hypothesis
that the appellant shifted his allegiance, and with a vengeance. The
defendant
himself announced to the prisoners that he was no longer the good,
loyal
Lacanlale they had known.
For the rest, the
defendant's
alleged saving of some of his townmates from arrest and obtaining the
release
of others are too trivial to counteract the treasonous inferences
deduceable
from his excesses. His overbearing behaviour and barbarism do not
square
with his professed purpose of fraternizing with the Japanese to elicit
secret information from them. His brutalities only exposed too clearly
an all-out, unconcealed loyalty to his masters who must have derived no
little comfort and satisfaction from his assistance. He set about his
task
in a workmanlike fashion and displayed manifest enthusiasm and seeming
pride in his diabolical performance. His aggressiveness and impetuosity
had earned for him the unsavory sobriquet "Dumog." Persistent
and
long-continued tortures and killings of guerrillas and guerrilla
suspects
do not tie up with the plea that he was in secret league with a
guerrilla
organization. There were patriotic people who feigned collaboration
with
the invaders as a mask for a great cause, but we heard of no one who
had
to use as trappings fearful beatings and murders of the very people
whose
cause he pretended to advance.
In fine, the net
results
of defendant's showing of his "lofty" efforts and adventures were
agonies
and deaths. He cannot get away with these treasonous crimes by the
simple
expedient of seeking refuge behind lip patriotism in the hours of
reckoning.
We are satisfied beyond
reasonable doubt that the appellant is guilty of treason as charged.
The
judgment appealed from is therefore affirmed with costs against the
appellant.
Moran, C.J.,
Paras, Feria, Pablo, Perfecto and Bengzon, JJ., concur.
Moran, C.J.,
I certify that Mr. Justice Briones voted for the affirmance of the
judgment. |