G.R. No. 38562; October 18, 1933
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JULIAN APOLINARIO, FEDERICO BARRIENTOS, and GERVASIO LAMES, defendants. JULIAN APOLINARIO, appellant.

FACTS

The defendants were charged with homicide for killing Saturnino Cabaylo with bolos. Initially, before the justice of the peace court, all defendants, including appellant Julian Apolinario, pleaded guilty after the complaint was translated into the local dialect. However, in the Court of First Instance, they pleaded not guilty. After trial, the court convicted Apolinario of homicide but acquitted his co-accused. Apolinario appealed, claiming he acted in self-defense.

ISSUE

Whether the appellant acted in self-defense when he killed the victim, which would exculpate him from criminal liability.

RULING

No. The plea of self-defense was not duly proved. For self-defense to be valid, there must be unlawful aggression. The appellant’s claim that the victim attacked him with a bolo was refuted by prosecution witnesses who testified the victim, though carrying a sickle, did not use it and only tried to defend himself with his hands. The appellant did not sustain any injuries from the alleged attack. His testimony was also impeached by his prior sworn statement where he did not claim self-defense and by his initial guilty plea in the lower court. The Court found his claim of being forced into a confession through maltreatment by Constabulary soldiers not credible. Consequently, the conviction was affirmed, though the penalty was modified to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal and an increased indemnity to the heirs.

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