G.R. No. 97471.

February 17, 1993

292 Phil. 80

SECOND DIVISION

[ G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993 ]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. ISABELO PUNO Y

GUEVARRA, ALIAS “BELOY,” AND ENRIQUE AMURAO Y PUNO, ALIAS “ENRY,”
ACCUSED-APPELLANTS.

DECISION

REGALADO, J.:
The primal issue for resolution in this case is whether accused-appellants committed the
felony of kidnapping for ransom under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, as charged in
the information; or a violation of Presidential Decree No. 532 (Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway
Robbery Law of 1974), as contended by the Solicitor General and found by the trial court; or
the offense of simple robbery punished by Paragraph 5, Article 294 of the Revised Penal
Code, as claimed by the defense.

In an information dated and filed on May 31, 1989 in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon
City, Branch 103, as Criminal Case No. Q-57404 thereof, appellants were charged with
kidnapping for ransom allegedly committed in the following manner:

“That on or about the 13th day of January, 1988 in Quezon City, Philippines and
within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, being then
private individuals, conspiring together, confederating with and mutually helping
each other, did, then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously kidnap and
carry away one MARIA DEL SOCORRO SARMIENTO y MUTUC* for the purpose
of extorting ransom, to the damage and prejudice of the said offended party in
such amount as may be awarded to her under the provisions of the Civil Code.” [1]

On a plea of not guilty when arraigned,[2] appellants went to trial which ultimately resulted
in a judgment promulgated on September 26, 1990 finding them guilty of robbery with

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

extortion committed on a highway, punishable under Presidential Decree No. 532, with this
disposition in the fallo thereof:

“ACCORDINGLY, judgment is hereby rendered finding the accused ISABELO

PUNO and ENRIQUE AMURAO GUILTY as principals of robbery with extortion
committed on a highway and, in accordance with P.D. 532, they are both
sentenced to a jail term of reclusion perpetua.

“The two accused are likewise ordered to pay jointly and severally the offended
private victim Ma. Socorro M. Sarmiento the sum of P7,000.00 as actual damages
and P3,000.00 as temperate damages.” [3]

Before us now in this appeal, appellants contend that the court a quo erred (1) in convicting
them under Presidential Decree No. 532 since they were not expressly charged with a crime
therein; (2) in applying Sections 4 and 5, Rule 120 of the Rules of Court since the charge
under said presidential decree is not the offense proved and cannot rightly be used as the
offense proved which is necessarily included in the offense charged.[4]

For the material antecedents of this case, we quote with approval the following counter-
statement of facts in the People’s brief[5] which adopted the established findings of the court
a quo, documenting the same with page references to the transcripts of the proceedings,
and which we note are without any substantial divergence in the version proffered by the
defense.

“This is a prosecution for kidnapping for ransom allegedly done on January 13,
1988 by the two accused (tsn, Jan. 8, 1990, p. 7).

“Mrs. Maria Socorro Mutuc-Sarmiento owns a bakeshop in Araneta Avenue,

Quezon City called Nika Cakes and Pastries. She has a driver of her own just as
her husband does (Ibid., pp. 4-6).

“At around 5:00 in the afternoon of January 13, 1988, the accused Isabelo Puno,
who is the personal driver of Mrs. Sarmiento’s husband (who was then away in
Davao purportedly on account of local election there) arrived at the bakeshop. He
told Mrs. Socorro that her own driver Fred had to go to Pampanga on an
emergency (something bad befell a child), so Isabelo will temporary (sic) take his

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

place (Id., pp. 8-9).

“Mrs. Socorro’s time to go home to Valle Verde in Pasig came and so she got into
the Mercedes Benz of her husband with Isabelo on (sic) the wheel. After the car
turned right in (sic) a corner of Araneta Avenue, it stopped. A young man,
accused Enrique Amurao, boarded the car beside the driver (Id., pp. 9-10).

“Once inside, Enrique clambered on top of the back side of the front seat and
went onto where Ma. Socorro was seated at the rear. He poke (sic) a gun at her
(Id., p. 10).

“Isabelo, who had earlier told her that Enrique is his nephew announced, ‘ma’m,
you know, I want to get money from you.’ She said she has money inside her bag
and they may get it just so they will let her go. The bag contained P7,000.00 and
was taken (Id., pp. 11-14).

