Today is Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Republic of the Philippines

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-26750 August 18, 1972

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,

Office of the Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellee.

Aladin B. Bermudez for defendant-appellant.

MAKASIAR, J.:p

The accused Jose Encomienda y Navarro appealed on September 22, 1966 from the decision dated September 12,
1966 of the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija [Branch IV Guimba] (p. 97, Vol. I, rec.) sentencing him for murder
aggravated by recidivism but mitigated by voluntary surrender, to life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua, to
indemnify the heirs of the deceased Severino Cabaral in the sum of P6,000.00, to suffer the accessories provided
for by law, and to pay the costs (pp. 84-96, Vol. 1, rec.).

The record of the case was received on October 25, 1966 by the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court (p. 1, Vol. 11,
rec.) from the Clerk of Court of the Court of Appeals, who received the same on October 20, 1966, without the
transcript of stenographic notes, which transcript was submitted to the Supreme Court on November 11, 1966 (p. 1,
t.s.n., Vol. III), from the deputy clerk of the trial court (p. 2, Vol. II, rec.).

After the briefs of appellant and appellee were filed respectively on January 18, 1967 (pp 26-48, Vol. II, rec.) and
July 2, 1967 (p. 67, Vol. II, rec.), the case was submitted for decision on August 14, 1967 (p. 73, Vol. ll rec.).

On January 14, 1970, one AFP T/Sgt Venancio B. Baaga, through counsel, filed a petition for an order directing the
clerk of court of Branch IV of the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija to deliver to him the .32 caliber revolver with
serial No. 154646, Exhibit "E", alleging that after the appealed decision was rendered by the trial court, the
ownership of said revolver was transferred to him by reason of which he was issued by the Philippine Constabulary
Special Permit No. 369246 authorizing him to possess the said revolver while he is in the active service (AFP),
attaching the said special permit as Annex "A" to his petition (pp. 74-75, 76, Vol. II, rec.), and that his motion to
withdraw the said revolver was denied by the trial court due to the pendency of this case before the Supreme Court
(Annex "A", p. 78, Vol. II, rec.). Said petition was deemed submitted for resolution on March 18, 1970 after the
Solicitor General failed to comment thereon within the period allowed him (pp. 79, 80, 82, Vol. II, rec.).

Arraigned on the following information for murder:

That on or about the 30th day of May, 1965, in the munipality of Cuyapo, province of Nueva Ecija,
Republic of Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court the above-named accused
conspiring together and mutually aiding one another, armed with a bolo and blunt instrument, with
intent to kill and with treachery and evident premeditation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and
 feloniously attack and hacked one Severino Cabaral, inflicting upon him multiple wounds which caused
his instantaneous death.

That the accused Jose Encomienda y Navarro is a recidivist having been convicted of the crime of
Murder on April 30, 1958, in Criminal Case No. 4382 by the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija. (p.
47, Vol. I, rec.).

accused appellant who waived the presence of his counsel at said arraignment (p. 53, Vol. I, rec.), pleaded not guilty
on June 2, 1966 (p. 54, Vol. I, rec.).

The evidence for the prosecution consists of the testimonies of Cuyapo health officer Pio Alberto, policeman
Esmenino Delo and police inspector Casimiro Aguinaldo.

Patrolman Esmenino Delo declared that about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of May 30, 1965, he was with policeman
Federico Olog at police outpost No. 2 in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, when one Franklin Ancheta reported that Severino
Cabaral was wounded in the yard of the accused Jose Encomienda. He proceeded to the defendant's yard where
he saw Severino mortally wounded in a kneeling position about two or three meters in front of the stairs of the house
of the accused and could not raise his head. Severino was unconscious but still breathing (pp. 13-14, t.s.n.), On his
query, the wounded Severino told him in the presence of policemen Eufemio Delo and Mateo Castillo, that the
accused Jose Encomienda stabbed him (pp. 9-10, t.s.n.), which statement he wrote down in Ilocano on a piece of
ruled paper (Exhibit "C", p. 4, Vol. II, rec.), on which the deceased affixed his right thumbmark and duly signed by
patrolmen Mateo Castillo and Eufemio Delo as witnesses (p. 11, t.s.n.). Said alleged ante mortem statement of the
victim, Exhibit "C", was translated into English by police inspector Casimiro Aguinaldo (Exh "C-1", pp. 14 & 19,
t.s.n.).

