The record of this case has been forwarded to this Court as  prescribed by the  Rules so that we  may review  the sentence of death passed upon the accused Pedro Dimdiman by  the  Court of First  Instance of  Bukidnon.

It appears from the record that the above-named accused was charged in  the court below with the  crime of robbery with  multiple  homicide,  committed,  according to   the amended information, as follows:

"That on or about October 31, 1956, in sitio Nabilingan, barrio of Langawon, municipal district of Baungon, Province of Bukidnon, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, with  intent to rob and in order to carry out the said purpose by means of violence and  intimidation against persons with the use of a Japanese saber with which he was conveniently  provided, did then and  there  wilfully, unlawfully  and feloniously, assault, attack and kill the following  persons, to wit:

1. Menonio Gaylon  (Gaaynon), male,  single, 7 years old; clean cut, lacerated wound, about  6  inches long  3  inches deep  on the left side of the neck, proximal third, diagonal in direction.
   
   
2. Maria Abogan, female, married, 48 years old; clean cut lacerated wound at  the distal end  of the neck (base  of  the neck), horizontal in direction, completely severing off the head.  Clean cut lacerated wound  at the proximall  end  of the left index finger, 2 inches long x 1½%  inch  deep.
   
   
3. Lestina Gaaynon, female, married, 20  years  old  and mother of demised infant,  6 days  old by  the name  of Ernita  Sucatan; multiple clean cut lacerated wounds as follows ;
   
   1. 
      
   2. Wound, 8  inches long x 3 inches  deep, left  side of the neck, proximal  end  below  the left  ear, diagonal in direction.
      
      
   3. Wound, left hand cut off at the left wrist.
      
      
   4. Wound, right thumb  severed, leaving  only  a small skin attached,  vertical in direction 5 inches  long.
      
      
   5. Wound, left acromion  (left tipper arm), 4  inches long x 1% inches deep,  in horizontal in direction.
      
   
   
4. Infant girl,  Ernita Sucatan,  6  days  old, child  of Lestina Gaaynon; soft,  depressed occiput indicating skull  fracture at the back of the head. That this child was dropped to the floor by her mother,  Lestina Gaaynon,  when  she was assaulted  and slashed by the accused  with saber.
   
   
5. Inay Tomok, female, over 60 years old, widow; wound, neck cut at the middle,  third, almost horizontal in direction, severed hand, leaving  a  small  portion  of  the skin attached;  and that immediately thereafter,  the  said accused,  did then and there willfully, criminally and feloniously, take, rob and carry  away from their respective receptacles inside the house the cash  amounts  of P700.00,  Philippine currency,  belonging  to Juan Gaaynon, and P15.75, Philippine currency,  belonging to  Runno Sucatan, both  of which sums were not recovered."
   

the information further  alleging

"That in the commission of the crime, the following aggravating circumstances were present, i. e.

1. Disregard  of the respect due the offended  parties  on account of their ages and sexes, namely, Inay Tomok,  female of  60  years old; Maria Sinonhay (Abogan), female,  40 years old; and Lestina Gaaynon, female and 20  years old; Menonio Gaylon, boy of 7 years old, and Ernita Sucatan, an infant  of 6 days  old.
   
   
2. Treachery attended  the killing; and
   
   
3. Deceased were killed inside their dwelling except Inay Tomok."
   

Upon  arraignment,  the  accused  entered  a  plea  of "guilty", but later withdrew  it  and substituted therefor a plea  of "not guilty."  When the case  came up for  trial about a  month and a half  later,  the accused once more withdrew his plea of  "not guilty" and, upon the information being read to him  again,  entered that  of "guilty".

After satisfying itself that  the accused, who was  then assisted by counsel, was aware of the consequences of his plea,  the  learned trial  judge nevertheless  required the introduction of evidence as to  the guilt  of the accused and the circumstances attendant upon the commission of the crime.  This is in  accordance with the well-settled practice in this jurisdiction which contemplates the taking of additional evidence in cases wherein  pleas of "guilty" are entered  to informations charging grave crimes, and more especially crimes for which  the prescribed penalty is death.

The  uncontradicted  evidence for the  prosecution,  both testimonial and documentary, shows that at about noon on October 31, 1956  in  barrio  Langawon of the municipality of Baungon, Bukidnon, the accused brutally killed with a Japanese saber the  deceased  Inay Tomok while she was washing clothes at a spring not far from the house where she lived.   Thereafter, he went  up the  house and  there with  equal brutality and using the same Japanese  saber took  the lives of three  other inmates,  namely,  Menonio Gaaynon, 7 years of age, Maria  Abogan, 48, and Lestina Gaaynon, 20-year old mother, whose 6-day old child also died from a fractured  skull when it fell  to the floor from her mother's arms during the attack.  In his sworn statement, Exh. C, as well as during the re-enactment of the crime before a justice  of the peace the  accused, recalling how  he committed  the crime, declared:

"I hacked all of them on their necks. The first one I hacked was a woman at the creek washing clothes. I hacked with the saber at her right  (left)  neck. After  hitting her we faced each other.  After  hitting her, I  went up a house which is  about fifteen meters away. Before I went up I washed the saber with water in order to remove the blood and then placed it back in the scabbard. When I was already in the house, I saw an old woman grinding and a male child about  7 years  old.  I said good  day and  went up  the house. Then  I went behind the old woman and hacked her at the neck which  was then  cut. After the neck of the old woman was cut, the boy  stood up and I hacked him from behind at the left side of his face.  Thereafter that woman  who was in the room with her child stood up and I approached her  and met her at the door. I then slashed her with the saber but she parried herself with her, hands and retreated towards the room.  When she was already in the room I slashed her with the saber and then  she fell to  the floor on top of  the child. Because she was still moving and I believed that she  was  still  alive,  I  struck her again with  the saber on her neck."

