Case Summary (G.R. No. 1271)
Procedural Posture
An information for murder was filed in the Court of First Instance of Manila against thirty-five persons. The lower court convicted multiple defendants (death for three; life imprisonment for others) and acquitted or dismissed several. On appeal, the Supreme Court reviewed convictions, reclassified liability of many defendants (some acquitted, some convicted as principals or accomplices), adjusted penalties, and remanded for execution of judgment.
Jurisdictional Basis
The information alleged the crime occurred aboard a coasting merchant steamer within Philippine navigable waters and that the vessel later entered Manila. Under section 1 of Act No. 400 (modifying Act No. 136), a vessel of that description coming to Manila after the commission of the offense placed exclusive trial jurisdiction in the Court of First Instance of Manila; the appellate court accepted this basis for original trial jurisdiction.
Undisputed Factual Background
Shortly after 8:00 p.m. on August 13, 1902, while Dos Hermanos lay anchored near Virac, a sudden mutinous outbreak occurred among members of the crew. Multiple crewmen armed with knives, daggers, and iron bars attacked officers and others: First Engineer Antonio Agudo was assailed and later found dead in his stateroom with multiple wounds; the steward and a Chinese carpenter disappeared and were not recovered; Captain Miguel Morales, First Mate Juan Zabala, Second Engineer Fabian Rendon, and passenger Faustino Tremoya sustained injuries. During the outbreak mutineers extinguished lights, raised boats and ladder, cut the cable, raised anchor, started engines and attempted to sail away. The local Constabulary intervened; some mutineers were captured, some escaped, some were killed in the conflict.
Central Legal Issues on Appeal
- Whether the killing of First Engineer Antonio Agudo constituted murder within the Penal Code (including whether qualifying circumstances existed).
- Which defendants bore criminal responsibility and in what degree (coprincipals versus accomplices), given the varying degrees of participation and available evidence.
- Whether particular aggravating or mitigating circumstances were present to affect punishment.
- Whether some named defendants should be acquitted for lack of evidence.
Court’s Findings on the Nature of the Crime
The court found that the killing of Antonio Agudo was murder under article 403 of the Penal Code. The assault was carried out by several mutineers acting with evident premeditation and after concerted planning — the conspiracy to seize the vessel and kill officers made premeditation manifest. The crime’s commission in concert and by multiple assailants distinguished it as murder rather than a lesser homicide.
Principals, Accomplices and Standards of Criminal Liability
The court applied the Penal Code distinctions: principals (authors) versus accomplices (art. 13 and art. 14 as cited). It emphasized that not all crew members could be presumed co-principals simply by being aboard; specific evidence of participation (acts before, during, or facilitating the crime) or concerted agreement was required. Accomplice liability was found where there were acts of aid or protection, mediate or immediate, that furthered the principal offenders’ aims and where a common criminal agreement could be inferred from conduct.
Application of Evidence to Individual Defendants — Convictions
- Telesforo Dasal: The court concluded Dasal was a coprincipal. Evidence showed prior conversation implicating him with the quartermaster and another in planning, and testimony placed him actively performing mutinous acts (attacking, pulling up ladders, ordering engines started). He was convicted as co-principal of murder.
- Rufino de Jesus, Benigno Parra, Pablo Concepcion, Gregorio Almondia, Pedro Rodriguez, Emilio Lebiga: The court found sufficient circumstantial and testimonial evidence to convict these six as accomplices. Specific acts included moving about the deck during the mutiny, hauling up boats and the accommodation ladder (hindering boarding), and direct participation in assaults (Rufino de Jesus assaulted Mate Zabala). Their conduct was viewed as mediate aid and in accordance with the principals’ objective.
Application of Evidence to Individual Defendants — Acquittals and Dismissals
The court reversed convictions and acquitted a substantial number of defendants for lack of evidence, noting no direct or circumstantial proof they took part in the mutiny or killing. Carlos Septimo, Damaso Sopgang, and Jorge Orlano, though crew members, were found not to have participated. Several others named in the judgment likewise had no evidence connecting them to the crimes and were acquitted. Isidro del Valle, Tiburcio Soriano, and Exequiel Perez had died; the proceedings were dismissed as to them.
