G.R. No.

L-48217 January 30, 1982

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
J!NITO "!#IL!NG!N $ !RSENIO "!#IL!NG!N, accused-appellants.

PER %RI!"&
Five defendants, namely, Juanito Mabilangan, Arsenio Mabilangan, Feliciano Juamis, Romeo Juamis and Adriano
Gualba were accused in the ourt of First !nstance of "amar of robbery with multiple homicide.
#efendants Juanito Mabilangan and Arsenio Mabilangan who are brothers, assisted by their counsel, Atty. $ilda
%orrevillas pleaded guilty.
#efendants Feliciano Juamis and Romeo Juamis pleaded not guilty. &ut after trial, the ourt, on motion of the Fiscal,
dismissed the case against them. #efendant Adriano Gualba is still at large.
%he trial Judge fully e'plained to the Mabilangan defendants the nature of the information, the conse(uences of a plea
of guilty, and the probable penalty that may be imposed upon them. &ut they reiterated their plea of guilty. %hey were
also thoroughly y e'amined by the trial ourt and the )rosecution was re(uired to present evidence to determine the
degree of culpability of said defendants and the e'istence of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. %hese two
defendants narrated how they committed the crime in open court by answering (uestions propounded by no less than
the trial Judge.
%he facts are not disputed.
At about *+,, o-cloc. in the afternoon of $ovember /0, 1203, the accused Juanito Mabilangan and Arsenio
Mabilangan were drin.ing in the house of Adriano Gualba. At about 4+,, p.m. that same day, they stopped drin.ing
and they went down and proceeded to the house of 5ivencio abarles.
%he accused, Juanito Mabilangan and Arsenio Mabilangan, are .nown to 5ivencio abarles because they all reside at
&arangay Albalate atbalogan, "amar. %hey sometimes had drin.ing parties in the house of 5ivencio abarles.
6hen the two Mabilangans, together with Adriano Gualba, reached the house of 5ivencio abarles, Adriano Gualba
went up the house of 5ivencio abarles through the open door. Arsenio Mabilangan and Juanito Mabilangan followed
Adriano Gualba up to the house. 5ivencio abarles was not at home.
%he moment Adriano Gualba got inside the house, he immediately started stabbing the occupants. #ionisio 7lantos,
one of the victims, resisted so Juanito Mabilangan stabbed him. Arsenio also stabbed #ionisio 7lantos. %he four minor
children of 5ivencio abarles, namely, Juan, Regina, "hirley, and Rogelio, all less than ten years old, were also
stabbed to death.
&oth Arsenio and Juanito admitted that they only too. the radio phonograph but not the cash of ) /,,,,.,,.
At the time of the incident, 5ivencio abarles was in the house of his )adi oni Jabonalla attending a baptismal party.
At about 8+,, o-cloc. in the evening, he went down the house of his )adi oni to urinate in the yard. 6hile urinating,
he heard his dogs bar.ing but could not see his house as it could not be seen from where he was. &esides, the vicinity
was dar.. After urinating, he went to his house to investigate why his dogs were bar.ing. 6hen he was about 1/
meters to his house, he saw Arsenio Mabilangan going down his house carrying a .erosene lamp in his left hand and a
big carton bo' under his right arm. Arsenio Mabilangan was followed by Juanito Mabilangan who was carrying on his
right shoulder a trun. and a bolo in his left hand.
6hen 5ivencio abarles was sure that Juanito Mabilangan and Arsenio Mabilangan had already left, he ran to the
house of his )adi oni Jabonalla. 9e informed his )adi oni Jabonalla and other guests in the house of what he saw.
)adi oni Jabonalla together with Amado Jabonalla Manuel &anar and onrado asica accompanied him to his
house. :pon arriving at the house of 5ivencio abarles, they saw #ionisio 7lantos, the hired help, on the floor in the
balcony wounded and dead. 6hen they went inside the house in the bedroom, then saw the bodies of, Juan, Rogelio
and "hirley, all surnamed abarles, all wounded and dead. Regina, another child of 5ivencio abarles was under the
table in the .itchen also wounded and dead. After loo.ing at the dead children, 5ivencio abarles and his companions
went to "itio &angon &arangay Albalate atbalogan, "amar, 7o inform the barangay aptain what had happened. %he
&arangay aptain advised them to wait till daybrea.. At daybrea., 5ivencio abarles and his companions including
defendant Gualba, went bac. to their house and traced the footprints. After covering a distance of 4, meters, the
footprints disappeared and Adriano Gualba found among the tag grasses a wooden trun. belonging to 5ivencio
abarles. "everal personal effects of 5ivencio abarles were recovered but the evidence does not show how they
were recovered.
;n the basis of the foregoing evidence and the plea of guilty of the Mabilangan defendants, the lower ourt rendered
a decision which reads as follows+
