G.R. No. L-13830; May 31, 1961
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LEONIDO CADAG, ANTONINO GATON, DOMINADOR ARADO and BONIFACIO CADAG, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

On the evening of May 23, 1956, Camilo Mendoza and Nicolas Yutiga were walking to the wharf in Masbate when Mendoza stepped on a hat lying on the street. Shortly after, they were accosted by the four accused. Leonido Cadag confronted Mendoza about the hat and attempted to box him. After an altercation, the group, including the unarmed Mendoza and Yutiga, was encircled by the four accused near a store. Leonido Cadag stabbed Mendoza in the neck. During the attack, his co-accused, armed with a piece of wood, stones, and a knife, shouted encouragement like “Go ahead and stab that Tagalog.” Mendoza died from his wound the following day. The prosecution presented eyewitnesses who positively identified all accused.
The defendants interposed alibi as a defense. During the appeal, new affidavits were submitted, including one from Leonido Cadag claiming self-defense and another from the Mayor stating two accused were on official duty at the pier that night. The trial court convicted all four as co-principals of murder, finding conspiracy based on their collective actions before, during, and after the stabbing.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court correctly found the existence of conspiracy among all four accused to hold them equally liable as co-principals for the killing of Camilo Mendoza.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the finding of conspiracy but modified the crime from murder to homicide. The legal logic is that conspiracy can be deduced from the conduct of the accused before, during, and after the commission of the crime, indicating a common purpose and united execution. Direct proof of a prior agreement is not essential; circumstantial evidence suffices.
Here, conspiracy was established by the appellants’ collective actions: they were together when they initially accosted the victims over the hat; they jointly encircled the unarmed Mendoza and Yutiga; during the stabbing by Leonido Cadag, the other three were present, armed, and actively encouraged the killing with shouts; and they collectively chased the victims afterward. Their simultaneous presence, armed status, and encouraging conduct are inconsistent with mere innocent spectatorship and demonstrate a community of criminal intent. The Court emphasized that conspiracy exists if, at the time of the offense, the accused had the same purpose and were united in its execution, regardless of any appreciable prior planning period.
However, the qualifying circumstance of treachery was not sufficiently established, as the attack did not clearly employ a method that deliberately ensured the victim’s defenselessness without risk to the assailants. Thus, the crime is homicide, not murder. All four appellants, due to the proven conspiracy, are liable as co-principals. The penalty was modified to an indeterminate sentence of 12 years of prision mayor to 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day of reclusion temporal for each.