Exhibit "C-1" shows that the same was taken down at 4:45 P.M. of May 30, 1965 and contains the following
conversation between partrolman Esmenino Delo and the victim:

Q Who boloed you?

A Jose Encomienda.

Q Is this true?

A Yes.

Q You thumbmark.

A Yes. (p. 5, Vol. I, rec.).

Assisted by policemen Mateo Castillo, Eufemio Delo and Federico Olog, patrolman Esmenino Delo brought the
victim to the private clinic of Dr. Potenciano Garcia, after which he looked for the accused in the premises of the
scene of the incident. Failing to locate the accused thereat, patrolman Esmenino Delo, together with lieutenant
Gamboa, proceeded to the municipal building to report the incident after which they conducted an investigation in
the premises of the incident, where they found blood stains in the yard and in front of the stairway of the house of
the accused (pp. 11-12, t.s.n.). About 5:30 in the afternoon of that same day, May 30, 1965, they returned to the
municipal building where they saw police inspector Casimiro Aguinaldo interrogating the accused. According to
police inspector Aguinaldo (p 13, t.s.n.), the accused went to the municipal building alone at about 4:55 p.m. of May
30, 1965, surrendering a bolo and a .32 caliber revolver (Exhs. "D" & "E") together wit two live bullets (Exhs. "E-I" &
"E-2") and four empty shells contained in an envelope. The bolo (Exh. "D") is about 13 inches long with a wooden
handle about 18 centimeters long. He placed the bolo and the revolver in seperate wrappers (Exhs. "D-1" & "E-3",
pp. 15-17, 19 t.s.n.). After entrusting the accused to the guard, he and policeman Esmenino Delo went to the scene
of the incident, saw blood stains on the stairs of the house of the accused and a box of water mixed with blood.
Thereafter, they repaired to the clinic of Dr. Garcia where they saw the victim about 6:30 that evening and stayed
there for about five minutes, after which they returned to the municipal building (pp. 16-17, t.s.n.). When he asked
the accused whether he was willing to give any statement, the accused replied in the negative and stressed that he
would wait for his lawyer (pp. 17, 19, t.s.n.). He translated into English the alleged dying declaration, Exhibit "C", of
the victim (Exh. "C-1", p. 15, Vol. I, rec.; p. 19, t.s.n.). When he asked the accused why he boloed the victim, the
accused replied that he would not talk and he would await for his lawyer. He did not examine the hands of the
accused for powder burns as he did not know the procedure therefor. Neither did he request the Philippine
Constabulary to conduct such examination of the victim for powder burns. He did not know who fired the revolver.
The victim bore no gunshot wounds. The accused did not tell him that the victim fired at him. But, the victim's son
told him that the revolver was licensed in the name of the victim (pp 19-20, t.s.n.).

Dr. Pio Alberto, the Cuyapo health officer, recounted that about 6: 00 P.M. of May 30, 1965, he examined the victim
in the clinic of Dr. Potenciano Garcia, executed the medical certificate Exhibit "A" (p. 2, Vol. I, rec.), and issued the
death certificate showing that the victim was born in 1898 and was 67 years old when he died on May 30, 1965
(Exh. "B", p. 3, Vol. I, rec.).

The medical certificate, which states that the victim died about 10 o'clock in the evening of May 30, 1965 from shock
and hemorrhage, describes the injuries sustained by the victim Severino Cabaral, thus:

1. A clean cut horizontal wound about 1 inch above both eyebrows extending from the outer tip of
the left to the outer tip of the right eyebrow; cutting the frontal bone and exposing the brain tissue.
Fragments of the frontal bone were extracted during the operation.

2. A clean cut almost horizontal wound about 2 inches long from inwards downwards and outwards
at the latero-posterior aspect of the left wrist exposing the ligaments which were found to be intact.

3. An oblique clean cut wound about 1 , inch long on the postero-medial aspect of right forearm
about 3 inches above the wrist joint from outwards downwards and inwards.

4. Swelling and ecchymosis about 2- inches by 3- inches on lower angle of right scapula.

5. Swelling and ecchymosis about 2- inches by 3- inches just above the brim of the right hip
bone at the back. (Exh. "A", p. 2, Vol. I, rec.).

