G.R. No. L-8931; March 14, 1914
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JUAN MAQUI, defendant-appellant.

FACTS:
Juan Maqui was convicted in the trial court of the theft of a caraballa (female water buffalo) and her calf. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, with accessory penalties, and ordered to pay his share of the costs. On appeal, his counsel argued that the trial court erred in: (1) giving credence to the testimony of the principal prosecution witness; (2) admitting evidence of Maqui’s extrajudicial admissions, including an offer to compromise the case by paying money; and (3) rejecting Maqui’s testimony in his own defense.

ISSUE:
1. Whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the accused’s extrajudicial statements and offer to compromise.
2. Whether the penalty imposed should be mitigated due to the offender’s lack of instruction and education under Article 11 of the Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 2142 .

RULING:
The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the conviction but MODIFIED the penalty.

1. On the admissibility of extrajudicial statements and offers to compromise: The Court held that the evidence of Maqui’s extrajudicial statements, made in the course of offers to compromise, was properly admitted. The record contained no suggestion that these statements were involuntary, and the circumstances clearly rebutted any possibility that they were extorted by force, threats, or promises. The Court adopted the rule that evidence of an offer to compromise is admissible, but the accused is permitted to show that such an offer was made not out of a consciousness of guilt, but for other reasons (e.g., to avoid inconvenience). The cited jurisprudence from U.S. courts supported the view that voluntary offers to compromise could be admitted as evidence.

2. On the imposition of penalty and mitigating circumstance: The Court found Maqui guilty beyond reasonable doubt. However, it ruled that the trial court should have considered his manifest lack of “instruction and education” as a mitigating circumstance under Article 11 of the Penal Code, as amended. The Court noted that Maqui was either a member of an uncivilized Igorot tribe or, at the very least, a “densely ignorant and untutored fellow” living among them, not much higher in the scale of civilization. Unlike the old rule based on racial affiliation, the amended article authorized mitigation based on the offender’s degree of instruction and education. The Court held that for crimes like theft, a more lenient treatment could be justified for an ignorant and semi-civilized offender who may not fully appreciate the criminal character of his act.

DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
The penalty was modified. For the theft of large cattle, the proper penalty under the amended code was presidio correccional in its medium degree to presidio mayor in its minimum degree. Applying the mitigating circumstance of lack of instruction, the penalty was imposed in its minimum degree. The Court sentenced Juan Maqui to two years, four months, and one day of presidio correccional, in lieu of the original five-year sentence. The conviction was affirmed, with costs against the appellant.