69<R<F;R<, in view of the plea of guilty of the accused Juanito Mabilangan and Arsenio
Mabilangan, the ourt finds the said accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Robbery
with Multiple 9omicide under Article /2= paragraph 1 and appreciating in their favor the mitigating
circumstance of their spontaneous plea of guilty which offsets one of the aggravating circumstance of
treachery by a band and dwelling hereby sentences the accused to suffer the e'treme penalty of death
to be e'ecuted by electrocution at the $ational )enitentiary, Muntinlupa, Ri>al, on such date and hour
as may be fi'ed by this ourt after the case has been reviewed by the "upreme ourt and the decision
is affirmed.
%he case is now before :s for review.
%he appellants, through counsel, do not dispute their guilt. %hey only contest the imposition of the death penalty.
6hile they admit that the lower ourt correctly appreciated the aggravating circumstances of treachery and dwelling,
they dispute the lower ourt-s finding that the crime was further aggravated by its having been committed by a band.
%he defendants further contend that they are entitled to the mitigating circumstances of voluntary plea of guilty and
drun.enness which is not habitual. ;ff-setting the two mitigating circumstances against only two aggravating
circumstances of treachery and dwelling, the appellants contend that reclusion perpetua should have been imposed as
the proper penalty.
6e agree that the lower ourt erred in appreciating ?in band? as an aggravating circumstance. %he evidence shows
that only the two Mabilangan defendants and Adriano Gualba, who is at large, were armed with sharp pointed
instruments.
!n order to consider that a crime is committed by a band, there should be more than three @*A armed malefactors. @Art.
1=, par. 4 and Art. /24, Revised )enal ode.A
%his error of the lower ourt, however, does not alter the result. %he commission of the offense is attended by three
aggravating circumstances, namely, treachery, dwelling and habitual drun.enness.
%here is treachery because four of the minor children of 5ivencio abarles, the oldest of whom was only ten years old
while the youngest was only two years old, were suddenly attac.ed and .illed while they were seated. 1
%he aggravating circumstance of dwelling should also be ta.en into consideration because the crime was committed in
the dwelling of 5ivencio abarles. 7i.ewise, drun.enness should be considered as an aggravating circumstance
because it is habitual on the part of both Mabilangan defendants. %he defendants, when they answered the (uestions of
the ourt, admitted in open court that before they committed the crime, they dran. for three hours in the house of
defendant Adriano Gualba. %hey further testified as follows+
B+ #o you often have a drin.ing party or do you often have a drin.ing with
AdrianoC
A+ Des, your 9onor. 2
<ven in the appellants- statement of facts in their brief, they stated that ?they sometimes had drin.ing parties in the
house of 5ivencio abarles. 3
%he three aggravating circumstances attending the commission of the crime being offset only by the mitigating
circumstance of a plea of guilty, the penalty for robbery with homicide must be imposed in its ma'imum period.
Moreover, since there is only one crime of robbery with homicide, irrespective of the number of .illings committed on
the occasion of robbery, 4 the fact that two or more persons were .illed on the occasion of robbery should be appreciated
as an additional aggravating circumstanceE otherwise, there will obtain an anomalous situation where, from the standpoint of
the gravity of the offense, robbery with one .illing would be on the same level as robbery with multiple .illings.
69<R<F;R<, finding no error in the penalty imposed, 6e hereby affirmed the decision appealed with costs.
"; ;R#<R<#.
Fernando, C.J., Makasiar, Concepcion, Jr., Fernandez, Guerrero, Abad Santos, De Castro, Melencio-Herrera, Ericta
and Plana, JJ., concur.
Auino, J., concur in t!e result.
Escolin, J., " concur.


S'(ara)' O(*n*on+

BARREDO, J., concurring&
!n the conviction of as well as the sentence imposed on the appellants insofar as the .illing of #ionisio 7lantos is
concerned, but ! hold that this .illing of the four minor children should be deemed as four separate murder.
#ee!ankee, J., concur.

S'(ara)' O(*n*on+
BARREDO, J., concurring&
!n the conviction of as well as the sentence imposed on the appellants insofar as the .illing of #ionisio 7lantos is
concerned, but ! hold that this .illing of the four minor children should be deemed as four separate murder.
#ee!ankee, J., concur.
Foo)no)'+
1 "ee !nformation, p. 1, RecordE p. =/, tsn, March /, 1208E )eople vs. <spare 41 )hil. 1=,E )eople vs.
7udday, 41 )hil. /14.
/ tsn, p. 8, January 10, 1208.
* p. *, Appellants &rief, found on page 31, Rollo.
= )eople vs. Mones 38 )hil.=4, 32.