plj volume 13 number 1 -04- digest of recent decisions of the philippine supreme court

8/10/2019 PLJ Volume 13 Number 1 -04- Digest of Recent Decisions of the Philippine Supreme Court

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Digest of

RECENT DECI SIO NSof the Philip pine Sup r eme Court

th I talumn is prese n ted a d ig -cs t of current c ases of ge neral inte l"e st to pra c The se de cision s have not ye t b ee n pu blished in t he Of f icial Gazette . and m any

pecinlly th os e r end er ed in . di vision , w ill no t so app ear becau se no t se lec ted fo r I'Ort .l

I AL LAW -Ho:\lICIDE -SEC-HOT SUFFICIENT TO CONSTITUTE

IOUS INTENT.-P. P. I. v. Ang, alia. Yusay and Co Sang al iasKI. G . R. No. 37007, June 21,

Margarito Ocat went out t oD his boat to catch fish. Aboutur later Ocat receiv ed a shot inright forearm. He shouted

., did you shoot me", and c om-rowing toward th e s hor e.

D the boat was cl os e to th e s hor er hot was fired whi ch hit

n th e left sid e o f th e ab d o-There being no pr oof of m o-nd treachery, the qu es tion

to on e of wh eth er or n otu ed is to b e convi cted of homicide or of homicid e

h reckless imprud ence. R eld:n conceive of on e r eck les sly

ng in such a mann er as tod another, but th e prin cipl esgovern r eckl ess imprud encethen apply wh en th e per so nd gives evidence of his pr e-

but neverth eless a not her shotwith fatal r es ult. Ma lici ousay have b ee n l acking i n the

n lance, but can not be pr e-

to have b ee n l acki ng i n thein stance. (In di vision of

Malcolm, J.; Co ncur rin gSantos, Vi ck er s, Imper ial,

S 'eled by SANTI A G O C. GR E-

G~EFf'ECT OF A W R :>NG

PI' ON 0.' TilE RIGHT OF Pos - Roberto Dimal ant a vs.ap, Fl ol' enc ia G a lan g ami

o SlIll'lId or, d e f endants;l' doro ,t: C rcadIJ, int er veno r

I e, G . R . .v o .. '36876, M a rc h

24, 193 3.-The s pouses Sixto Laca pand Flor encia Ga lang mortgage d th eir hou se on O ctober 1 2, 1 929 ' toth e p lain tiff, R o ber to Dima lant a, to .sec ur e the r e paym ent of a loa n of P1, 600.00 within one yea r with outint er est. Th e house in qu es tion wa s buil t on th e r egi ster ed land o f L eo-nard o Gui son P a blo. Pl aintiff'smort gage was r ec ord ed in the book of r ecords of chatt el mo r tgage s f or th e ci ty of Ma nil a. On J anu ary 14,1930 , said s pouse s sol d t he house in

ques tion to Vict oriano S alvador un-. d el' pac to d e r etro f or a p er iod of one yea r wit hou t m.ention ing the'f ir st mortga ge . Aga in,' on Nov em- ber 3, 1930 , sai d s pouses so ld thesam e house to E liodoro M er cado un-de r pac to d e r etro within six m ont hsw ithout men tioning t hat the househad b ee n pr ev ious ly mortgage d t o pl aintiff and so ld unde r p ac to d eretro to Vi ctorino Sa lvad or. S aid s pou se s ab andon ed th e hou se o n No vem ber 193 0, and Eliodo ro Mer-cado took p ossess ion of it. P laint if f co nt end ed th at the t rial court erre d in ru ling t hat his inscr i ptio n and regi stry in th e b ook of ch at tel mo r t-

gag es was wi thout leg al value . Reid. App ellant' s c ont entio n i sclear ly without merit. App ellant'sm ortgage was not reg iste r ed o r re-cor d ed in accordance w ith the law ,an d i s, there fo re , in ef f ect ive as t othi r d pers on s. Th er e b e.ingno va lid m ortgage o n th e hou se, E liod oroM erc ad o being t he f irs t one to take possess ion in goo d faith is ent itled to th e same . (Di vi sion of Th ree , per Vick er s, J .; concur rin g Villamo r ,O str and, J J.) Brie f ed b y SA NTIA G OC . GRE GOR IO .


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CRIMIN ALLAW-LlBEL--THE DE-'SE THAT T HE PU BLICATI O N

WAS PRIVIL EGED.-P. P. I. v. F id el R yes , G. R. No. 37456 , J une 23 ,19J3 .-Facts: A p pellant was thedir ector and ed itor of "El Mensa- jero" in which the li belous art icle'V'n er o P ar a Comprar Votos ' was publi shed. Th e ar ticl e was pub-H hed in the heat of political cam- paign p rece ding th e gener al elec-

tions. App ellant's cand id ate who~as B enito S oliven was opposed byElpidio Quirino, whose pr incip alleader w as the compl aining witn~ssherein. The arti cle in qu est ion con-vEyed the imp ress ion that moneywas given to the off end ed party f or \legal purpo ses . It r e prese nted R u-

