GR 876; (August, 1902) (Digest)
March 7, 2026GR 562; (August, 1902) (Digest)
March 7, 2026G.R. No. 596 : August 19, 1902
THE UNITED STATES, complainant-appellant, vs. ANASTASIO CARMONA, defendant-appellee.
FACTS:
The defendant, Anastasio Carmona, was a captain in the insurrectionary army. He issued an order to four of his soldiers to lie in wait for and arrest Marcelo Blas, a tailor, whom he believed to be a spy for the Americans and the police. In pursuance of this order, the soldiers ambushed Blas on the afternoon of October 3, 1900, at Maytubig, Malate, Manila. When Blas refused to accompany them, two of the soldiers stabbed him to death. Carmona was tried for asesinato (murder) in the court below and was acquitted. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court. During the appeal, both the Solicitor-General and the counsel for the defendant jointly petitioned the Court to declare Carmona covered by the President’s amnesty proclamation of July 4, 1902.
ISSUE:
Whether the defendant, Anastasio Carmona, is entitled to the benefits of the amnesty proclamation.
RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition and declared Anastasio Carmona entitled to the benefit of the amnesty proclamation. The Court found that the evidence supported the lower court’s findings and further indicated that Carmona was acting pursuant to an order from a superior insurrectionary officer to arrest Filipino spies. The Court held that Carmona, having participated in the insurrection against the U.S. Government, fell within the classes of persons described in the amnesty proclamation. Furthermore, the act for which he was charged was committed in the course of the insurrection, pursuant to military orders, for military purposes in the interest of the insurrection, and without any apparent motive of private revenge or hatred. As such, the offense was “political in its character” and covered by the amnesty. The Court conditioned the grant of amnesty upon Carmona filing the prescribed oath in court. Upon compliance, the case was to be remanded to the lower court with instructions for his discharge, with costs de oficio.
