G.R. No. L-12392, December 4, 1917
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FRANCISCO BALABA, defendant-appellant.

FACTS:
On February 29, 1916, in Cabadbaran, Agusan, the accused, Francisco Balaba, killed three individuals: Lazaro Dagulpo, Fortunata Cabasagan, and Claudia Ligao. The series of events began when Balaba killed and ate a rooster belonging to Claudia Ligao. When confronted by the owner’s husband and Lazaro Dagulpo, a dispute over compensation ensued. While walking with them, Balaba treacherously attacked and killed Dagulpo with a bolo. He then fled to his brother’s house, where he informed his sister-in-law, Fortunata Cabasagan, of the killing. When she rebuked him, he attacked and killed her from behind while she was working. Subsequently, while fleeing, he encountered and killed Claudia Ligao in her hemp plantation. The trial court convicted Balaba of two counts of murder (for the killings of Dagulpo and Cabasagan) and one count of homicide (for the killing of Ligao), imposing a single death penalty under Article 89 of the Penal Code, considering the acts as constituting three crimes in a single act. A medical committee also found Balaba to be of sound mind.

ISSUE:
1. Whether the trial court erred in convicting the accused of three separate offenses under a single information.
2. Whether separate penalties should be imposed for each of the three convictions.

RULING:
The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the conviction but MODIFIED the penalty.
1. The Court held that while an information should generally charge only one offense under Section 11 of General Orders No. 58, the accused, by proceeding to trial without objecting to the information which charged three offenses, effectively waived his right to demur. Therefore, his conviction for all three offenses was proper.
2. The Court modified the penalty imposed by the trial court. Instead of applying Article 89 of the Penal Code (which prescribes the penalty for the most serious crime when multiple offenses are the result of a single act), the Court applied Article 87. It imposed the death penalty for each of the two murder convictions and a penalty of 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day of reclusion temporal for the homicide conviction. These penalties were to be served simultaneously as far as practicable under Article 87. The modification was made to account for the possibility of an acquittal on appeal for any of the charges or a potential partial pardon.

Separate Opinions:
Justice Street concurred in imposing the death penalty for the murder of Fortunata Cabasagan but dissented from convicting the accused of multiple offenses in a single proceeding. He argued that Section 11 of General Orders No. 58 permits only one conviction per information, and the established practice of charging multiple offenses was based on the understanding that only one penalty would be imposed.
Justice Malcolm agreed with the capital penalty but dissented from imposing multiple sentences. He found it illogical to impose two death sentences and a prison term to be served simultaneously, emphasizing the clear statutory rule that an information must charge only one offense.

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