bio as a corrupt and un scru pulous person. App ellant, ho weve r, con-t nded th at the publi cat i)n was pr i-vilege d. H eld: The content ion iswithout m erit. Th e fr eedom of t he pI' ss consists in the right to pr intand publi sh any state ment what-ever with out subj ection to the pr e-vious censor shi p of the gover nment.It d ocs not mean immu nity from~iIlful abu ses of that fr eedom,

hich, if p ermi tted to go unr e buked,would soon make the license of anunre train ed press eve n more odiousto the peo ple than wou ld be the in-

t r f r ence of gover nment with the pre ion of opinion. Cer tain ly a

moment's 1 '( f lection will convincen~ur .e ap proac hing the sub ject withn op"n mind t hat no public service

i I ' n


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nt appealed. Held: Und er graph 3, Artic le 210 of the R e-

Penal Code, the offender shall

r the penalties of An' esto Ma-in its minimum and maximum

s a nd a fine of not less thanvalue o f the g if t and not m ore

D three t imes such value. Th ety app licable to the ac cused

ty of attempted bribery is t w oless than tha t pre scrib ~d

n ummated off enses . Accord-to Artic le 9 of the Revi sed P enal

Ie s grave felonies are tho see ll the law p unishes with p ena l-

hich in their maximum p eriod rrectional in accordance with

Ie 25 of the R evised P enaland in the scale of penalti esing to Artic le 25 the follow-

are correctiona l pena lties: Pri-C rrectionat, Arr esto Mayor,

i nand Distierro. But Ar-26 provides that a fin e, if itnot exce ed P6000 but is nothan P200 is a corr ecti onal p e-

Therefore, the penalty a p- ble to an offender guilty of an

pted br i bery is a f ine of n otthan P200 nor more than 1'600a furt her fi ne based on th eof the gift. Accused sentenc ed

y a fine of P203 with sub sidi arynm cnt in c as e of i nso lve ncy.

Di i ion, Per V ic k er s, J.; St reetantos, JJ .; concur ring.)

f d by J1IER O TE O R. VI LLAROSA.

U NY - WHAT CH ARGES ARE

PRIVILEGED IN P O LI TICA L

RES -The People of th e Ph il-e Islull(l.~, P laintiff-App ellee

C cllio de la VictoTia , Def end ant -Uunt , G . R. Nos. 37 275 & 3727 0.

!il, 193.1 .-The d ef end ant inurse of his political speec h

rted that Governor Cu enc o d e-ed the municipality of Sib onga piece of land and mi sappr o-

the money which the appe l-

f or th e H ijos de l Pu e blo. B oth of th ese facts were prove n n ot to b etru e. Th e appe llan t conte nd s t hat

the words s poke n were p r iv ileg ed and constitut es no off ense unde r thelaw. H eld : The f act t hat thes esta tem ent s were ma d e in the co urseof a h ea ted po litica l cam paign do esno t make tha t pr ivileged . The free-d om of speec h sec ure d by the funda-m ental la w in th ese Islands does

not ju st ify aspe r sions of thi s char -act er. It is cl ea r th at th e state-m ents ma d e by the appe llant wereac tuat ed b y ma lic e. C omme nt and critici sm of p u blic m en an d of their mo ra l f itn ess f or o ff ic e a r e only pri ~vile ge d when ma d e in goo d faith.(In Divi sion, Per Str ee t, J.; Santosand Vi ck ers , JJ ., co ncurring. ) BTie f ed by HIEROT EO R . VIL LAR O SA .

CRI M I NA L PROC E DURE -- SUS PEN-

SION OF SENTE NCE OF MINO R D E LIN- .

QU EN Ts .-P eop le of the Phi li ptJi ne I slands, P la intiff-A ppe llee , vs. S an-

tos et al. , De f endan t-A1Jp ellan t, G. R. N o. 37391 ,., A1J ri l 17, 193 3 .-Ita pp eare d that the d ef end ant wasles s th an 1 8 year s of a ge on thedate whe n h e inf lict ed the. injurieschar ged again st him . A se nt encewas pass ed co nvict ing hi m of se-r ious ph ysica l inj ur ies a nd or d ering

for t he su s pension of t he sen tenceand that the ap pe llant be conf in E d in an in stitution to be d esignate d by the Com mi ss ion er of the Pu blicW elf are unti l he reac hes the age o f ma jority . Th e de f endant a pp ealed. H eld: It is error for t he lowe r cour t to pronounce se nt ence , befo r esuspendng the proc ee d ings an d co m-mittin g t he app ellan t to the c usto dyof a prop er inst ituti on or p er son d e-signat ed for the cu stody of minors .It i s fur th el' n ecess ary for th e tr ialcourt to d es ignate a p art icular per-son or in stitution to w,hom the cus-tcdy of th e ap pellant shou ld b e co m-


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fire commI SS IOner and th e app el-nt him self or p erso n repres enting -

h rn . (In Divi sion, P er St reet, d .;ntos and VIck er s JJ., co ncu r ring .)

