G.R. No. L-11487-88; March 31, 1958
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ALFREDO HUFANA, ET AL., accused-appellants.

FACTS

Appellants Sabino Flores, Alfredo Hufana, Gregorio Abubo, Antero Rafanan, and Basilio Rafanan were convicted of double murder by the Court of First Instance of La Union for the killing of Teofilo Alisangco and his brother Pio Alisangco. During the Japanese occupation, Flores was a second lieutenant and platoon commander in the 21st Infantry, USAFIP-NL guerrilla unit, with Hufana and Abubo as sergeant and corporal under him. The Rafanan brothers were guerrilla runners. On the night of September 9, 1944, a group led by Hufana and Abubo arrested Teofilo Alisangco (the municipal mayor) at his house. Pio Alisangco was also arrested and both were taken to a guerrilla guardhouse. The next morning, they were brought to the house of Mariano Estimada, used as Flores’s quarters. After an altercation where Flores assaulted the brothers for their refusal to deliver Norberta Alisangco (Pio’s daughter) to him for illicit relations, Flores ordered Hufana to have them executed. Hufana then directed two men to take the brothers to a wooded area where they were boloed to death. The case was initially referred to the 2nd Guerrilla Amnesty Commission, which denied amnesty, finding the killings were for personal motives, not in furtherance of the resistance movement. Upon resumption of criminal proceedings, the trial court convicted all appellants. Mauricio Recaido was acquitted.

ISSUE

Whether the appellants are criminally liable for the murder of Teofilo and Pio Alisangco, and if so, the extent of their liability and the qualifying circumstances.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the trial court’s decision. It acquitted Antero Rafanan, Basilio Rafanan, Alfredo Hufana, and Gregorio Abubo due to lack of evidence showing conspiracy with Sabino Flores in the execution of the victims. The Rafanan brothers’ participation was limited to possibly guiding the arrest or performing guard/cooking duties, with no proof of connivance in the killings. Abubo merely followed Flores’s order to arrest Teofilo, with no involvement in the execution. Hufana, while he conveyed Flores’s execution order, was not proven to have been present during Flores’s altercation with the victims or to have understood the personal motive behind the order.
Sabino Flores was found guilty of two counts of murder. The qualifying circumstance was treachery, not evident premeditation, as the decision to kill likely arose only after the victims defied Flores’s demands. He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each killing and ordered to indemnify the heirs of Teofilo and Pio Alisangco with P6,000 each. The appealed decision was affirmed with these modifications.
Separate Opinions:
Justice Felix, concurring, believed Sabino Flores should have been sentenced to death for each murder. Justice Bautista Angelo concurred with this opinion.