“Further on, the two told her they wanted P100,000.00 more. Ma. Socorro
agreed to give them that but would they drop her at her gas station in Kamagong
St., Makati where the money is? The car went about the Sta. Mesa area.
Meanwhile, Ma. Socorro clutched her Rosary and prayed. Enrique’s gun was
menacingly storing (sic) at her soft bread (sic) brown, perfumed neck. He said he
is an NPA and threatened her (Id., p. 15).

“The car sped off north towards the North superhighway. There Isabelo, Beloy as
he is called, asked Ma. Socorro to issue a check for P100,000.00. Ma. Socorro
complied. She drafted 3 checks in denominations of two for P30 thousand and
one for P40 thousand. Enrique ordered her to swallow a pill but she refused (Id.,
pp. 17-23).

“Beloy turned the car around towards Metro Manila. Later, he changed his mind
and turned the car again towards Pampanga. Ma. Socorro, according to her,
jumped out of the car then, crossed to the other side of the superhighway and,
after some vehicles ignored her, she was finally able to flag down a fish vendor’s
van. Her dress had blood because, according to Ma. Socorro, she fell down on the
ground and was injured when she jumped out of the car. Her dress was torn too
(Id., pp. 23-26).

“On reaching Balintawak, Ma. Socorro reported the matter to CAPCOM (Id., p.

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

27).

“Both accused were, day after, arrested. Enrique was arrested trying to encash
Ma. Socorro’s P40,000.00 check at PCI Bank, Makati. (tsn, Oct. 18, 1989, pp.
10-13)”[6]

As observed by the court below, the defense does not dispute said narrative of complainant,
except that, according to appellant Puno, he stopped the car at North Diversion and freely
allowed complainant to step out of the car. He even slowed the car down as he drove away,
until he saw that his employer had gotten a ride, and he claimed that she fell down when
she stubbed her toe while running across the highway. [7]

Appellants further testified that they brought the Mercedez Benz car to Dolores, San
Fernando, Pampanga and parked it near a barangay or police outpost. They thereafter ate at
a restaurant and divided their loot.[8] Much later, when he took the stand at the trial of this
case, appellant Puno tried to mitigate his liability by explaining that he was in dire need of
money for the medication of his ulcers.[9]

On these relatively simple facts, and as noted at the start of this opinion, three theories have
been advanced as to what crime was committed by appellants. The trial court cohered with
the submission of the defense that the crime could not be kidnapping for ransom as charged
in the information. We likewise agree.

Prefatorily, it is worth recalling an accepted tenet in criminal law that in the determination
of the crime for which the accused should be held liable in those instances where his acts
partake of the nature of variant offenses, and the same holds true with regard to the
modifying or qualifying circumstances thereof, his motive and specific intent in perpetrating
the acts complained of are invaluable aids in arriving at a correct appreciation and accurate
conclusion thereon.

Thus, to illustrate, the motive of the accused has been held to be relevant or essential to
determine the specific nature of the crime as, for instance, whether a murder was
committed in the furtherance of rebellion in which case the latter absorbs the former, or
whether the accused had his own personal motives for committing the murder independent
of his membership in the rebellious movement in which case rebellion and murder would
constitute separate offenses.[10] Also, where injuries were inflicted on a person in authority
who was not then in the actual performance of his official duties, the motive of the offender

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

assumes importance because if the attack was by reason of the previous performance of
official duties by the person in authority, the crime would be direct assault; otherwise, it
would only be physical injuries.[11]

In the case at bar, there is no showing whatsoever that appellants had any motive, nurtured
prior to or at the time they committed the wrongful acts against complainant, other than the
extortion of money from her under the compulsion of threats or intimidation. This much is
admitted by both appellants, without any other esoteric qualification or dubious
justification. Appellant Puno, as already stated, candidly laid the blame for his predicament
on his need for funds for, in his own testimony, “(w)hile we were along the way Mam (sic)
Corina was telling me `Beloy, I know your family very well and I know that your (sic) not (a)
bad person, why are you doing this?’ I told her ‘Mam (sic), because I need money and I had
an ulcer and that I have been getting an (sic) advances from our office but they refused to
give me any bale (sic). x x x.” [12]