Briefed by HI ER OTEO R . VI LLAROSA .

CRlMlN"AL LAW -SEX TU PLE HOM I-CIDETHROUGHREC K LES S NEG LI G-

CE -DEGREEOF C AR E TO BE Ex -ERCISEDBY TEACHERA NDS COU TlIfAS -ftIL-P. P . T. V8. R!ll Jl3 ' r t o Gl' ego l" iotaL, G. R. No. 8787 5, J une 22 ,

1983.-Tbe Boy Sc out s of AparriInd some stud ent s of t he Cagaya n

IUey In stitut e ot -gan ize d an ex -eunion. to Linao, Ap arri, and Bal-I teras under the l ea ~ers hi p of t heappellant who wa s a teach er of the

n titute and A ss istant S cou tm as ter.

Permission was gr ant ed by th e di-rector of the in stitut e p r ov ide d that

the weatft er would p er mit . Alaunch and a bW 'allgayan wereused . To r each Lin ao fro m Aparri,two routes w ere a va ilab le, one of

hichwa s throu gh th e mouth of theCagayan River and anot her throug h

I stream in the int er ior. Th e f irstroute was taken in s pit e o f the factthat tlte fir st typhoon s jgnal was u pInd there w ere stron g wa ves a t th emouth of the riv er. Up on r eachi ngthe mouth of the r iv er, the launchcapsized and six B oy Scouts w eredrown ed. H eld: In his capacity asteacher and A ss istant Scoutma ster It was incumb en t u po n the app ellantto l ook :lft er the safety of the stu -d nt s and b oy scouts under his su- pervisi on , ,;th t he di ligence of a

ood father of a fam ily. In permit-Ing that th e voyage be m ad en s pite of th e bad weather and in

c 00 ing th e d angerous route in stead f the safe one, apl iel lant wa s gu iltyf extu pl e homicide throu gh l 'eck-

) n eg lige nce . (In Divi sion, Per I p enal, J.; Street, San tos, 'JJ.,

ncurrin g.) Briefed by F. C . DI-o .

CR l~lI :"A L LAW-ATT M PTED RAPE :-F AC TS N OTSU FFICIE:- ;'TTOCONSTI-T:':TS.-P. P. T. VS . M au ro Ra mos-al ia s Ul'on g , G. R. No. 872 g4, J une

g, 1.!138 .-App ellant went t o thehou se o f the off end ed party, a girIof f our tee n years and f ind ing her I

alon e, a pp .roache d her ," held h er hand , and as s he re fu sed to follow him do wn stai r s, the accuse d su d de n-ly e mb r aced, ki ssed , and touche d t he - brea st s of the gir l and attempte d to ' I

raise h er sk irt . Tria l court conv ict- .ed a ppellant for attempt ed t'ape. ;

H eld: Error. Facts afor ementioned d o Dot con stitute t he cr ime of at -tem pt ed rape but that of acts of la-sc ivi ousne ss. (In Division , Pe r Im - . peria l, J. ; Street , Santos , J J., co n-cu rri ng.) Bl' ie f ed by F. C. DI NO. I

ICO :"TEMPTO F COURT-P o P. T. vs.1GeT frudis Aquino, C1 -isp in d e loT on 'e; G. R. No. 36 472 , J une 2 1,193 8.- In an order of di sm issaT,.Jud ge Sam son of th e Cour t of Fir stIns tan ce, Albay, call ed th e att enti on,of the justice o f the peace of Da-

raga , Albay, Cri s pin de la Torre , tothe f act that in preliminary inves -tiga tions it was not n ecessary to r e-

I

qdr e the pre sence of accuse d per- 'sons wh en the latter had r enou nced the pr eliminary inve stigatio n. I nthe d ispos itive p art of the ord er ,the Jud ge a dm oni shed de la Torre t ol

st udy f ur ther in d et ail the law withr ef ere nce to pr eliminary ' investiga-tions. Th e o rd er was publi shed inth e "H era ld o Bic ol," a l oca l dailY .!Later t he sa m e pap er pu blished alet ter ad dr esse d to th e e ditor and sign ed by D e laTo ne w herein h Eattr i bute d th e ac tion of Judge Sam-son to lac k of equ anim ity on th E part of said J udge in hi s of fici al pr o-cee d ing s, and th at the o rd er wa~"un verdad er o exa brup to si no ob r ~d e des pecho ma l comp rim ido." Halso asse rted that the pub licat ion 0the ord er wa s due to the d esir e O'


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Judge to n umi liate him ; thata tio n of the Judge was "inap-

iate, abusive, and was due to per mot ive. H eUl ; De la

e was gui lty of contempt. 11n-

S e . 228 of tne Administrativethe Judge of the Court of

; In tance is enjoined to exe r-at a ll times a supervi sion ov er

ju tices of tbe p eace wit bin h isiet. The su gges tion t bat tne

of cont em pt ca nnot b e use d the pro ce eding in wbich tb e

i nable publication bad its'n was a lready conc lud ed, b as

rc' . I t was enou gn th at tn "!'atian tended to d is cr edit t be

abou t a matter d ecided by itIn respect to whien t1le app el-was subject to tne sup ervi sion

he COl lr t. Aff irmed . (In Div!-

, PCI' St r eet, J.; Ma lcolm, O s-a , Santos, Vickers, JJ., {;oncur.)I d by F. C . DI l~O .

