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[PEOPLE v. FULGENCIO RANARIO](https://www.lawyerly.ph/juris/view/c129e?user=fbGU2WFpmaitMVEVGZ2lBVW5xZ2RVdz09)
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[ GR No. 25083, Aug 17, 1926 ]

PEOPLE v. FULGENCIO RANARIO +

DECISION

49 Phil. 220

[ G. R. No. 25083, August 17, 1926 ]

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. FULGENCIO RANARIO AND LEON CADAY, DEFENDANTS. FULGENCIO RANARIO, APPELLANT.

D E C I S I O N

VILLA-REAL, J.:

This  appeal  is  taken by  Fulgencio Ranario from the judgment of the Court of  First Instance of Bohol, finding him, together with the accused Leon Caday, guilty of the crime of murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment, with the accessory penalties,  to pay, jointly and severally with said Leon Caday, to the heirs of the deceased Agustin Galanida y Abuel the sum of P1,000 by way of indemnity, and  one-half of the costs of the action.

In support of his appeal, the appellant assigns the follow- ing supposed errors  as committed by the trial court  in its judgment:

1.  In admitting as evidence against him the confession of his coaccused Leon Caday  contained in Exhibits A and D;

2.  In, admitting Exhibit C as the dying declaration of the deceased Agustin Galanida  y  Abuel;

3.  In holding that the  bolo belonging to the appellant (Exhibit B) was the one used by the criminal;

4.  In holding that there had been a dispute between the deceased and Moises  Ranario, the  appellant's  son,  over land boundaries;

5.  In holding that there had been ill-feeling and a desire for revenge on the part of the appellant against Agustin Galanida;

6. In holding that the appellant admitted his guilt by not denying the charges  made against him by Leon Caday at the preliminary investigation;

7. In holding that the appellant  is guilty because he promised to give Caday a sum of money to defray his expenses of a trip to Manila; and

8. In convicting the appellant.

The following facts were proven at the  trial beyond a reasonable doubt: According to the confession made by the accused Leon  Caday, at about  8 o'clock on  the night of October 16, 1925, while  Agustin Galanida  was seated on a bench  underneath Maximo Barejo's house in Garcia- Hernandez, Bohol, with his back towards the street leaning against a bamboo wall,  he was stabbed,  through the said wall, with a bolo in the left lumbar region, causing a wound which passed through his body as a result of which he died in about twenty-four hours.

The only evidence there is against the  accused appellant Fulgencio Ranario is that furnished by Leon Caday in his confession.  When Leon Caday was examined by the Constabulary, he first attributed the death of  Agustin Galanida to Maximo Madelo and Paulino Amparo.  On being confronted by said individuals and hearing them deny this, Leon Caday confessed  that  he  killed Agustin  Galanida, claiming, however, that he was  induced  to do so by Fulgencio Ranario, who promised to give him P10, and gave him a bolo, which he returned to him after he had committed the crime.   According to  Caday, Fulgencio Ranario suspected that the deceased was the cause of the illness of his son Moises Ranario.  In view of these  statements of Leon. Caday the latter was taken to Fulgencio Ranario's house, who was not there, having gone to the river.   The Constabulary  lieutenant  who accompanied him, sent the chief of police to find  him.  Before Fulgencio Ranario reached his house he was disarmed by the chief of police who accompanied him.  Upon seeing the bolo Leon Caday, said that it was the one which Fulgencio Ranario had given him.  Fulgencio Ranario  protested saying it was  not  so and that Leon Caday had  not been in his house.

The prosecution also tried to prove that while Fulgencio Ranario  and Maximo Madelo were drinking  tuba in Candido Maldosa's house, Leon Caday arrived and told Maximo secretly that he had  murdered Agustin Galanida.   Upon hearing that, Maximo Madelo  became frightened and suggested to Fulgencio Ranario  that  they go to his  house, where he spent the night.

At  about 9 o'clock on  the  night of October 16, 1926, Agustin  Galanida, finding himself  in  a serious condition and knowing that he was  about to die, made  a declaration before the  justice of  the  peace in  which he  said that he suspected that Moises Ranario was the aggressor because he was the only one with  whom he had trouble in 1925.

On  October 22, 1925, Leon Caday made another confession in which he explained the manner in which he committed the  crime, again implicating Fulgencio Ranario.

Fulgencio Ranario being confined in jail with Leon Caday, asked him why he' had stated that he had ordered him to kill Agustin Galanida and censured him for his conduct. Leon  Caday told him that he would plead guilty provided he would give him P100.  Fulgencio Ranario replied that he would not give him that sum as he hadn't done anything, although at the beginning he was inclined to, but was afraid that Leon Caday would betray him and say something else.

Such is a resume of the evidence presented  by the prosecution against  the herein accused-appellant, Fulgencio Ranario who, during the trial, testified as a witness in his own defense and denied everything that Leon Caday had said against him outside of the court.

The trial court in finding the accused guilty as principal, by induction, of the murder of Agustin Galanida committed by Leon Caday, took  into consideration the  previous dispute  had between  the deceased and Fulgencio Ranario regarding land boundaries and the supposed suspicion of Fulgencio Ranario that Agustin Galanida was the cause of his son Moises Ranario's illness, but principally  the confession of Leon Caday.  This court has already held that an extrajudicial confession made by an accused implicating his coaccused is not admissible against  him.  (People  vs. Durante, 47 Phil., 654.)  It is true that when Leon Caday made his confession contained in Exhibit B, in which he implicates Fulgencio Ranario, the latter was present and said nothing, according to justice of the peace Castor del Bando, but it does not" appear that Fulgencio Ranario heard  the confession of Leon Caday nor had the opportunity  to deny it.  On the other hand,  however, it does appear that when Leon Caday, in the presence of the Constabulary soldiers, was shown the" bolo that Fulgencio Ranario carried and said it was the one  that had been given him by the appellant, a discussion took place between them in which the said  Fulgencio  Ranario denied having given the said Leon Caday his bolo and having been in his house.  Neither is the presumption  of innocence sufficiently rebutted by the fact that before the commission of the  crime Fulgencio had had a dispute with the deceased on the  question of boundaries, which was amicably settled, aside from the fact that Agustin Galanida did not suspect him but his son Moises Ranario.

Considering all of the evidence presented at the trial by the prosecution and the defense, we are of the opinion that the guilt of the accused-appellant has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt and that he has the right to the benefit of the doubt.

By virtue of the foregoing,  the accused is acquitted and it is ordered that he be released, with  the costs de oficio. So  ordered,

Avanceña, C. J., Street, Villamor, Ostrand, Johns,  and Romualdez, JJ., concur.

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