Saturday, June 27, 2009

Criminal Law: People v Talingdan

84 SCRA 19, July 8, 1978
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.NEMESIO TALINGDAN, MAGELLAN TOBIAS, AUGUSTO BERRAS, PEDRO BIDES and TERESA DOMOGMA, accused-appellants.


Facts: Bernardo Bagabag was murdered in his own house in Abra on June 24, 1967 by Talingdan, Tobias, Berras, Bides and Teresa Domogma, his alleged wife [whom cannot be charged with parricide because no certificate or proof of marriage could be presented by the prosecution]. The murder was witnessed by Corazon [12], the eldest child of Bernardo and Teresa. She testified to the crime committed by the accused-appellants.


Story: [I want to include this so that you could get the whole thing; it is your option to write it or not on your record books. This is the summary of Corazon’s testimony.] Prior to the violent incident, Bernardo and Teresa have had several conflicts in their married life. She would often withdraw from their house. The longest even for more than 3 weeks. It was suspected that Teresa is having an illicit affair with Talingdan, a policeman who lives nearby. Two days before the crime, Teresa was slapped several times by Bernardo after a violent quarrel. She sought the help of Talingdan who challenged Bernardo to come down, but the latter refused. Then, Talingdan left after shouting "If I will find you someday, I will kill you." Two days before the commission of the crime, Corazon overheard her mother’s meeting with the other accused-appellants about their plot to kill her father as one of them said, “Shall he elude a bullet?” Corazon was then driven away by her mother saying, “You tell your father that we will kill him.” On the night of the murder, Corazon was cooking food for supper when she saw her mother talking with the other accused-appellants in their “batalan” armed with long guns. After a while, Teresa went inside the room to put her baby to sleep. After eating supper alone, Corazon told her father about the persons outside but he ignored her. He went to the kitchen and sat on the floor near the door then he was fired. Talingdan and Tobias fired their guns again. Bides threatened to kill Corazon if she would ask for help. Corazon confessed to her father’s relatives the identities of the murderers during his burial. The trial court found them guilty of the offense and so the five accused appealed to their conviction.


Crime Committed: Murder
[and the sentence of life imprisonment with indemnity to the offended party, the heirs of the deceased Bernardo Bagabag, in the amount of P12,000]


Contention of the Accused: According to Teresa, there was no illicit affair between her and Talingdan. She loved her husband. Contrary to the testimony of Corazon, they never quarreled nor did the former maltreat her. She never left home for so long. And she was cooking for supper, and not Corazon, on the night of the murder. She contends that her in-laws used her daughter to testify against her because they don’t want Teresa from the start. She even added that Bernardo had some enemies during his lifetime. Talingdan said that he escorted the Mayor as a bodyguard, while the other three accused also claimed that they were at a certain Mrs. Bayongan’s house during the night of the murder.


Contention of the People: The sworn statement of the 13-year old Corazon was true. She knew the accused because they live nearby their place. Besides, the accused-appellants testimonies are indefensible and futile. Moreover, her mother claimed to have no suspect in mind during the investigation in their house although she was in conspiracy with the other four accused.


Ruling: The court affirmed the decision held by the trial court with costs. There are two aggravating circumstances present, treachery and evident premeditation, with no mitigating circumstances to offset the accused-appellants. Talingdan, Tobias, Berras, and Bides are guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder and are sentenced to DEATH to be executed in accordance with law. Teresa Domogma is guilty as accessory to the same murder, and is hereby sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of 5 years prision correccional as minimum to 8 years of prision mayor as maximum, with the accessory penalties of the law.


What about Teresa’s conviction? Teresa was more or less passive in her attitude regarding her co-appellants' conspiracy, known to her. After Bernardo was killed, she became active in her cooperation with them. These subsequent acts of her constitute "concealing or assisting in the escape of the principal in the crime" which makes her liable as an accessory --- paragraph 3 of Article 19 of the Revised Penal Code. [Please check Art 19 on your PRC and write it down if you wish. I strongly recommend it so.]

2 comments: