2/27/24, 7:59 PM G.R. No.

L-2443

Today is Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Constitution Statutes Executive Issuances Judicial Issuances Other Issuances Jurisprudence International Legal Resources AUSL Exclusive

Republic of the Philippines

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-2443 June 30, 1949

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,

Angel S. Alvir for appellants.

OZAETA, J.:

Jose Demetrio, Ricardo Mendoza, Ernesto Poblete, Eduardo Ignacio, Mauricio Arroyo, and John Doe alias Pedro
were accused of robbery with rape in the Court of First Instance of Manila in an information which reads as follows:

The undersigned accuses Jose Demetrio y Lagrada, Ricardo Mendoza y Ramirez, Ernesto Poblete y
Mendoza, Eduardo Ignacio y Malam, Mauricio Arroyo and 'John Doe' alias Pedro, the true named and
whereabouts of the last named accused being still unknown, of the crime of robbery with rape, committed as
follows:

That on or about the 25th day of August, 1946, during nighttime purposely sought, in Sta. Mesa Heights,
Quezon City, but within 2-½ miles from the limits of the City of Manila, and, therefore, with the jurisdiction of
this court, the said accused, conspiring and confederating together and mutually helping one another, wilfully,
unlawfully, and feloniously broke into and entered the house at No. 18 Pulog, Sta. Mesa Heights, in said
Quezon City, inhabited by Severo Mapugay, Belen Cube, Carmen Cube and others, and once inside, by
means of threats and intimidation, to wit: by threatening to do bodily harm with their firearms and knives with
which they were all armed, upon the occupants of said house should they resist, wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously, with intent of gain and without the consent of the owners thereof, took, stole and carried away the
following personal property, to wit:

Money in cash amounting to P500, belonging to the said Severo Mapugay;

Various pieces of jewelry, all valued at P2,000, belonging to both Belen Cube and Carmen Cube,

to the damage and prejudice of the said owners in the total sum of P2,5000, Philippine currency.

That on the occasion of said robbery, the accused Jose Demetrio y Lagrada, by the use of force and
intimidation, to wit: by violently pushing the said Belen Cube and forcibly causing her to lie down on the floor
and threatening to stab her with the knife he was then holding should she resist, wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously succeeded in having sexual intercourse with her against her will and consent.

All contrary to law.

(Sgd.) Jose B. Jimenez.

The case was tried only as to four of the accused, Ricardo Mendoza having escaped from detention before the trial
and John Doe alias Pedro not having been arrested. The court found the said four accused guilty, stating "that the
acts committed by the accused constitute the complex crime of robbery with rape." However, it sentenced only the
accused Mauricio Arroyo for the complex crime of Eduardo Ignacio, and Ernesto Poblete, for robbery only.

Jose Demetrio and Eduardo Ignacio chose to abide by the decision of the trial court.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1949/jun1949/gr_l-2443_1949.html 1/4
2/27/24, 7:59 PM G.R. No. L-2443
Mauricio Arroyo and Ernesto Poblete appealed to the Court of Appeals, which subsequently endorsed the case to
this court because it was of the opinion that upon the facts of the case both appellants were guilty of robbery with
rape, with the aggravating circumstances of the crime's having been committed by a band and in the dwelling of the
offended parties, without any mitigating circumstances, and that therefore the penalty that should be imposed
against them is life imprisonment.

It appears from the evidence that between 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. on August 25, 1946, a band of five malefactors, one
of whom was armed with a carbine, another with a revolver, two with hunting knives, and one unarmed, broke into
the house designated as No. 18 Pulog Street, Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City, but within 2½ miles from the limits
of Manila, which was inhabited by Severo Mapugay, Belen Cube, Carmen Cube, Jesus Cube, Natividad Fernando,
Gregorio Fernando, Samuel Fernando, Alejandro Mapugay, Lolita Gabriel, and Romulo Bunao. These inmates of
the house were aroused by the malefactors and herded at the point of guns into one of the rooms of the house
where one of the intruders kept them under guard. The intruders then tied the hands of Severo Mapugay and
another adult male companion and brought them to an adjoining room where they were kept separate from the
women. After gaining control of the situation the robbers ransacked the place and took money, jewelry, clothes, and
other valuable personal properties belonging to Severo Mapugay and the sisters Belen and Carmen Cube
amounting to P1,450 and P2,000, respectively. In the course of the robbery one of the robbers took Belen Cube, a
twenty-two-year-old student of dentistry in the Centro Escolar University, to another room where by means of force
and intimidation and despite her vigorous but futile resistance he succeeded in having carnal knowledge they were
being guarded by the other robbers.

