GR L 2584; (March, 1950) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2584; March 25, 1950
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. TEODORO BARRAMEDA, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
Teodoro Barrameda, a Filipino citizen, was charged with treason before the People’s Court. The prosecution presented evidence on four counts. He was a member of the Ganap and later the Makapili, serving with the Japanese Military Police (Kempetai). The evidence established that in August 1942, he led the apprehension of four weak and exhausted American nationals who were hiding and subsequently delivered them to the Japanese, after which they disappeared, presumed killed. In February 1945, he went to a house looking for a suspected guerrilla, tied the hands of the occupant’s mother, set the house on fire with her inside, and then bayoneted to death her blind son and another blind man. Later that same month, he participated in the mass killing of residents in a barrio, where he personally bayoneted one victim and scalped another guerrilla, who died from the injury. The defense attempted to establish an alibi through witnesses who were also detained for treason, but the trial court found their testimonies unreliable due to material contradictions and their relationship with the appellant.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of First Instance correctly convicted appellant Teodoro Barrameda of treason and whether the penalty imposed was proper.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for treason. The evidence conclusively proved the appellant’s adherence to the enemy and his overt acts of betraying the Philippines, including the apprehension and delivery of American nationals to the Japanese forces and the personal killing of several Filipino countrymen. The defense’s alibi was properly rejected. Given the heinous nature of the acts, which involved multiple killings and participation in mass slaughter, the Supreme Court modified the penalty from life imprisonment to death, agreeing with the Solicitor General’s recommendation. The decision was affirmed with this modification.
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