C'-' JlLI:: LAW -M E R C HA' I 'T DE-JUDICIAL P E R SONA LITY OF

\ T l .E PAR 'fNER S HIP -E s' l\ ' p

f:milio Boaria vs. J uan Po sa-

G. R. No. 36994, l II aTc h 31,. Emilio Boada, P ed r o B oada ,Jo e Boada, w er e par tne r s of

('alalanes d e Pedr o BO lida",nr egistered m e1' can tile partn er -

doing bu sin es s in the Ph ilip-I land s for fift ee n year s -an d ash paid the In ter nal R even"Je

but E m ilio B oa dn h as notI ny tax. Th e partners hi p wa ~

I d :mu mer ged into the cor-lion known a s "B oa da, Castro

r I~af:c l"to which Emil io sold in 'rest. The i ssue i s: W as

" l i D Boadaa m erchant and th er e-ubjected to pay th e merc hant

,f I',? H eld: "A single ad d oesn titute a merchant. In co n-

I tion of the Cod e of C om -o 'J a m erch ant i s o ne who

s various ac ts o f com-o 0 * . It will b e see n that a

'm er c bant' in ord er to be sUbj ected to tb e necess" ity of p ayin g the tax,nlU st b e "'engage d' in tb e "sale, bar-ter, or ex cb ange of p er son al prop-er ty" *.* *. To be ' englige d' as theword i s use d h ere , a p er so n mu st

be occup ied "C ir emplaye d In tb e sale, bar ter, et c. of p er sonal pr o perty ."Wh itake r vs. Raff er ty (38 Phil .5U8 ). The 'Eur e"au of In ter nal Re-venue, haVing cons id ere d 'L os Cata-lanes de Pedro 'Eoa d a' as t~g lstered pal 'tners nip f or purpo ses of taxa-

tion I s now est o ' p ped from alleg ingth 1it S'ald pa r tner s b1 'P bas no jurI-dica l pe r so nali ty b ecause It bas not

bee n regis ter ed . Affirll1 'ed .(In Di~"'is jun, Pel' Ostrand, J:; Vi llamor,"V ill areal , Vickers , ImperI al, JJ., con'cu1 '1"i ng). Br"i e f ed hyP . C. bINo .

'TH EP l' -CON 'f'E SSI O NsRE P UlnA " 'rE O A T ' I ' HETRIAL - P . P. 1. 1 )S. PedroF mg a ta , Nicomede s Agmtt f a , n:nd And res Mal ' iano, G. R. No. 377 11, Ma1' ch 1"7, 1933 .-Ap 'Pe al from a judjp11en t of co nvlc 'tion based larg elyon defe nd ants ' comes -,;io ns "; ~hich .tbe y r e 'Pud iat2d at the trI al. De -fenda nts test if ied that th ey llave

been sub jecte d to wr ious l 'orms of abuse a nd Violence cor r o bor ate a bythe t estImon y of tht M uni cip al Pre-S id ent , of 'a p hys lcian lmd of anocu lar wit nes s to t he abu se 'and violence . R e Id : The evl. d ence of ma ltr eatme nt l S s tro ng but theevide nce indepe nd,mt c f th," confes-sions , po in ts to the g uilt o f Lh" ,f end ant s- Aff irme d . :Pe r Bu tte, J.;Tho s. Str ee t, and Jose A . S anto s.,JJ., co nc urring . Brie f ed by D. 'UsL UN A .

FORC IllLE ENTRY A ND D : ' ;' I ' t \ INE R -

FAILURE TO I NCOR PO RA TE / .!;VIUbSC1 ;

W :r rH THE R Et ORD OF 'f IlE CAS}")UPO N AppE . ..' L.-Cir iaco Lapu z us.Pau lino Cand elaria , R. G. No.3 6 3 59 Jla1 'ch 21, 1 93 3.-A n ac tio n of f orc ib le entry an d detai ner . Di s-


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wed by the ju stice of the peacedue to failure of plaintiff to p rovethat defendant had depriv ed him o f the possession of the l and thr oughforce, intmidation or fr aud. Up on

app eal to the Court of Fir st In-tance judgment wa s r end er ed in

favor of the plaintiff. Th e d ef end -ant appealed as signing thr ee er r or sa having b ee n c ommitt ed by thecourt. H eld: An exam in at ion of the record of the c as e ha s r eve al ed

that no evid ence, wheth er or al or documentary, is attach ed th ere to.We are, therefore, un a bl e to pa ssupon the merit of the er r or s as-igned, and f ollo w in g a long lin e o f

precedents (Ol se n v s. Matso n, L or d ,and B elser Co. 19 PhiL, 102 ; Blu mvs. Barretto 19 PhiL, 161; De Guz-man vs. Fernand ez 41 PhiL , 7; Dir-ector of Lands v s. A gu as 41 P hiL,35) we have to ac ce pt the f in dingsof fact made by th e tr ial court .Affirmed. Per J. Sant os , J.; Ava n-cena and Str eet, JJ., concurrin g. Briefed by D. DE LUNA .