At the request of Sgt. B. Herrera of Precinct No. 2, Dr. Angelo Singian, Medical Examiner of the Manila Police
Department, performed a physical examination of Belen Cube on August 31, 1946, and found that her hymen had
been recently lacerated at 3, 6, and 11 o'clock positions and that there was slight bleeding on the lacerations when
he inserted his index finger. The doctor further certified: "The recent lacerations of the hymen indicate that the
subject had been a victim of sexual intercourse in the past few days. From the appearance of the hymen and
vagina, it is believe that she was a virgin previous to this sexual incident." (See Exhibit G and testimony of Dr.
Angelo Singian.)

That same morning of August 25 Severo Mapugay reported a crime to Precinct No. 2 of Manila Police Department
located in the old Bilibid compound, describing the physical features of most, if not all, all of the five robbers.
According to Severo Mapugay, Carmen and Belen Cube, while the lights in their house were out at the of the
robbery, it was not dark because of the lights of the neighboring houses were on and reflected through the shell
windows of their house; that, moreover, the robbers carried flashlights which they constantly used during the
commission of the robbery, while ransacking the place; and that those flashlights plus the reflection of the lights from
the neighboring houses furnished sufficient illumination for them to see and remember the facial and physical
features of the robbers.

It turned out that a series of robberies with rape and one robbery with homicide were committed in or near the same
vicinity about the same time that the crime in question was committed. Based on the descriptions of the robbers
furnished by the victims and on the other data obtained in the course of the investigation, members of Manila
Detective Bureau succeeded in arresting the five herein accused on different dates: Jose Demetrio and Ricardo
Mendoza on August 31, 1946; Eduardo Ignacio on September 4, 1946; and Mauricio Arroyo and Ernesto Poblete on
September 12, 1946. Eleven cases of robbery in band, some with rape and one with homicide, were presented
against them.

A carbine (Exhibit A), which was presented and identified during the trial to be the same as or at least similar to that
used by the robbers in committing the crime in question, was found in the possession of the appellant Mauricio
Arroyo when he was arrested. He was also prosecuted for and convicted of illegal possession of the firearm.

On September 4, 1946, Severo Mapugay and Belen Cube were shown a group of detained prisoners in the
detective bureau of the Manila Police Department, and right then and there they identified from among the groups
the accused Jose Demetrio, Eduardo Ignacio, and Ricardo Mendoza as three of the malefactors who robbed them
in the early hours of August 25, 1946. When Belen Cube was asked to identify the one who raped her, she said that
he was not among those present; but after Mauricio was arrested on September 12, 1946, she positively pointed to
him as the one who had raped her. She confirmed that identification of the accused in her testimony during the trial.

Each of the four accused (excluding Ricardo Mendoza, who escaped and was not tried), upon being investigated by
the police after the arrest, admitted his participation not only in the robbery in question but in other robberies with
rape that had been reported to the police, and each named his companion in the commission of the crime.
According to them, however, the amount of the loot was much smaller than that claimed by the victims in the present
case. From their statements (Exhibits B, C, D, and E) which were taken by questions and answers in Tagalog and
respectively signed by them, it appears that pursuant to a previous agreement they gathered at 1449 Lealtad
Extension, Manila, were the accused Ernesto Poblete was residing, on the evening of August 24, 1946, spent part of
the night in the house, and about 1:30 in the morning of August 25 they went together to the house at 18 Pulog
Street, Quezon City, which they had agreed to rob. Jose Demetrio was then armed with a pistol; Mauricio Arroyo,
with a carbine; and Eduardo Ignacio and Ernersto Poblete, with hunting knives. Ricardo Mendoza was not armed.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1949/jun1949/gr_l-2443_1949.html 2/4
2/27/24, 7:59 PM G.R. No. L-2443
They found the door of the house locked, but above it there was an opening which was not yet covered by a panel,
as the construction of the house was still unfinished. Ernesto Poblete entered the house thru that opening and
opened the door for his companions. However, the accused Eduardo Ignacio, Mauricio Arroyo, and Ernesto Poblete,
in their respective statements, imputed the rape of Belen Cube to one Pedro or Pedring. Jose Demetrio, in his
statement Exhibit B, admitted having raped one Amada Ranido on the occasion of the robbery committed by him
and his co-accused at 1533 Int. 14 G. Tuazon, Sampaloc, Manila, on the night of August 19, 1946, as well as
Fortunata Sadian on August 28, 1946, at 1533 Int. 13-A G. Tuazon, Sampaloc, Manila; and that Mauricio Arroyo also
raped the last-mentioned victim. Jose Dematrio, however, denied having participated in the robbery committed at 18
Pulog Street, Santa Mesa Heights. Nevertheless, he did not appeal from the sentence of conviction.