In that same affidavit, the accused admitted to have taken and carried away some cash consisting of 20-, 10-, 5-,  2~, and 1-peso bills and some coins.

Testifying in his own behalf, the accused tried to establish the mitigating circumstances of  voluntary surrender and lack of instruction.  He declared that he had  not received any  schooling and that he  was on his way to surrender to the police of Malaybalay when he was apprehended by the barrio lieutenant  of Kawayan of the municipality of Impasug-ong.  The mitigating circumstance  of voluntary surrender  was,  however, rejected by the trial court for lack of factual basis while lack of  instruction was disregarded in view of the nature  of the offense committed.

From the evidence thus adduced,  read together with the plea of "guilty" entered on the arraignment, the trial court on July 8,1957 pronounced judgment, declaring the accused guilty beyond  reasonable doubt  of  the  crime charged. Discounting the aggravating circumstance  of  disregard of the  respect  due the offended parties  on account  of their ages and sexes alleged in the  information,  there being no evidence sufficient to show  such circumstance, but finding that the aggravating circumstances  of treachery and  dwelling  attended the  commission of the  gruesome crime, with only the mitigating  circumstance  of plea  of guilty to mitigate the offense, the court sentenced the accused to suffer the penalty of  death, to indemnify the heirs of each of the deceased  in the amount  of P6,000, and  Juan Gaaynon in the sum  of P700 for the  money stolen from him, and  to  pay the  costs.

The attorney de oficio contends that the trial court erred in not appreciating voluntary surrender as a mitigating Circumstance and  recommends that the penalty of death imposed should be  commuted to  the lesser  penalty  of reclusion perpetua.  It is  argued  that  the accused had intended to surrender at Malaybalay and that intention coupled with the fact that he did not resist  arrest or tried to escape should have been  considered as  tantamount to voluntary surrender.

After going over the record of the case,  we agree with the trial court that the mitigating  circumstance  of voluntary surrender  cannot be  appreciated in favor  of  the accused. The circumstance that the accused did not resist arrest or struggle to free himself after he was taken to custody  by the authorities  cannot amount to voluntary surrender.  (People vs. Siojo, 61  Phil., 307; People vs. Yuman, 61 Phil., 786.)  And while it is claimed that the accused intended to surrender, the fact remains that  he was arrested.  Moreover, the claim  was not believed  by the trial court and is belied by the evidence  adduced at the trial.  Thus, the accused himself testified that after committing the  crime charged, he rode in a gravel truck which brought him to Mabuaya.   From there he hailed a passenger "jeepney" bound for Cagayan de Oro City.   Inside the "jeepney" was a policeman in uniform  but instead of offering to surrender himself, he  got off  and continued his trip in another "jeepney".   Upon  arrival at Cagayan  de Oro City, he did not report his  crime or submit himself either  to the police  authorities or  to the provincial commander of the Philippine Constabulary.  What he did was to proceed to the house of his cousin at Gusa,  where  he stayed for several days.  During his stay  in  that  house, he did not go out.  Neither did he tell his cousin, or anyone else, about  the  crime he committed.  Leaving the house after several days, he took a ride in a Republic Transportation bus, but at a certain place past the town of Impasug- ong, he got off when he saw a jeep with Constabulary soldiers.  He then proceeded to barrio Kawayan, which is about 8 kilometers from the national highway.  There he met the barrio lieutenant who  became suspicious  of  his actuations.  The evidence further  shows that  on being asked, he informed the barrio lieutenant that he came from Impasug-ong, where he resided, and that he was looking for a cow.   But the  barrio lieutenant,  convinced that Tie was lying, arrested and, in the following morning, brought him in the company of three  others to  the Constabulary barracks in Malaybalay.

It will thus be seen that the accused acted more like a fugitive  from justice, which he was,  than one with  the intent to submit  himself to the authorities.  He had, in fact,  several opportunities to surrender himself, but he did not, and instead went into hiding in his cousin's house. Accosted by the barrio lieutenant, who arrested him, after avoiding once again the Constabulary to whom he could have  surrendered, he lied and pretended to be  merely looking for a lost cow.  And  while he claimed that he wanted to surrender only to the police in  Malaybalay, he admitted, however, that  he did not know  any policeman there; neither did he know the mayor or anybody else in the town.  In the circumstances, we hold that the trial court committed no error in not  appreciating voluntary surrender to mitigate criminal liability.

The sentence imposed  below being  in accordance with law, the same is hereby affirmed, with costs.

Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Endencia, Barrera, and Gutierrez David, JJ., concur.