PARRICIDE -D E F ENSE , M ITI GA TI ON ,

EXCUSE OR JUSTIFI C ATI O :- f.- P. P . I .

v. Feliciano Emb a li clo, G. R. N o.37.17.9, March 18, 19 33.-Th e appe l-lant was ch ar ge d wi th th e cr ime o f parricide. H e a d mits having k ill ed his wife, but clai ms t hat he surpri sed her in the act of comm itting adu l-tery. Lo we r court f ound hi m gu il tyof the crim e of p arri cid e un de r ar t.2J6 of th e R evi se d P ena l Code and ent ence d him to suffer cad ena per:

pe illa. On h is appea l he cont end sthat h e s hould have be en sent enc ed in ac co rdan ce w ith art. 247 (Imp os -ing the p enalty of disti en'o up on thehu b and w ho kil ls his s pouse whil e

comm itting adultery .) H eld: l\1 at-ter s o f d efense , mitigation, excuseor jus ti f icatio n mu st ap pe ar by pr e- p nd eran ce o f ev idence . The ev id -ence pr e,;cnte d fai ls to show th at

the app ellant surpr ise d his wife ithe act of committing adu ltery . B~ because t he app ellant was a n il ~terate an d vo luntari ly su rr ender ~him se lf to the author ities, t he jUd (

ment i s modifi ed r educing t he p enaty to 12 ye ars and o ne d ay o f l'

clusion t em poral. Mod ifie d: PSan tos , J.; Avanceii.a , Stree t, 0

tr and, Butte , J J., Bri e f ed b y D. DE LUNA.

ACTIO:-f BASED ON ART . 38 OF A No. 49 6 A S AME N DED-FA IL URE'MAKE A SS IGNMEN T OF ERRO R -~

cente Arc eo et a l., vs . Agu .stin Cbr era, G. R. No. 3645 2 , Ma1'c h : 1

193 3.-Th e plaintiffs see k to ha 'the def enda nt declared trustee of

Torrens T it le for the use a nd be ll

f it of the plaintiffs, or in t he a It~native, to pay th e plaintiffs the Sl

of pW,oOO.O O as d ama ge s. It is i

leg ed tha t the d ef endant obtaine d

To r rens T it le to a tract of land ~long ing t o the plaint iffs by mea

of fraud . The Court b elow re nd er jud gment in fav or of the defenda

based on t w o grounds: firs t-t plaintiffs r ail ed to prove frau d i

leged to h ave be en committed by ii

defend ant in o btain in g the certif icJof title, an d, sec ond , the d ef endahad acq uire d title to the lan d questi on by pres cription. Plainti Jappeal ed. H eld: On thi s app eal, tappel lant s make no a ss ignmen terro r wi th r elation to the find iand d eterm in ation of th e Court 1

low that the def end ant h ad acq uiltitl e to the lan d in vo lve d by pscripti on, and ther e is no di scu ssiof th at ques tion in th e app eIIan

bri ef. T his om iss ion i s f atal to t

app eal aI!d t he jud gme nt mu staffirm ed with co sts agai nst the pellants . P er B utte, J . ; Ava nceStr ee t, Os tra nd and Sa nto s,concurri ng . Br ie f ed by D. DE Lu


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AL LAW -A B AT E ME:'IT OF

AS DEF~: -ISE TO P ROSE CU-

CACS I.G DA ~ IAGE TO PROP-

P. P. I. vs. Angel Fabo, G. R.0, April 5, 19 33 .-A co urt

109 vol ley-ba ll was esta b-y the principal of the el e-

hoo l on a lot b elon gin gguous to a church . Whil eh pl'iest was c onducti ngervice, the noi se m ad e by

rs and spectators in said riered with his function s.

d certain posts, metal ringsto be taken away from said He was pro secuted for th ei caus ing dama ge to prop-

d convicted by the Court of I tance . H eld: Such inter-

with the re ligious serviceunjustifiable nu isance . It

CuIfor the ac cuse d to a batenee. If any d am age was

d liability i s r edr ess ible if a civil action on ly. Def end-Idb e a cquit te d. Pel ' Stre et,

d anto ' and Imp eria l, JJ .,8,; { u l by A. ARANA .s.

C& -4UDICIAL DI S CR E TION1. VS .lICl/(ri cioReyes , G. R.5, April 6, 193 3.-D ef end-hi crimina l case was in-for e trial th at h e could as k lory pr ocess to summ on

he mi ght wa nt to pr es -manif este d t ha t h e had

. Aft er the e vidence of ution w as terminated , themov edfo ..suspension of the

n order that he co uld have pre sent a witn ess . Thenied this motion . H eld:r of the court d enyin g the

. n o C the tria l as as k ed bylIant ill order to pr ese nt hi s

I not errone ous, takin g intothat when a p pe llant was

d that he could as k f or co m - pl oce s aga in st h is wit-

h manif es ted th at h e had

no w itness t o prese nt . Per Ava n-cei ia, J.; Vick ers and Imp er ia l, J J.,concur . BTie f ed by A. AR AN A .s.

