Title
People vs. Beronilla
Case
G.R. No. L-4445
Decision Date
Feb 28, 1955
Appellants, acting under guerrilla orders during WWII, executed a former mayor accused of aiding the enemy. Acquitted under amnesty, lacking criminal intent.

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-4445)

Procedural Background

Defendants were tried and convicted by the Court of First Instance of Abra for murder in connection with the execution of Arsenio Borjal. Several co-defendants were acquitted or had cases dismissed for various reasons (amnesty granted to one, insufficiency of evidence as to others, some discharged as prospective state witnesses). The lower court convicted Beronilla, Paculdo, Velasco, and Adriatico as conspirators and co-principals and imposed terms ranging from reclusion temporal (17 years, 4 months and 1 day) to reclusion perpetua, with joint and several indemnity to Borjal’s heirs. The lower court denied amnesty benefits on the ground that the killing occurred after the area’s liberation and therefore outside the amnesty’s temporal scope. The four convicted defendants appealed.

Factual Summary of Events Leading to the Killing

Arsenio Borjal had served as municipal mayor during the Japanese occupation and was listed among “puppet” officials to be investigated by guerrilla authorities. On December 18, 1944, Manuel Beronilla was appointed Military Mayor of La Paz and received memoranda authorizing military mayors to appoint 12-man “bolomen” juries to try suspected collaborators. Borjal was placed under custody upon returning to La Paz in March 1945; complaints of espionage, aiding the enemy, and abuse of authority were filed. A 12-man jury was organized, a 19-day trial ensued (through April 10, 1945), and the jury found Borjal guilty and imposed the death penalty. The records were forwarded to Lt. Col. Arnold for review; Arnold returned the papers with a memorandum stating that disposition by the municipal government was approved. On the night of April 18, 1945, Borjal was executed by order of Mayor Beronilla; clerical and religious rites accompanied the execution and interment. Beronilla reported the execution to Arnold on the same day; Arnold later sent a communication complimenting him for his handling of the case.

Central Evidentiary Issue: The Volckmann Radiogram

Prosecution relied heavily on a radiogram (Exhibit H) from Col. Volckmann to Lt. Col. Arnold stating that municipal jury systems in Abra were illegal and specifically calling attention to Borjal’s conviction and sentence, requesting “proper and immediate action.” The critical factual question for criminal liability was whether this radiogram (or knowledge of its contents) was transmitted by Arnold to Beronilla before Beronilla ordered the execution on April 18. The Supreme Court carefully reviewed witness testimony and documentary evidence and found no satisfactory proof that Beronilla actually received Exhibit H. Witness evidence was internally inconsistent and at points contradicted earlier affidavits; the courier and others could not identify the specific contents of the package delivered to Beronilla; and the only witness who later asserted that Beronilla read the radiogram had not mentioned such a reading in his prior affidavit, undermining his credibility.

Court’s Assessment of Conduct and Credibility

The Court relied not only on the insufficiency of direct proof that Beronilla received the Volckmann message but also on circumstantial indicators inconsistent with knowing disobedience of superior orders. Notably, Beronilla reported the execution to Arnold on the same day (April 18), shortly after it occurred, and Arnold’s subsequent reply (April 22) praised Beronilla’s impartial and independent handling of the case rather than censuring him. The Court concluded that Arnold had, for reasons not disclosed, failed to transmit Volckmann’s radiogram to Beronilla. Given this lack of knowledge of a superior order to refrain from execution, the Court considered the defendants’ conduct in the context of orders from superior military authorities authorizing trials of suspected collaborators and the investigatory and prosecutorial documents they had received.

Legal Analysis: Conspiracy, Mens Rea, and Obedience to Orders

Two principal legal points informed the Court’s disposition: (1) without proof of criminal intent (mens rea), criminal liability for homicide/murder cannot be sustained—“actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” —and (2) where appellants acted pursuant to orders of superior military authorities and in reliance on those orders, they lacked the requisite criminal intent to sustain a murder conviction. The Court found that arrest, trial, and sentencing of Borjal were carried out under express instructions from higher command and that procedural safeguards (e.g., provision of counsel, a trial lasting 19 days, suspension and resumption under headquarters’ direction, presence of an observer from headquarters) diminished the inference of personal malice or deliberate unlawful action. Citing prior authorities (including U.S. v. Catolico and People v. Pacana), the Court held that the accused, acting in good faith under superior orders and without awareness of illegality, did not establish the mens rea necessary for conviction.

Applicability of the Guerrilla Amnesty Proclamation

Even assuming culpability, the Court addressed whether appellants were entitled to benefits under Guerrilla Amnesty Proclamation No. 8. The lower court had denied amnesty on the ground that Borjal’s execution post-dated the liberation of La Paz, placing the act outside the proclamation’s temporal scope. The record, however, contained contradictory evidence regarding the date of liberation: the Military Amnesty Commission’s records reflected a July 1, 1945 liberation date (used in dismissing one accused), whereas Department Order No. 25 placed the province’s liberation on April 4, 1

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