G.R. No. L-10583 December 28, 1956
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ADRIANO DE LA CRUZ alias EDRING, ET. AL., defendants. ALEJO GALASINAO, ENRIQUE MIGUEL and AGUSTIN RIVERA, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

Defendants Alejo Galasinao, Enrique Miguel, and Agustin Rivera were convicted of murder for the deaths of Ceferino Talavera and Benjamin Rumbaua by the Court of First Instance of Nueva Vizcaya. The case arose from an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into numerous violent deaths in Nueva Vizcaya. The prosecution relied on affidavits from the three appellants and others, including Cayetano Baria, who was to be the star witness but turned hostile at trial. The affidavits stated that on the evening of February 24, 1951, appellants, under the direction of Pedro Miguel and Chief of Police Guillermo Domingo, lured Talavera and Rumbaua into a jeepney. At sitio Mongcol, barrio Bintawan, Pedro Miguel and Galasinao shot the victims with Thompson submachine guns from behind, killing them instantly. The bodies were left on the roadside. At trial, appellants repudiated their affidavits, claiming they were obtained through intimidation and maltreatment by NBI agents, but the trial court rejected these claims. The case against Adriano de la Cruz and Guillermo Domingo was dismissed for lack of evidence, and Pedro Miguel was at large.

ISSUE

The main issues were the validity of the appellants’ affidavits as evidence, their culpability in the murders, and the correctness of the penalty imposed by the trial court.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Alejo Galasinao and Enrique Miguel but acquitted Agustin Rivera. The Court held that the affidavits of Galasinao and Enrique Miguel were admissible and credible, as their claims of coercion were unsubstantiated. The crime was murder qualified by treachery, as the victims were shot unexpectedly from behind. The Court found the aggravating circumstances of nighttime and use of a motor vehicle, but modified the penalty. The trial court erred in imposing an indeterminate penalty; the correct penalty for murder is reclusion temporal maximum to death. With aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances, the penalty should be life imprisonment for each murder. The indemnity was increased from P4,000 to P6,000. Agustin Rivera was acquitted because his affidavit showed he was merely ordered to board the jeepney without knowledge of the plan, did not participate in the killing, and only helped remove the bodies without attempting to conceal the crime, thus not liable even as an accessory.