Dr. Alberto opined that wound no. 1 on the forehead was mortal and was caused by a sharp instrument like a bolo,
with the assailant on the side of and higher than the victim or the victim was stooping at the time said wound was
inflicted (pp. 3, 4, 7, t.s.n.); that wound no. 2, about 2 inches long on the left wrist of the victim, was also caused by a
sharp instrument like a bolo, was not fatal and could have been inflicted when the victim raised his hands in self
defense with the right hand a little higher than the left, adding that the victim could still move his hands (pp. 3, & 8,
t.s.n.); that wound no. 3 on the right forearm and about 3 or 4 inches above the wrist could have been inflicted with a
sharp instrument like a bolo when the victim raised his hands in self-defense (pp. 3, 4, & 8, t.s.n.); that wound no. 4,
the swelling and ecchymosis about 2 inches by 3 inches on the lower angle of the right scapula and about 8
inches below the right armpit, could have been caused by a rod or a bat or a fall or a bolo's handle, but not by the
narrow back of a bolo (p. 5, t.s.n.); that wound no. 5 the swelling and ecchymosis about 2 inches by 3 inches
on the right pelvic bone just above the waistline could have been caused by a rod with the assailant on the side of
the victim (pp. 5-6, t.s.n.); that the victim was in a state of shock at the time he examined him; that he left the victim
at about 8:30 that evening of May 30, 1965 sleeping in Dr. Garcia's clinic; and that the next day, he saw the victim
already dead due to shock and hemorrhage (pp. 6-7, t.s.n.).

Appellant narrated that since 1947 he was a tenant of hacienda Doa Nena in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija; that the victim
Severino Cabaral was the hacienda overseer (pp. 22, 27, t.s.n.); that the land he was working was recorded in the
name of his late father, who died in 1963 (p. 28, t.s.n.); that about one week before May 30, 1965, the victim went to
his house and invited him to go to his (victim's) house telling him that he could no longer work on the land for the
land is not in his name; that he did not go with the victim to the latter's house then; that he was not mad when the
victim told him for the first time that he can no longer work on the land; that the second time the victim went to his
house was on a Friday or Saturday, but only his little child was home then as he was out and his wife was in the
market; that the third time the victim went to his house was about 4:30 in the afternoon of May 30, 1965 telling him
that he was sent by the hacienda owner to tell him that he cannot work in the hacienda and that he will be removed
as tenant; that he was then cutting wood beside the stairway with a bolo (Exh. "D"), while the victim was standing
also beside the stairs; that when he asked why he was being removed as tenant when it was his means of
livelihood, the victim replied that he had no right to work on the land because it was not in his name, to which he
countered that the victim had no right to remove him for he (the victim) was only a messenger and also a tenant like
him in the hacienda, which alone has the right to remove him (pp. 23, 30, t.s.n.); that the victim became angry and
with his right hand drew his revolver tucked in his left side when they were about one meter apart (p. 23, t.s.n.); that
with his left hand he immediately grabbed the victim's right hand holding the revolver, forcing the victim to lean on
the stairway, pinned the victim's right hand also on the stairs; that during their struggle, the revolver fired four times
continuously that with the bolo in his right hand he struck the victim's right forearm; that when the victim wanted to
get the gun with his left hand, he boloed the victim's left arm about one inch from the left wrist; that he shook the
victim's right arm downward causing the gun to fall to the ground; that when the victim tried to pick up the gun, he
stepped backward and hacked the victim's forehead causing the victim to fall backward on the stairway, as he
(appellant) retrieved the gun to prevent the victim from picking it up again and then stepped about two meters
backward for the victim might grab him (pp. 24, 25, 31, 32, 34, t.s.n.); that thereafter the victim slowly got up and
washed his forehead with the water from the box nearby while sitting in front of said box, after which he went to the
municipal building with the bolo and the gun which he surrendered to police inspector Casimiro Aguinaldo; that the
ecchymosis on the lower and right scapula of the victim might be due to his having violently pushed the victim
against the bamboo stairway with two wooden lower steps (pp. 26, 27, t.s.n.); that he was alone in the house that
afternoon of May 30, 1965 when the incident happened as his wife was then out selling meat and his children were
with his father-in-law (p. 20, t.s.n.); that the victim was taller and slightly bigger than he is; that the victim's son,
Guillermo, is taller than his deceased father (p. 32, t.s.n.); and that he is right-handed (p. 33, t.s.n.).

By actual measurement, Guillermo Cabaral is 5'6" tall; while the accused has a height of 5'3" (p. 33, t.s.n.).

The prosecution did not offer any rebuttal evidence and relied mainly on the alleged ante mortem statement Exhibits
"C" & "C-1" of the deceased and on the medical testimony of Dr. Pio Alberto, the town health officer. There is
therefore no testimonial evidence for the state as to how and why the incident occurred for no eyewitness was
presented.