With respect to the specific intent of appellants vis-a-vis the charge that they had kidnapped
the victim, we can rely on the proverbial rule of ancient respectability that for this crime to
exist, there must be indubitable proof that the actual intent of the malefactors was to
deprive the offended party of her liberty,[13] and not where such restraint of her freedom of
action was merely an incident in the commission of another offense primarily intended by
the offenders. Hence, as early as United States vs. Ancheta,[14] and consistently reiterated
thereafter,[15] it has been held that the detention and/or forcible taking away of the victims
by the accused, even for an appreciable period of time but for the primary and ultimate
purpose of killing them, holds the offenders liable for taking their lives or such other
offenses they committed in relation thereto, but the incidental deprivation of the victims’
liberty does not constitute kidnapping or serious illegal detention.

That appellants in this case had no intention whatsoever to kidnap or deprive the
complainant of her personal liberty is clearly demonstrated in the veritably confessional
testimony of appellant Puno:

At what point did Mrs. Sarmiento handed (sic) the bag containing the
“Q –
P7,000.00 to your nephew?
A– Santo Domingo Exit.
And how about the checks, where were you already when the checks
Q–
was (sic) being handed to you?
A– Also at the Sto. Domingo exit when she signed the checks.

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

If your intention was just to robbed (sic) her, why is it that you still did
Q– not allow her to stay at Sto. Domingo, after all you already received the
money and the checks?
Because we had an agreement with her that when she signed the
A–
checks we will take her to her house at Villa (sic) Verde.
And why did you not bring her back to her house at Valle Verde when
Q–
she is (sic) already given you the checks?
Because while we were on the way back I (sic) came to my mind that if
we reach Balintawak or some other place along the way we might be
A– apprehended by the police. So when we reached Santa Rita exit I told
her ‘Mam (sic) we will already stop and allow you to get out of the
car.’”[16]

Neither can we consider the amounts given to appellants as equivalent to or in the nature of
ransom, considering the immediacy of their obtention thereof from the complainant
personally. Ransom, in municipal criminal law, is the money, price or consideration paid or
demanded for redemption of a captured person or persons, a payment that releases from
captivity.[17] It can hardly be assumed that when complainant readily gave the cash and
checks demanded from her at gunpoint, what she gave under the circumstances of this case
can be equated with or was in the concept of ransom in the law of kidnapping. These were
merely amounts involuntarily surrendered by the victim upon the occasion of a robbery or of
which she was summarily divested by appellants. Accordingly, while we hold that the crime
committed is robbery as defined in Article 293 of the Code, we, however, reject the theory of
the trial court that the same constitutes the highway robbery contemplated in and punished
by Presidential Decree No. 532.

The lower court, in support of its theory, offers this ratiocination:

“The court agrees that the crime is robbery. But it is also clear from the
allegation in the information that the victim was carried away and extorted for
more money. The accused admitted that the robbery was carried on from Araneta
Avenue up to the North Superhighway. They likewise admitted that along the
way they intimidated Ma. Socorro to produce more money that she had with her
at the time for which reason Ma. Socorro, not having more cash, drew out three
checks. x x x

“In view of the foregoing the court is of the opinion that the crimes committed is
that punishable under P.D. 532 (Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of
1974) under which where robbery on the highway is accompanied by extortion

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

the penalty is reclusion perpetua.”[18]

The Solicitor General concurs, with the observation that pursuant to the repealing clause in
Section 5 of said decree, “P.D. No. 532 is a modification of the provisions of the Revised
Penal Code, particularly Article 267 which are inconsistent with it.”[19] Such opinion and
complementary submission consequently necessitate an evaluation of the correct interplay
between and the legal effects of Presidential Decree No. 532 on the pertinent provisions of
the Revised Penal Code, on which matter we are not aware that any definitive
pronouncement has as yet been made.

Contrary to the postulation of the Solicitor General, Presidential Decree No. 532 is not a
modification of Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code on kidnapping and serious illegal
detention, but of Articles 306 and 307 on brigandage. This is evident from the fact that the
relevant portion thereof which treats of “highway robbery” invariably uses this term in the
alternative and synonymously with brigandage, that is, as “highway robbery/brigandage.”
This is but in line with our previous ruling, and which still holds sway in criminal law, that
highway robbers (ladrones) and brigands are synonymous.[20]

Harking back to the origin of our law on brigandage (bandolerismo) in order to put our
discussion thereon in the proper context and perspective, we find that a band of brigands,
also known as highwaymen or freebooters, is more than a gang of ordinary robbers.
Jurisprudence on the matter reveals that during the early part of the American occupation
of our country, roving bands were organized for robbery and pillage and since the then
existing law against robbery was inadequate to cope with such moving bands of outlaws, the
Brigandage Law was passed. [21]

The following salient distinctions between brigandage and robbery are succinctly explained
in a treatise on the subject and are of continuing validity:

“The main object of the Brigandage Law is to prevent the formation of bands of
robbers. The heart of the offense consists in the formation of a band by more
than three armed persons for the purpose indicated in art. 306. Such formation is
sufficient to constitute a violation of art. 306. It would not be necessary to show,
in a prosecution under it, that a member or members of the band actually
committed robbery or kidnapping or any other purpose attainable by violent
means. The crime is proven when the organization and purpose of the band are

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

shown to be such as are contemplated by art. 306. On the other hand, if robbery
is committed by a band, whose members were not primarily organized for the
purpose of committing robbery or kidnapping, etc., the crime would not be
brigandage, but only robbery. Simply because robbery was committed by a band
of more than three armed persons, it would not follow that it was committed by a
band of brigands. In the Spanish text of art. 306, it is required that the band ‘sala
a los campos para dedicarse a robar.’”[22] (Underscoring ours.)

In fine, the purpose of brigandage is, inter alia, indiscriminate highway robbery. If the
purpose is only a particular robbery, the crime is only robbery, or robbery in band if there
are at least four armed participants. [23] The martial law legislator, in creating and
promulgating Presidential Decree No. 532 for the objectives announced therein, could not
have been unaware of that distinction and is presumed to have adopted the same, there
being no indication to the contrary. This conclusion is buttressed by the rule on
contemporaneous construction, since it is one drawn from the time when and the
circumstances under which the decree to be construed originated. Contemporaneous
exposition or construction is the best and strongest in the law. [24]

Further, that Presidential Decree No. 532 punishes as highway robbery or brigandage only
acts of robbery perpetrated by outlaws indiscriminately against any person or persons on
Philippine highways as defined therein, and not acts of robbery committed against only a
predetermined or particular victim, is evident from the preambular clauses thereof, to wit:

“WHEREAS, reports from law-enforcement agencies reveal that lawless elements

are still committing acts of depredation upon the persons and properties of
innocent and defenseless inhabitants who travel from one place to another,
thereby disturbing the peace, order and tranquility of the nation and stunting the
economic and social progress of the people:

“WHEREAS, such acts of depredations constitute x x x highway

robbery/brigandage which are among the highest forms of lawlessness
condemned by the penal statutes of all countries;

“WHEREAS, it is imperative that said lawless elements be discouraged from

perpetrating such acts of depredations by imposing heavy penalty on the
offenders, with the end in view of eliminating all obstacles to the economic,

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

social, educational and community progress of the people:” (Emphasis supplied.)

Indeed, it is hard to conceive of how a single act of robbery against a particular person
chosen by the accused as their specific victim could be considered as committed on the
“innocent and defenseless inhabitants who travel from one place to another,” and which
single act of depredation would be capable of “stunting the economic and social progress of
the people” as to be considered “among the highest forms of lawlessness condemned by the
penal statutes of all countries,” and would accordingly constitute an obstacle “to the
economic, social, educational and community progress of the people,” such that said
isolated act would constitute the highway robbery or brigandage contemplated and
punished in said decree. This would be an exaggeration bordering on the ridiculous.

