GR L 11870; (October,1961) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-11870; October 16, 1961
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. BENITO CRUZ, ET AL., defendants. FERMIN TOLENTINO, BENITO CRUZ and PATERNO CRUZ, defendants-appellants.
FACTS
The appellants, ranking members of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), were convicted by the Court of First Instance of Rizal for complex crimes. Benito Cruz and Paterno Cruz were found guilty of “rebellion with robbery with homicide,” while Fermin Tolentino was convicted of “rebellion with arson, with murder and robbery.” The information alleged that from May 28, 1946, they conspired to commit rebellion by publicly rising in arms against the government. Specific overt acts were detailed, including a robbery and triple homicide at the residence of John D. Hardie in Antipolo, Rizal, perpetrated by Benito and Paterno Cruz on March 20, 1951, and various armed encounters with Philippine military forces involving Fermin Tolentino’s unit in Bataan.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the appellants can be validly convicted of the complex crimes of rebellion with common crimes like robbery, homicide, murder, and arson as charged.
RULING
The Supreme Court modified the conviction, holding the appellants guilty only of simple rebellion. The Court applied the doctrine established in People vs. Hernandez, which prohibits the complexing of rebellion with common crimes when such acts are committed as a means to or in furtherance of the rebellion. The legal logic is that rebellion is a single, continuous crime encompassing various acts of violence; to compound it with other felonies would unjustly impose the harsher penalties for the common crimes and violate the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. Since the information itself alleged that the murders, robberies, and arsons were committed as “a necessary means to commit the crime of Rebellion” and “in the furtherance thereof,” these acts are absorbed into the single crime of rebellion.
Consequently, the penalties were reduced. Appellants Benito Cruz and Fermin Tolentino, as Huk commanders under the first paragraph of Article 135 of the Revised Penal Code, were sentenced to ten years of prision mayor and a fine of P10,000 each. Appellant Paterno Cruz, under the second paragraph, was sentenced to six years, eight months, and one day of prision mayor. The decision was affirmed in all other respects.