Treatment of Exculpatory Evidence and Burden of Proof
The court required proof of culpability for each defendant and rejected treating the entire crew as culpable simply because a subset conspired and acted. Where a defendant asserted compulsion or lack of participation (e.g., Juan Briguela claimed he started engines under threat), the majority ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict Briguela; one justice dissented, believing Briguela’s exculpatory claim unproven and that circumstantial evidence warranted conviction as an accomplice. The court emphasized that aggravating circumstances and qualifying elements (e.g., alevosia) must be established as clearly as the homicide itself and cannot be presumed.
Aggravating Circumstances Found
The court found the following aggravating circumstances applicable to the murder of Agudo:
- Abuse of superior power (the victim was attacked by a number of assailants, preventing defense).
- Nocturnity (the mutiny and murder occurred at night with the officers off-guard).
- Abuse of confidence as to Telesforo Dasal, who, as helmsman, held a position of trust and used that position in plotting and executing the mutiny and murder.
No mitigating circumstances were identified.
Sentences and Civil Liability Imposed
- Telesforo Dasal: Convicted as co-principal and sentenced to death; execution to be in the prison interior per article 101 of the Penal Code (the court recognized the offense predated Act No. 451). In the event of pardon, accessory penalties (absolute perpetual disqualification and subject to vigilance) would apply unless remitted with the principal penalty.
- Benigno Parra, Pablo Concepcion, Gregorio Almondia, Pedro Rodriguez, Emilio Lebiga, Rufino de Jesus: Each convicted as accomplices and sentenced to seventeen years of cadena temporal, civil interdiction during the principal penalty period, and accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualif
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 1271)
Procedural Posture and Jurisdiction
- Information for murder was filed September 11, 1902, in the Court of First Instance of the city of Manila by the assistant prosecuting attorney.
- The information charged thirty-five persons with murder arising from events of August 13, 1902, on board the American-registered steamer Dos Hermanos.
- Jurisdiction was based on Act No. 400 (May 16, 1902) modifying Act No. 136 (June 11, 1901): because the crime was committed on a coasting merchant steamer that later entered the port of Manila, the Court of First Instance of Manila had sole jurisdiction to try the case.
- Defendants arraigned and entered pleas of not guilty; two defendants (Isidro del Valle and Tiburcio Soriano) died before trial; for Damaso Sopgang and Carlos Septimo the prosecuting attorney entered nolle prosequi and the case against them was dismissed.
- The court below (judgment of February 11, 1903) convicted certain defendants; the supreme court reviewed and revised those determinations and sentences in this decision of December 4, 1903.
Charging Instrument and Statutory Basis
- The information alleged that on or about August 13, 1902, while the Dos Hermanos lay within navigable waters of the Archipelago less than one mile from the shore of Virac, Catanduanes Islands, the defendants "willfully, feloniously, treacherously, and with deliberate premeditation, assaulted, killed, and murdered one Antonio Agudo," stabbing and wounding him with daggers, iron bars, and other deadly weapons.
- Act No. 400 supplied jurisdictional grounding because the steamer was a coastwise-licensed merchant vessel that later entered Manila.
- The court applied provisions of the Penal Code with particular reference to article 403 (murder), article 14 (accomplices), and article 13 (principals), and referred to article 101 (prescription for execution manner) for execution of sentence.
Facts Found at Trial — Setting and Vessel Status
- The steamer Dos Hermanos bore license No. 72 (dated January 11, 1900) authorizing coastwise trade.
- On the evening of August 13, 1902, the vessel was at anchor in the harbor of Virac, Catanduanes, about 40 yards from the beach, bow toward the shore, stern seaward; bow anchor dropped and stern fast to the beach by cable.