It is most unfortunate that the police authorities did no cause the immediate examination of the trigger of the revolver
for finger prints and of the stairs, the hands and clothing of both the accused and the victim for powder burns, to
determine whose fingers were actually on trigger of the revolver.

If the four slugs had been recovered, the same would have been helpful in ascertaining the trajectory and direction
of the bullets and whether they could have been fired from the stairs or not.

The unrebutted fact that the incident happened inside the yard and just beside the stairway of the house of the
accused and that the victim was armed with a revolver licensed in his name, confirms appellant's story that the
deceased, as the hacienda overseer, went to the residence who the accused, informed the latter that the hacienda
owner had removed him as tenant, and directed him to vacate the land tilled by him as it was not recorded in his
name. When the accused questioned the victim's authority to remove him, the victim became furious and drew his
gun.

While it is true that the victim was taller and slightly bigger than the accused, the latter could match the strength of
the right hand of the victim with his left hand since he was then a 37-year old farmer and the victim was 67 year of
age or 30 years his senior. In his excitement and apprehension of the peril to his life, appellant was not expected nor
had the time, to determine whether he could save himself by just kicking the gun away from the victim or stepping
on it or pushing the victim away from the latter when the victim tried to pick up the gun after he was already
wounded on both forearms; or whether the victim, if able to pick up the gun, could have fired the remaining two
bullets at appellant who was just about a meter away.

The alleged dying declaration of the deceased which consists only of three brief, mostly monosyllabic, answers to
equally brief questions of partrolman Esmenino Delo, to wit:

Q Who boloed you?

A Jose Encomienda.

Q Is this true?

A Yes.

Q You thumbmark.

A Yes. (Exhs. "C" & "C-1", pp. 4-5, Vol. 1, rec.).

uncorroborated as it is bereft of essential details as to the motive and circumstances surrounding the incident, does
not generate the moral certainty as to the culpability of appellant. The evidence of the prosecution lacks the requisite
sufficiency to persuade the human mind to agree with the conclusion of the trial court, whose decision cannot as a
consequence be sustained.

It is also doubtful whether the victim could hear or understand the three questions propounded to him or could
clearly mumble his three answers thereto or could nod his head; because policeman Esmenino Delo himself
admitted that the victim was unconcious although still breathing, and could not raise his head when they found him
in the yard of the defendant (pp. 13-14, t.s.n., Vol. III).

On the other hand, the plausibility and credibility of the unrebutted narration of the appellant as to the motive and
circumstances surrounding and leading to the incident, is enhanced by its detail and by the fact that appellant
immediately surrendered that same afternoon to the police authorities with his bolo and the revolver of the
deceased, 1 despite the fact that he was already laboring under a handicap by virtue of his previous conviction as an
accomplice to the crime of murder, which ordinarily would impair his trustworthiness.

Under the circumstances, the version of the appellant appears to meet the required clear and convincing evidence
to establish self-defense, 2 or weakens all the more and therefore neutralizes the effect of the proof of the prosecution. The
story of the appellant is partly corroborated by Aurelio Encomienda, his second cousin (p. 41, t.s.n., Vol. II) and nearest
neighbor just about four meters away (p. 37, t.s.n. Vol. III), who testified to his having heard several shots while he was lying
down that afternoon and thereafter his having seen through a hole in his kitchen the victim sitting under the shed of the stairs
of appellant house, who was also sitting in front of the victim and holding a bolo and a revolver, which Aurelio Encomienda
related the next morning to the barrio captain, who called for him. (pp. 37-40, t.s.n., Vol. III).

Three essential elements must concur for legitimate self-defense to exist, namely; (1) unlawful aggression on part of
the victim; (2) reasonable necessity of the means, employed to prevent or repel the attack; and (3) lack ofsufficient
provocation on the part of the person defending himself. 3

Illegal aggression is equivalent to assault or at least threatened assault of immediate and imminent kind. 4 Here
when the deceased drew his gun with his right hand, appellant grabbed with his free left hand the victim's right hand holding
the revolver, forced the victim to lean on the stairs and pinned the victim's right hand also on the stair. During the struggle,
the revolver fired four times continously and he hacked the victim's right forearm. When the victim tried to get the gun with his
left hand, appellant boloed the victim's left arm and then shook the victim right arm downward causing the gun to fall to the
ground and the victim tried to pick up the gun, appellant stepped backward and hacked the victim's forehead, after which he
himself picked up the gun so as to prevent the victim, from retrieving the same.