C R IMINAL LAW - AGG R AVATE\ ':;

CI RCUMSTA N CES OF T REACHER Y A N D N< JCTURN ITY- P. P. I. VS. C as tor C inco a nd COT nelio M e11d iola, G. R. No. 875 04 , J 1l11e 28 , 1983 .-Ca stor Cinco shot R osa lia Atienza o neni ght, cau sing the latter 's deat h.The tria l judge fo und th e qua li f y-in g ci rcumstance o f treacher y and

the fur ther aggravat ing c ir cu m-stan ce o f n octur nity . H eld : Thecrim e commi tte d is murd er , th ehomi cid e hav in g bee n qu alifi ed bytreac her y. Th e c irc ums tance of n oc-turnity can not h oweve r b etak en asa fu r th er aggravat in g circ ums tanc ein asm uch as that is a lrea d y includ ed

in th e ci r cum sta nc e of t rea ch ery.Per Ma lco lm , J.; Stree t, Aba d S an-tos, Hu ll , and Imper ial, JJ., co ncur . Bj' iefed by A. ARANAS.

C R IM INA L L AW -A r 'U LT E RY -AG-

GRAVATING CmCU M STAN C E OF DWEL -

LI N G -- P. P. T. VS . Pacita Va l71w ria

and R ustico T urna nda , G. R. No.37008, April , 1988. -Rust ico Tum an-d a, enter ed t he bedroom of Pac itaVa lmoria and her husband, w ho wa saway . T umanda and Valmor ia co-habite d carnal ly an d in this a ctwere surpri se d by the offend ed pa r-ty, the husb and o f Pacita Valm o-ria . H eld : The aggra vat ing cir-cumstance of d we lling mu st betak en into con sid eration in impo singthe p enalty in this p r os ecutio n for adult er y a ga in st Ru stico Tum anda .Per Imperial, J .; Str eet and Aba d Santos, JJ :, concur . BT ie f ed by A.ARAN AS .

CR n lI N AL L AW- A R sON -WHEN

CONS Ul \UI AT E D -P . P. T. VS . Gr egorio N a iiai d ego, G. R. No. 27887 , M a y.9, 19 88 .-Facts: Th e d ef enda nt inthis c ase se t fi r e to t he house of


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Franci sco ~Iar aig, which was at thattime occupied by eight (8) per sons.The fire was imm ediate ly ex-tingui shed and th e damage w asestimated at P330. H eld: Althothe damag es caused to the house of the offend ed party was insignifi -cant due to the fact th at the fire was promptly di scover ed and extinguish-trl the def end ant \vas proper ly found guilty of the c onsumated cr ime of arson, b ecause f or the commi ssionof the crime, it i s not necessary that

the building b e d estroye d but it issufficient if th e of f ender shall setfire to it . (In divi sion. Per VickersJ.; Street, Ostr and, Santos, and I m- perial, JJ., concurrin g.) Br ie f ed byANTONIO C. l\!ASA Q UE L.

VIOLATIO:-I OF E LECTION LAW-

DELI. 'QU E:-ICY IN THE PAY M E NT OF

CEDULA TAX -EFFEC T O F PRESCRIP-

TlO.-P. P. I. vs. Rodl -igo A. Da za,G. R. No. 3802 7, May 28, 1938.--Facts: The d ef end ant in this casewas pro secuted f or violation of sec.407 in r elation with sec. 2659 of theElection Law, Act 3387, in t hat h"

took p ossess ion of the office of th emunicipal pr esid ent of Sumarra ga,Samar, to wh ich he had been d ulyelect ed, wi thout having fir st satis-fied hi s d elinque ncy in the paymentof his c ed ula tax for th e year 1923.Defendant int erposed a d emurre """hich was sustained by lower C O ~l l" :,holdin g that the lapse of the pr e-criptiv e period of f ive year s, as pr >

vid cd for in Act 3763 r eferr ing bthe period of pr escrip tion f or allviolation of laws admi nistered bythe Burea u of Internal Reven ae.cr eates a presumpt ion of payme nt,altha n o record of such paym ent isto be f ound and that such a leT gand un exp lained d elay in prosec.]t-ing thr proc eedings wil l d efeat th eright of the state to collect the tax . H eld: The ru le r elied u pon by :h,trial judge only gives rise to a pre-

sum ption of payment but that pr sump tion is r e butt;lble and not suf icient to sustain a demurrer.the tax has not been paid , it miwell be however, tha t after f

la pse of 6 years, t he accused d id nk now tha t he was de linquent in f payment of the tax w hen he aSllm:d of f ice, es pecially whe n itnot allege d that he f ailed to Piany cedula for any year sub sequeto 1926, but that is a ca se to proved in the course of the tri;

Case r e!na nded for furthe r proceei!1gs. (In division, Per Vickers ,Str eet, Ostrand, Santos an d Imr rial, JJ., concurrin g.) B1" ie f ed ANTO~ IO C. MASAQUE L.