- Supper had just concluded; Captain Miguel Morales, First Mate Juan Zabala, various officers, passengers (three men and two women), and guest Don Joaquin Romero were on the poop deck.
Facts Found at Trial — Outbreak and Conduct of Mutiny
- Shortly after 8:00 p.m. voices and rushing were heard from the bow; crew members rushed aft armed with knives, daggers, and iron bars.
- Second Engineer Fabian Rendon was pursued and wounded in the back; Captain Morales was stabbed in the groin and cut on the head; First Mate Zabala was attacked and struck on the head with an iron bar and narrowly escaped being thrown overboard.
- Captain Morales, Zabala, and Rendon took refuge in the pantry/stateroom; five mutineers unsuccessfully tried to force entry and then locked the door from outside, standing guard and attempting to stab through portholes.
- During the disturbance, lights were extinguished, side awnings lowered, three boats raised, the stern cable cut, accommodation ladder hauled up, anchor raised by donkey engine, engines started, and the vessel put in motion—indicating intent to leave port and escape legal consequences.
- The record does not disclose the motive for the mutiny.
Victims, Casualties and Missing Persons
- Chief/First Engineer Antonio Agudo was first attacked, wounded in ten places with different weapons, and found dead in his stateroom; his death was classified as murder.
- Steward Vicente Amellategui was struck with an iron hook, jumped overboard, and disappeared; his body was never recovered.
- Chinese carpenter Tan Chuen disappeared and was not seen again after that night.
- Wounded persons included Captain Miguel Morales, First Mate Juan Zabala, Second Engineer Fabian Rendon, and passenger Faustino Tremoya (wounded on the arm).
- Two members of the crew (the calker Andrade and a seaman who attacked Zabala) were killed by the Constabulary during the course of suppressing the mutiny.
Intervention by Constabulary — Lieutenant Fletcher’s Actions
- First Lieutenant Fletcher, stationed on shore, heard the shouting at about 8:30 p.m., took a boat with two soldiers toward the Dos Hermanos, and picked up Damaso Sopgang (barely able to breathe, saying only "fight").
- Fletcher encountered the moving steamer, called for the anchor to be dropped and was pelted with a lump of coal from the bridge; he fired at a man who fell from the bridge.
- Fletcher boarded by climbing a hanging stage at the stern after finding the accommodation ladder raised, fired shots into the engine room ordering engines stopped (order obeyed), and captured three men on deck while others fled or jumped overboard.
- A sailor shot and wounded a Constabulary man; Fletcher shot back; the steamer ran aground near the harbor mouth, about 150 yards from its original anchorage.
- First Mate Zabala and Second Engineer Rendon jumped overboard and swam ashore; first engineer Agudo was found dead.
Arrests, Escapes, and Later Apprehensions
- Immediately after suppression, numerous weapons and articles were found scattered or hidden on deck: daggers, knives, hatchets, iron bars (some blood-spattered), piles of coal prepared as missiles, the captain's swordstick, and one of his revolvers hidden in a grease box in the engine room.
- Arrests taken ashore included Vicente Gallardo, Ciriaco Silva, Gregorio Almondia, Pedro Rodriguez, Mamerto Avelilla, Rufino de Jesus, Marcelo Bertos, Pio Tionson, Felipe Almendras, Emilio Lebiga, Manuel Raon, Juan Briguela, Mariano Gunao, Antonio Villagracia, Pablo Conception, Dionisio de la Cruz, Luis Dialao, Estanislao de Castro, Damian Oseson, Macario Arevalo, Eugenio Olores, Severino Damagat, Cipriano Rizado, Luis Taunson, Exequiel Perez, Antonio Villamor, Benigno Parra (apprehended on shore next day), and later Telesforo Dasal (captured several days after).
- Quartermaster Pantaleon Cajilig, identified as a ringleader, escaped and was not apprehended.
- Some arrests’ locations for Victorino Villacarlos and Tranquilino Aga were not clearly remembered by Fletcher.
Witness Testimony and Key Evidence
- Captain Miguel Morales, F