True, Presidential Decree No. 532 did introduce amendments to Articles 306 and 307 of the
Revised Penal Code by increasing the penalties, albeit limiting its applicability to the
offenses stated therein when committed on the highways and without prejudice to the
liability for such acts if committed. Furthermore, the decree does not require that there be
at least four armed persons forming a band of robbers; and the presumption in the Code
that said accused are brigands if they use unlicensed firearms no longer obtains under the
decree. But, and this we broadly underline, the essence of brigandage under the Code as a
crime of depredation wherein the unlawful acts are directed not only against specific,
intended or preconceived victims, but against any and all prospective victims anywhere on
the highway and whosoever they may potentially be, is the same as the concept of
brigandage which is maintained in Presidential Decree No. 532, in the same manner as it
was under its aforementioned precursor in the Code and, for that matter, under the old
Brigandage Law. [25]

Erroneous advertence is nevertheless made by the court below to the fact that the crime of
robbery committed by appellants should be covered by the said amendatory decree just
because it was committed on a highway. Aside from what has already been stressed
regarding the absence of the requisite elements which thereby necessarily puts the offense
charged outside the purview and intendment of that presidential issuance, it would be
absurd to adopt a literal interpretation that any unlawful taking of property committed on
our highways would be covered thereby. It is an elementary rule of statutory construction
that the spirit or intent of the law should not be subordinated to the letter thereof. Trite as it
may appear, we have perforce to stress the elementary caveat that he who considers merely
the letter of an instrument goes but skin deep into its meaning,[26] and the fundamental rule

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

that criminal justice inclines in favor of the milder form of liability in case of doubt.

If the mere fact that the offense charged was committed on a highway would be the
determinant for the application of Presidential Decree No. 532, it would not be far-fetched
to expect mischievous, if not absurd, effects on the corpus of our substantive criminal law.
While we eschew resort to a reductio ad absurdum line of reasoning, we apprehend that the
aforestated theory adopted by the trial court falls far short of the desideratum in the
interpretation of laws, that is, to avoid absurdities and conflicts. For, if a motor vehicle,
either stationary or moving on a highway, is forcibly taken at gunpoint by the accused who
happened to take a fancy thereto, would the location of the vehicle at the time of the
unlawful taking necessarily put the offense within the ambit of Presidential Decree No. 532,
thus rendering nugatory the categorical provisions of the Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972?[27]
And, if the scenario is one where the subject matter of the unlawful asportation is large
cattle which are incidentally being herded along and traversing the same highway and are
impulsively set upon by the accused, should we apply Presidential Decree No. 532 and
completely disregard the explicit prescriptions in the Anti-Cattle Rustling Law of 1974?[28]

We do not entertain any doubt, therefore, that the coincidental fact that the robbery in the
present case was committed inside a car which, in the natural course of things, was casually
operating on a highway, is not within the situation envisaged by Section 2(e) of the decree
in its definition of terms. Besides, that particular provision precisely defines “highway
robbery/brigandage” and, as we have amply demonstrated, the single act of robbery
conceived and committed by appellants in this case does not constitute highway robbery or
brigandage.

Accordingly, we hold that the offense committed by appellants is simple robbery defined in
Article 293 and punished under Paragraph 5 of Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code with
prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its medium period.
Appellants have indisputably acted in conspiracy as shown by their concerted acts
evidentiary of a unity of thought and community of purpose. In the determination of their
respective liabilities, the aggravating circumstances of craft[29] shall be appreciated against
both appellants and that of abuse of confidence shall be further applied against appellant
Puno, with no mitigating circumstance in favor of either of them. At any rate, the
intimidation having been made with the use of a firearm, the penalty shall be imposed in the
maximum period as decreed by Article 295 of the Code.

We further hold that there is no procedural obstacle to the conviction of appellants of the

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993

crime of simple robbery upon an information charging them with kidnapping for ransom,
since the former offense which has been proved is necessarily included in the latter offense
with which they are charged.[30] For the former offense, it is sufficient that the elements of
unlawful taking, with intent to gain, of personal property through intimidation of the owner
or possessor thereof shall be, as it has been, proved in the case at bar. Intent to gain
(animus lucrandi) is presumed to be alleged in an information where it is charged that there
was unlawful taking (apoderamiento) and appropriation by the offender of the things subject
of the robbery. [31]

These foregoing elements are necessarily included in the information filed against
appellants which, as formulated, allege that they wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously
kidnapped and extorted ransom from the complainant. Such allegations, if not expressly but
at the very least by necessary implication, clearly convey that the taking of complainant’s
money and checks (inaccurately termed as ransom) was unlawful, with intent to gain, and
through intimidation. It cannot be logically argued that such a charge of kidnapping for
ransom does not include but could negate the presence of any of the elements of robbery
through intimidation of persons.[32]