If the deceased had no intention to use his gun on the appellant, he would not have drawn it or resisted appellant's
attempt to prevent him from using it. There was therefore real danger to the life or personal safety of the appellant. 5

The instant case is quite analogous to the case of People vs. Pangan, et al wherein the accused, also an
agricultural share tenant, killed with a penknife the superintendent of the hacienda. When the accused therein
denied the charge of the superintendent that he was letting his carabaos run loose to destroy the tender sugar cane
shoots, the deceased while berating him, struck him twice with a whip hitting him (the accused) on the left temporal
and occipital regions causing his ear to bleed, against which the accused offered no resistance but only tried to
evade the blows. After they were separated by a third party, the accused sat down on an acacia trunk, but the
deceased approached him again and insultingly asked him whether he wanted to fight, to which accused replied he
would not fight. Thereafter, the accused retired to his home. Between four and five o'clock in the afternoon of the
same day, accused went to the house of the deceased to ask him to return his two cows that had been caught but
the deceased kicked him and struck him with a cane, causing a welt on this left shoulder. As the accused stepped
back to avoid the second blow aimed at him, the deceased placed his right hand upon the handle of the revolver he
carried by his waist. When the accused saw this intention of the deceased, he drew his knife and opened it with his
teeth. The deceased then drew his revolver; but before he could fire it, the accused wrestled with him and caught
the hand holding the gun. During the ensuing struggle, both fell to the ground, the deceased upon his back, while
the accused upon him, with one hand griping the deceased's hand holding the revolver and with the other stabbing
the deceased on the abdomen and other parts of the body including the right arm compelling the deceased to drop
the revolver. Then the accused took hold of the revolver and threw it to one side. Thereafter, he ran to the municipal
building and surrendered to the
authorities. 7 The defense of the accused in said case was sustained by the Court.

In U.S. vs. Domens, 8 the theory of self-defense was likewise upheld. There the deceased and the accused quarreled about
a carabao which had gotten into the corn patch of the deceased, who, by reason thereof, struck the accused four orfive times
with a piece of wood about one yard long and about the size of one's wrist. The accused did not retreat but struck back
wounding the deceased on the forehead.

In U.S. vs. Mojica, 9 the deceased, a constabulary soldier resisted arrest, struck the arresting policeman with a fist, drew a
mess kit knife and brandished it at the accused, another policeman, who retreated a step or two, drew his revolver and fired,
killing the soldier. WE ruled that the policeman acted in self-defense.

That there is reasonable necessity of the means employed by herein appellant to prevent or repel the unlawful
aggression cannot seriously be disputed. "Reasonable necessity of the means employed does not imply material
commensurability between the means of attack and defense. When the law requires is rational equivalence, in the
consideration of which will enter as principal factors the emergency, the imminent danger to which the person
attacked is exposed and the instinct, more than the reason, that moves or impels the defense, and the
proportionateness thereof does not depend upon the harm done, but rests upon the imminent danger of such injury
... ." 10 As WE stated in the case of People vs. Lara, in emergencies of this kind, human nature does not act upon processes
of formal reason but in obedience to the instinct of self-preservation; and when it is apparent that a person has reasonably
acted upon this instinct, it is the duty of the courts to sanction the act and hold the act irresponsible in law for the
consequences."

In the case at bar, appellant did not immediately hack the deceased to completely disable him, much less to kill him.
When the deceased drew his gun with his right hand, the appellant merely grabbed the right hand of the deceased
holding the gun, pinning said right hand on the stairs without striking the deceased with the bolo in his right hand.
After the gun fired four times continuously as they struggled, it was only then that appellant struck the right forearm
of the victim with his bolo. Appellant could have continued hacking the deceased right then and there. But he did
not. He boloed the victim's left forearm because the victim tried to get the gun from his right hand. And then he just
shook the right arm of the victim downward, forcing the latter to release the gun which fell to the ground. It was only
when the deceased tried to pick up the gun that the appellant boloed him on the forehead. As heretofore stated,
appellant had no time to coolly deliberate on whether he could save himself by just kicking the gun away or by just
pushing or boxing the victim or stepping on the hands of the deceased to prevent him from getting the gun and firing
the same at him. The immediate danger to his life precluded such serene rationalization on his part.

