G.R. No. 18242; March 6, 1923
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SIMPLICIO MARCELLANA, ET AL., defendants. AGATON PAÑGANIBAN, appellant.

FACTS

Agaton Pañganiban and others were charged with murder for the killing of Jose Par on December 12, 1920, in Taal, Batangas. Before trial, the prosecution moved to discharge one of the accused, Eleuterio Poco, to be used as a state witness, which the court granted over the defense’s objection. During trial, another accused, Victorino Catapang, offered to plead guilty to homicide if the information was amended, which the court also granted. After trial, the court convicted Pañganiban, Marcellana, and Catapang as principals of homicide and Villanueva as an accomplice. Pañganiban appealed, arguing the court erred in discharging Poco as a witness and that the evidence was insufficient for conviction.

ISSUE

1. Whether the trial court erred in discharging Eleuterio Poco to be a prosecution witness under Act No. 2709.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Agaton Pañganiban of homicide beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

1. No. The trial court did not err. Act No. 2709 governed the discharge of a co-accused to be a state witness. The record showed no indication that the court knew or had reason to believe at the time of the order that Poco had a prior conviction (for illegal marriage), a fact only revealed during cross-examination. The defendant could not take advantage of this fact discovered after the order was issued.
2. Yes. The evidence was sufficient. The prosecution evidence conclusively established that through concerted action, two accused went to the victim’s house at night, lured him to a cemetery under false pretenses, and there, without provocation, treacherously attacked him with bolos and clubs, inflicting 21 wounds, three of which were mortal. Pañganiban’s defense of alibi was insufficient to overcome the prosecution’s direct and positive proof.
The Court noted that the facts actually constituted murder, punishable by cadena temporal, but since the fiscal agreed in open court to reduce the charge to homicide and other equally guilty co-accused were sentenced to twelve years and one day of reclusion temporal without appeal, the judgment convicting Pañganiban of homicide was affirmed.