WHEREFORE, the assailed judgment of the trial court is hereby SET ASIDE and another
one is rendered CONVICTING accused-appellants Isabelo Puno y Guevarra and Enrique
Amurao y Puno of robbery as punished in Paragraph 5 of Article 294, in relation to Article
295, of the Revised Penal Code and IMPOSING on each of them an indeterminate sentence
of four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional, as minimum, to ten (10) years
of prision mayor, as maximum, and to jointly and severally pay the offended party, Maria del
Socorro M. Sarmiento, the amounts of P7,000.00 as actual damages and P20,000.00 as
moral damages, with costs.
SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, C.J., (Chairman), Feliciano, Nocon, and Campos, Jr., JJ., concur.

*
Complainant testified under the name of “Corina Mutuc Sarmiento” but made the
clarification that her baptismal name is “Maria del Socorro Mutuc Sarmiento” (TSN, January
8, 1990, 4).

[1]
Original Record, 1.

[2]
Ibid, 72.

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993
[3]
Ibid., 137; per Judge Jaime N. Salazar, Jr.

[4]
Appellant’s Brief, 5; Rollo, 47.

[5]
Brief for the Plaintiff-Appellee; Rollo, 68-84.

[6]
Ibid., 73-75.

[7]
TSN, August 13, 1990, 14-15.

[8]
Ibid., id., 16; September 5, 1990, 18, 25-26.

[9]
Ibid., id., 11.

[10]
People vs. Geronimo, 100 Phil. 90 (1956).

[11]
People vs. Cadag, et al., 2 SCRA 388 (1961).

[12]
TSN, August 30, 1990, 11.

[13]
For this reason, kidnapping and serious illegal detention are jointly provided for in
Article 267 under Chapter One, Title Nine, Book Two of the Revised Penal Code on Crimes
Against Liberty.

[14]
1 Phil. 165 (1902); see also U.S. vs. De Leon, 1 Phil. 163 (1902).

[15]
People vs. Remalante, 92 Phil. 48 (1952); People vs. Guerrero, 103 Phil. 1136 (1958);
People vs. Ong, et al., 62 SCRA 174 (1975); People vs. Ty Sui Wong, et al., 83 SCRA 125
(1978); People vs. Jimenez, et al., 105 SCRA 721 (1981).

[16]
TSN, August 13, 1990, 21-22.

[17]
Keith vs. State, 120 Fla. 847, 163 So. 136; People vs. Akiran, et al., 18 SCRA 239, 246
(1966).

[18]
Original Record, 136.

[19]
Rollo, 79.

[20]
U.S. vs. Ibañez, 19 Phil. 463 (1911). Art. 306 of the Code also specifically refers to them
as “highway robbers or brigands.”

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 G.R. No. 97471. February 17, 1993
[21]
U.S. vs. Carlos, 15 Phil. 47 (1910).

[22]
Aquino, R.C., The Revised Penal Code, Volume Three, 1989 ed., p. 174, citing U.S. vs.
Decusin, 2 Phil. 536 (1903) and U.S. vs. Maaño, 2 Phil. 718 (1903).

[23]
U.S. vs. Feliciano, 3 Phil. 422(1904).

[24]
Contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege (2 Inst. 11; Black’s Law
Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 390).

[25]
Act 518, as amended by Act 2036.

[26]
Qui haeret in litera haeret in cortice (Co. Litt. 289; Broom, Max. 685; Black’s Law
Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 1413).

[27]
Republic Act No. 6539.

[28]
Presidential Decree No. 533.

[29]
People vs. San Pedro, 95 SCRA 306 (1980); People vs. Masilang, 142 SCRA 673 (1986).

[30]
Section 4, Rule 120, 1985 Rules of Criminal Procedure.

[31]
U.S. vs. San Pedro, 4 Phil. 405 (1905); U.S. vs. Alabot, 38 Phil. 698 (1918).

[32]
See Section 5, Rule 120, 1985 Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Date created: October 02, 2017

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