[ G.R. No. L-203. September 30, 1946 ] G.R. No. L-203
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. L-203. September 30, 1946 ]
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. SALVADOR DEL ROSARIO, FAUSTO VARGAS, AND SALVADOR VELASCO, DEFENDANTS-APPELANTS. D E C I S I O N
PARAS, J.:
The appealed judgment of the Court of First Instance of Albay found the defendants Salvador del Rosario, Fausto Vargas, Paulino Albos alias Paulino Curiano, and Salvador Velasco guilty of robbery and sentenced each to undergo imprisonment for an indeterminate term of from 2 years and 20 days to 3 years, 8 months and 1 day, prision correccional; to pay a solidary indemnity in the sum of five hundred pesos; to suffer accessory penalties; and to pay the proportionate share of the costs.
The appeal of the defendant Paulino Curiano has already been dismissed, it appearing, that he escaped from the provincial jail of Albay wherein he was held under detention. Upon the other hand, there can be no doubt as to the guilt of the defendants Salvador del Rosario and Fausto Vargas. Even their counsel de oficio is convinced that they were rightly convicted.
It appears that around one o’clock in the morning of June 28, 1945, Salvador del Rosario, Fausto Vargas and Paulino Curiano succeeded in entering the house of Agustin Almilla and his wife Teodora situated in Legaspi, Albay, apparently with the passive consent of the latter. Posing as CIC agents, the nocturnal intruders (with Paulino Curiano pointing a revolver at Agustin) ordered the latter to surrender all army goods possessed by him, — a command that Agustin was able to disobey by putting up the excuse that he was not keeping any such articles. Whereupon, Salvador del Rosario and Fausto Vargas, at the instigation of Paulino Curiano, searched the premises during which they discovered a wallet containing P265.00 under a pillow. This money Paulino Curiano lost no time in pocketing. Undoubtedly considering the sum to be too small for their venture, the said defendant, again at the point of his gun, demanded from Agustin an additional amount of P235.00. The latter was not then in a position to further accommodate the malefactors, but he promised to do so if they would return early in the morning. With the characteristic promptness of a bill collector, Paulino Curiano was on hand at the appointed hour, and to him Agustin handed over P235.00 which he borrowed from three friends. Up to this point, Agustin was of course under the influence of fear resulting from the threatening acts of his midnight visitors who left the warning that, if any report was made to the authorities, Agustin would be killed.
Counsel de oficio, however, questions the propriety of the appealed judgment in so far as the defendant Salvador Velasco is concerned. No claim is made that this defendant entered the house of Agustin and that the latter met or saw him face to face; and the Solicitor General merely alleges that “Agustin also espied the other appellant, Salvador Velasco, squatting on the ground, and another unknown person, around the premises of the house.” In our opinion, the proof is insufficient for the conviction of Salvador Velasco. It is very doubtful that, with the light emitted by a coconut oil lamp and even with the alleged moonlight, Agustin and his wife could readily and infallibly recognize Salvador’s identity at a distance. The more so, in view of the probability that said spouses, surprised and seized by fear, must have had their attention fixed on the persons actually confronting them and, thus apprehensive of every move of the intruders, would not care to look around in an effort to ascertain those outside the house. It is furthermore significant that Salvador Velasco did not accompany Paulino Curiano when the latter returned for the balance of P235.00.
Wherefore, the judgment against the appellants Salvador del Rosario and Fausto Vargas is hereby affirmed with costs, with the sole modification that the minimum of their indeterminate prison term is fixed at six months, instead of 2 years and 20 days. The judgment against the appellant Salvador Velasco is reversed, and he is hereby acquitted with ¼ of the costs de oficio. So ordered.
Pablo, Perfecto, Hilado, and Padilla, JJ., concurs.