CER TIO RA RI: S UMMONS By PUBlCA Tl ON- W HEN NE CE S S ARY-Pet

R. Nelson vs . H on. S er villan o PIton, J z:d ge of the C OU1"t of Fi1

I nstance of Albay , The She1" iff Ri za l, and Mar ion E. Ma, tin , G. No. 88987, M a y 11, 1988.-FactOn Fe brua ry 19, 1 932, Mario nMartin in stitut ed the civil case ~5616 in the Court of Fir st Instan

of Al bay f or the r ecov ery' of PI!225.00. O n 'February 23, 19 32 Jud ,Ser villano Platon, ord er ed that NIson b e summo ned by public ation f the r eason that the r esid ence as was 'the \ ...-her ea bouts of the l attwer e unk nown. Said ord er r equiing Nelson to ap pear before th e saCourt of First Instance of Albay IJune 16 , 1932, at 8 :00 A.M. and answe r the comp laint filed by Matin, was pu blished for thr ee comcutive we ek s, once a week in f "Her aldo Bico l". Nelson havilf ailed to a ppear or to answer tcom plaint f iled against him on td ate set fort h in the or d er abomentioned, he was 'd eclar ed toin d efau lt and jud gment wa stered agains t him.

Issue: Did the cour t acquir e jur dict ion ov er the per son of the


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t 'elson, by virtue of th eve stated? H eld: It clear lyfrom the fact s abov e stated

action in stitut ed by Mar-one "in per sonam" f or thematter of which did n ot r e-ither real or p er sonal pro p-

elson should h ave b eenwith .a per sonal summo ns publication * * *. The r es-

t judge did not and could

acquir ed juri sdiction over on of ,'elson in asmuch a s plaint fil ed was a m er e ac-

I' the r ecovery of mon ey and I' of the re s pond ent jud gethat the p etitioner be sum-

by public ation, was, ther e-nwarrant ed. . (In division. p rial J., Str eet, Ostrand,nd Vi ck er s, JJ ., conc urrin g.)by Amo "IO C. MASA QU E L.

EFF E CT O F SUBSEQUEN TAC&IF.F.l, IESTOF R E I:I IBURSEMEN T TO

, II '.\1 , LIA Il I UTY .-The Peo-k Philippine I slands , Plain-

II c , VB. F lora Quingpua,

I-A ppe llan t, G. R. N . J . Aplil 17, 1.9 .J3 .-1t appeare d

compla inan t d elivere d tond ant a certain amount of o he so ld by the latter on

tonIlmi!:sion. But the d ef endanttl rn ove r the proceeds of

n I' je"el r y. There wa s ant agr eement b etween th e

by vir tue of whic h the d e-t d eliver ed to the comp lain -

cur ity f or the paym ent of Ii ation of the d efendant .So lon g as the a ppellant has

Iy di . pose d of the jewe lry, she. 'nally r es ponsible ther ef or ,

t I' what arr angeme nt wasntly mad e to indemnifynd ed party. Su ch arran ge-

uld only affec t the civi l of the acc used. The sam eId in th e case of P. P . I. vs., 42 Ph il. 75, that the r eim-

t of the amount emb ezzled

exe mpts th e accu sed only f r om c ivillia bility because estafa is a pu blicoff ense and shoul d be pro secute d and pun ished even thou gh the inju-ry to th e pr ivate p er son be reme -died. (In Divi sion, Per Vick ers,J . ; Str eet and Impe rial, JJ . ; concur -ring .) Bri e f ed by HIER O TE O R . VI-LLAROSA.

Asuso s DESHONESTOS- PROBAB ILI -TY OF T E STIMONIAL EV ID EN CE -P.

P. I .. Pla :nlif f and Appellee vs. Pa -ulino Lo zadct , De f end ant and App el-lant . G. R. No. 37764 , Apri l 12 , 193 .' 1.-The offe nded party , a girl of fifteen, and the acc used , a boy of fo:'r leen, were pupi ls of the sameschool. There is a sharp con flict inthe testimony of t he witnes ses as to

wha t occurr ed on the after noon of December 9, 193 1. Accor ding to theo:::f er .d ed party and h er servan t,the accu sed without w arnin g grab- bed the of f end ed par ty and ki ssed her a!1d f ondled her br eas ts. Onthe other hand, th e accu sed and his\\'itnesses maint ained that when the

accuse d met the off end ed gir l, hegr eeted her by saying, "Good after -110 0n, Miss Cortes "; that the offend -ed party ap par ently anger ed by thesalutation, called the accu sed "ne-gro ", "chongo", and "mono", and be-gun to beat him w ith her para sol;tha t the accused pushed the of -

fend ed gir l to fr ee himself from t he bar bed wir e fence behind him. H eld :It was er r or f or the tr ial jud ge toconsid er as improba ble that the of-fend ed gir l should h ave called theacc used "negro", "ch ongo", "mono ".That und er the cir cum stances of thecase, the stor y of the d ef ence is

mor e pro ba ble than that of the pro-secution for if the off ended partywas a prou d gir l and r egard ed her -self as su per iol' to the accused , who",as dar k and homely and p oor, itis not diff icult to beli eve th at theoffe nd ed party r egard ed the accused as pr esumptuous an d r ese nted his


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of addrE ss in g her . (Divisionr e, Per Vi cker s, J., San tos , and rial, JJ. , concurrin g. ) Brief ed

E o J. A .

