G.R. No. L-10948; May 20, 1960
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. NEMESIO MORTERO, VIRGILIO YOYONGCO, FAUSTINO IGNACIO, PEDRO D. MERCADO, PETRONILO MATA, JUAN BALDONAZA, TIRSO BALA, ELIODORO MANDI, FELIX BAUTISTA, JOSE R. PAGADUAN alias PEDRO PAGADUAN, AGUSTIN NUNUG, CIRIACO VILORIA, ROMEO BORROMEO, and CELSO O. RAMENTO, and other JOHN DOES, defendants. NEMESIO MORTERO, FAUSTINO IGNACIO, JUAN BALDONAZA, AGUSTIN NUNUG, PEDRO D. MERCADO, and JOSE PAGADUAN, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

The defendants, officers and enlisted men of the 19th PC Company stationed at Camp Makabulos, Tarlac, were charged with multiple murder. On January 3, 1950, in Barrio Panampunan, Tarlac, they allegedly fired upon civilian houses and later herded, interrogated, and killed fourteen male residents to avenge the death of Sgt. Mangino. They then scattered the bodies in a sugarcane field and placed helmets and surrendered firearms beside them to simulate an encounter with armed Huks.
The prosecution’s evidence established that on that evening, Sgts. Mangino, Baldonaza, Pagaduan, and Cpl. Nunug, accompanied by informer Petronilo Mata, went to Antonio Galang’s house to investigate reports of sheltering Huks. After Galang denied the allegations, he was beaten. Baldonaza, Pagaduan, and Nunug fired at the house. Mangino rushed inside and was accidentally killed by his companions’ gunfire. Pagaduan then reported to camp that Huks had killed Mangino, prompting reinforcements led by Capt. Cabute and including Major Mortero to arrive. Upon arrival, Cabute ordered the soldiers to open fire. The soldiers rounded up male residents, interrogated and beat them, and eventually bayonetted and shot all fourteen, killing them. The bodies were later found mutilated in the sugarcane field.
After trial, the lower court acquitted several defendants but convicted appellants Nemesio Mortero, Faustino Ignacio, Jose Pagaduan, Juan Baldonaza, Pedro D. Mercado, and Agustin Nunug of fourteen murders, sentencing each to fourteen life imprisonments. The convicted defendants appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the appellants are guilty of the crime of multiple murder as charged.

RULING

Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalties. The evidence established the appellants’ guilt for the murders. The qualifying circumstances of treachery, evident premeditation, and the generic aggravating circumstances of abuse of superior strength, taking advantage of official position, use of vehicles, and nighttime were present, warranting the imposition of the maximum penalty for murder, which is death. However, the Court found a distinction in moral culpability. Appellants Pagaduan, Baldonaza, and Nunug, who were directly involved in the initial incident and fabricated the story of a Huk attack, were deemed more guilty. Appellants Mortero, Ignacio, and Mercado, who were misled by their co-appellants into believing the reprisal was against Huks, were considered morally less guilty.
Consequently, the Court imposed the death penalty on Jose R. Pagaduan, Juan Baldonaza, and Agustin Nunug. For Nemesio Mortero, Faustino Ignacio, and Pedro D. Mercado, the necessary votes for the death penalty were lacking due to their lesser moral guilt; their sentences of life imprisonment were affirmed. The decision of the lower court was affirmed in all other respects, including the indemnity to the heirs of the victims.