It should be stressed that the victim did not sustain any gunshot wounds. After taking possession of the victim's
revolver, appellant did-not use it against the victim to finish him off, nor did he continue hacking the deceased with
his bolo. He was free to do either as the victim was completely rendered hors de combat. Instead the appellant
allowed the disabled and defenseless victim to wash his wounds with water in appellant's own wooden box.

In U . S. vs. Molina, 11 the accused was unarmed while the deceased attacked him with a bolo. After overpowering the
deceased and wresting the bolo from him, the accused struck the deceased several times with the bolo thereby killing him
almost instantaneously as the deceased tried to seize a hatchet. Under the circumstances, WE held that the accused
employed reasonable means to repel the assault against his life.

In People vs. Rabandaban, 12 one night appellant found his wife lying in bed with another man, who escaped through the
window. He scolded his wife and ordered her to leave the house. Calling him names, the wife gathered her clothes and
picked up a bolo in the kitchen. When the accused husband followed her there, she attacked him with the bolo, wounding him
twice on the abdomen. Wresting the bolo from his wife, appellant stabbed her with it in the breast, causing her death that
same night. WE ruled that the appellant acted in self-defense and that there was reasonable necessity of the means
employed by him to repel the attack. WE overruled the opinion of the trial court wherein it stated that appellant could have
saved himself by throwing away the bolo after wresting it from his wife and that there was no need for him to stab her once
she was disarmed; because she struggled to regain possession of the bolo, justifying appellant's belief that his wife wanted
to finish him off. Considering that he must have been losing strength due to loss of blood, with his wife armed to fight to the
finish, it would have been sheer folly or stupidity on his part to throw away the bolo so that his wife may again use it against
him.

In People vs. Sumikat, 13 a bolo was considered a reasonable means of repelling an attack by a bully of known violent
disposition, who was larger and stronger than the accused and who was trying to wrest the bolo from him.

In People vs. Lara, supra, the use of a pistol in shooting to death the deceased who was much stronger than the
appellant and who in the darkness and from behind suddenly threw his arms around appellant and attempted to
wrest the pistol from him, was considered reasonably necessary; because by reason of the darkness as well as the
superior strength of the deceased, there was probability that the deceased would seize control of the pistol and use
it against appellant.

There certainly was lack of sufficient provocation on the part of appellant. On the contrary, he was the one provoked
by the deceased. He was in his own yard cutting wood when the deceased arrived ordering him to vacate the land
he was then tilling, which was his livelihood. Ejecting him from the land he was farming and which his father farmed
before him, was, to this simple farmer, like depriving him of his life. Yet, with all that provocation, appellant merely
told the deceased that the latter had no right to eject him from the land because he was also a tenant like him in the
hacienda. Certainly, this retort was no justification for the victim to draw his gun.

In view of the uncontradicted testimony of the appellant that the victim drew his revolver to assault the appellant,
which is not a lawful purpose, the victim lost thereby the privilege to possess the same.

WHEREFORE, the appealed judgment is hereby reversed, the accused-appellant is hereby acquitted, and his
immediate release from confinement is hereby ordered.

The .32 caliber revolver with serial No. 15446 (Exh. "E") is hereby ordered forfeited to the government and the Clerk
of Court is hereby directed to deliver the same for record purposes to the official headquarters of the Philippine
Constabulary at Camp Crame, Quezon City. The bolo (Exhibit "D") is ordered returned to appellant.

With costs de officio.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Makalintal, Zaldivar, Castro, Fernando, Teehankee, Antonio and Esguerra JJ.,
concur.

Barredo, J., took no part.

Footnotes

1 People vs. Constantino, L-23558, Aug. 10, 1967, 20 SCRA 940; People vs. Pelago, L-24884, Aug.
31, 1968, 24 SCRA 1026.

2 People vs. Talabok, Jr., 30 SCRA 87; People vs. Libed, 14 SCRA 410; People vs. Mendoza, 13
SCRA 11.

3 Art. 11, 1, R. P. C.; People vs. Bautista, L-17772, Oct. 21, 1962, 6 SCRA 522..

4 People vs. Alconga, et. al., 78 Phil. 366.

5 People vs. Sabio, L-23734, April 27, 1967, 33 SCRA 40.

6 56 Phil. 728.

7 56 Phil. 729-731.

8 37 Phil. 57.

9 42 Phil. 784.

10 People vs. Lara, 48 Phil. 153; People vs. Paras, 9 Phil. 367.

11 Phil. 227.

12 85 Phil. 636.

13 56 Phil. 643.

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