IGATION L Aw-P eople o f the pine I slcl7lds, P la int i ff and Ap-, 118. Ricard o d e los Santos ,

ant and A] Jpe l/ ant, G. R. No., J llne 7, 1. ?33.-Th e inform a-charges marciou s d amage to

ty but the tria l court fou nd app llan t gui lty und er sec. 45

the Irr iga tion L aw. The d e-

nt dh' erted t he water f rom anfon dike b elon gi ng to the

mmen t. Th e d ef enc e is th at perfora tion was not m aliciouswas made on ly fOl " th e pUl"po se

r elieving the ov erfl ow over thedant's pa lay . H eld: Th e d e-

ant is gu ilt y of mi sd emea nor

e e l in s ection 45 in re lat ion ton 47 of Act No. 21 52. Section

no t r equire th at the inter-nee w ith the dike sho uld be ma-

' 0 excep tion ca n be tak ene fact that th e conv iction wasr a differ ent p r ovi sion from

t more particu larly con temp lat-

In the statute concerning ma li-damage to pr ope r ty, for theation charg es al l the e lements

tR inedin the mi sd em ea nor d efi ne d tion 45 of A ct. No . 21 52."

. ion of thr ee , pe r Stree t, J.,to and Imp eria l, JJ ., concu1' -.) Brie f eel by E. J. A.

10 ES GRA VE S -- S UFFICIENCY

I E. CE -P . P . I., Plaint i ff and II e vs. Ci"ilICO Ramos , De f e' lld -

d .4 ppc llant, G. R. :Vo. 377 5 0,10 , 19J .l.-The accu se d wa s

i d of J c,:;ione s g rav es in t hecourt . Th e ev idence fully S11 S-

the findi ngs that the accu se d ted t he inj uries c om plaine d of .

er, as to th e duration of th eI t reatment o r of the p el"iod

pac ity , the only evi denced i s the m( :di ~al ce r tif ica te

gi ven by the p hysician who treat ed the inj ure d p arty in the ho s pita l.The me dic al ce rti f icat e estimated that t he les ion s wo uld r eq uire from30 to 35 d ays to h eal. H eld : "T heforgoi ng is clearly insuffic ient tosn stain a f indin g that th e of f ended pa r ty was inc a paci ta ted f or morethan thir ty d ays f or the work inwh ich he w as habitual ly engaged .The cr im e committ ed by the accuse d must the r efor e be class ifi ed as lesio -nes ' I1lenos glave s." (Divi sio n of three, per V ickers, J ., Str eet a nd Santo s. JJ. , concurring .) Br ie fed by E. J . A.

BIG A My-WHEN A GoOD D E FENCE

NOT R A ISE D IN THE FIRST PR O SEC U-

TION I S VALID IN T HE SECON D PRO-

se;c uT f () N -P eo ple o f t he Ph ili p pine I sland s , Plaintiff and App ellee vs.

!1' ineo S an Jose , De fenda nt and Ap- pellant. G . R. No. 37 229, J une 10,193 3.-Th e d efendan t lawfu lly co n-tract ed hi s fir st m arr iage on D ecem-

ber 6, 1 903 . As abso lu te d ecl;ee of divorc e wa s grant ed o n Se pte m be r 16 , 190 8 althou gh at th at time thelaw di d not authorize the gra nting

of div or ce a vincu lis. App ellant thenmarr ied for th e secon d tim e, and onJanu ar y 10( 1910, he was co nvict ed of bi ga my . Havin g serv ed his sen-tence, he cont racte d a third m ar-riag e 01 1July 5, 1 92 5 whe n hi s firs twife was s tilI livin g. H eld : "The1:e1 'm of t he ci vi l d ecr ee of divoJ "Cewas abso lu te an d un d er th e c ond i-tion s the app ellant perhap s ha d aright to be lieve that h is mar r iag ewas lawfu l. It i s tr ue tha t th e s amedefe nce e xis ted aga inst th e f ir st prosec ution but as that occ urre d onth e ve r y hee ls of t he divorce , thed ef ence was no t raise d, an d the fac ttha t he bas se rv ed one se nt enc ealread y is some thing a gainst the r e- petit ion of the p enalty ." Def end antacqu itted. (Di vision of t hree , pe r Str ee t, J. , Sant os and Imper ial, JJ .,concur r ing .) Brie f ed by E . J. A .

plj volume 13 number 1 -04- digest of recent decisions of the philippine supreme court

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