Each of the two appellants Mauricio Arroyo and Ernesto Poblete, testifying in his own behalf, limited himself in
impugning the validity of his written statement before the detective bureau (Exhibit D by Mauricio Arroyo, and Exhibit
E by Ernesto Poblete), saying in effect that he had been compelled to sign it thru force and intimidation.

We are inclined, however, to give more credence to the testimony of Detective Avelino Evangelista, who took the
statements, to the effect that the appellant made their statements voluntarily and without the use of any force or
intimidation. It is difficult to believe that the answers given by the appellants to the question propounded to them
were mere inventions of said detective; for, in the first place, the facts disclosed by said answers could have been
known only to the appellants themselves and, in the second place, the answers reveal an intention of the declarants
to minimize their responsibility for the crime. For instance, both appellants attributed to one Pedring the possession
of the carbine as well as the commission of the rape. If Evangelista himself had fabricated the answers, he would
have made them conform to the theory of the prosecution and would not have included therein any exculpatory
indication.

In any event, even if we should disregard appellants' extrajudicial admissions, there would still remain the
uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony of Severo Mapugay, Belen Cube, and Carmen Cube positively
identifying the appellants as two of the robbers. That Belen Cube was correct and sincere in her identification of
appellant Mauricio Arroyo as the one who raped her on the night in question, may be seen from the fact that before
the arrest of said appellant and when she identified Jose Demetrio, Eduardo Ignacio, and Ricardo Mendoza as three
of the robbers, she positively informed the detective that the one who had raped her was not one of the said three
accused. That shows that shows that she had a fixed recollection of the identity of her assailant.

We cannot, therefore, entertain any doubt as to appellant's guilt.

The crime committed is that of robbery accompanied by rape, which is penalized in paragraph 2 of article 294 of the
Revised Penal Code with reclusion temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua. This penalty must be
imposed in the maximum degree, inasmuch as the crime was committed (1) by a band and (2) in the dwelling of the
offended parties. (Article 14, paragraphs 6 and 3, Revised Penal Code.) These two aggravating circumstances were
erroneously not taken into consideration by the trial court.

The second paragraph of article 296 provides that any member of a band who is present at the commission of the
robbery by the band shall be punished as principal of any of the assaults committed by a band, unless it be shown
that he attempted to prevent it. In the present case the offense charged against all the accused was the complex
crime of robbery with rape. It was fully established in the trial that on the occasion of the robbery Belen Cube was
raped by one of the robbers. Not only was there no proof introduced by either of the appellants that he attempted to
prevent the rape but, on the contrary, the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant Mauricio
Arroyo was the one who committed the rape and that his companions, far from preventing him from committing the
rape, facilitated its commission by guarding and preventing the other inmates of the house from succoring his victim.

Since under such circumstances all the accused were liable as principals for the crime of robbery with rape in
accordance with paragraph 2 of article 296, the mistaken allegation that it was accused Jose Demetrio who raped
Belen Cube is immaterial and non-prejudicial, because if neither of the appellants had committed the rape both of
them would have been liable therefor provided it was committed by one of the band. (See also U.S. vs. Tiongco, 37
Phil., 951; U.S. vs. Bretana, 49 Phil., 444.)

The judgment appealed from is modified in the sense that the appellants Mauricio Arroyo and Ernesto Poblete shall
each suffer reclusion perpetua and shall jointly and severally indemnify Belen Cube in the sum of P1,000. In all
other respects not inconsistent herewith the sentence appealed from is affirmed, with the costs of this instance
against the appellants.

Moran, C.J., Feria, Bengzon, Tuason, Montemayor and Reyes, JJ., concur.
Ozaeta, J., I certify that Mr. Justice Pablo voted for the above modification of the sentence appealed from.

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1949/jun1949/gr_l-2443_1949.html 3/4
2/27/24, 7:59 PM G.R. No. L-2443

https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1949/jun1949/gr_l-2443_1949.html 4/4