G.R. No. L‑5491 (12 March 1910)

FACTS
– The defendants (Primitivo Gamilla, Lucio Hermenegildo, Santiago Villanueva, et al.) entered the premises of a store‑dwelling in Bais, Oriental Negros, which was occupied and used as living quarters by three Chinese merchants (Ling Aling, Awi Cuan, Co‑boy Cuan).
– After being denied credit, the defendants repeatedly forced their way into the store, first by violent intimidation (striking the merchants with fists, a stick and an iron bar) and later by breaking the lock and re‑entering.
– During the second forced entry Gamilla assaulted Aling with a stick, fracturing his nose and causing injuries that required more than thirty days of treatment.
– The lower court (Court of First Instance, Province of Oriental Negros) found the defendants guilty of allanamiento de morada (illegal entry into a dwelling) and sentenced each to two years, four months and one day of prisión correccional, a fine of 325 pesetas, subsidiary imprisonment if insolvent, and ordered them to pay one‑third of the trial costs.
– On appeal, one appellant (Lucio Hermenegildo) withdrew his appeal; the remaining appellants contested both the conviction and the severity of the penalty.

ISSUE
1. Whether the defendants’ conduct constitutes the crime of allanamiento de morada under Article 491 of the Penal Code.
2. What is the proper degree of penalty (minimum, medium, or maximum) for the offense, given the absence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

RULING
– The Supreme Court affirmed that the defendants’ forcible entry, armed assault, and intimidation satisfy the statutory definition of allanamiento de morada, which covers not only the unauthorized crossing of a threshold but also the violent acts committed immediately thereafter.
– The Court held that the lower court correctly applied the law in convicting the defendants but erred in imposing the minimum degree of prisión correccional. Under Article 491, the penalty ranges from two years, four months, one day to six years; in the absence of aggravating or extenuating factors, the medium degree must be applied.
– Consequently, the judgments were modified: each appellant was sentenced to three years, six months and twenty‑one days of prisión correccional, a fine of 1,000 pesetas, subsidiary imprisonment if insolvent, and ordered to pay one‑third of the costs. The modified judgment was affirmed, with costs against the appellants.

Decision authored by Justice Moreland, with concurrence of Chief Justice Arellano and Justices Torres, Mapa, Johnson, and Carson.