Sedition Cases

8/18/2019 Sedition Cases

1/9

SEDITION

People v. Umali

Sentenced by trial court to: complex crime of rebellion with

multiple murder, frustrated murder, arson and robberyAccused staged a raid in the town of Tiaong, Quezon, between :!!and ":!! in the e#ening$ Said raid too% &lace resulting in the '()burning down and co*&lete destruction of the house of +ayor +arcial

unzalan including its content #alued at -.,!-/0 '-) the house of 1alentin 2obles #alued at (!,!!!, and '/) the house of one +ortega,'.) the death of atrol*an Do*ingo isigan and ci#ilians 1icenteSoriano and 3eocadio 4ntalan, and the '5) wounding of atrol*an

edro 3acorte and 6#e ci#ilians0 that during and after the burning of the houses, so*e of the raiders '7) engaged in looting, robbing one

house and two 8hinese stories0 and that the raiders were 6nallydis&ersed and dri#en fro* the town by the hili&&ine Ar*y soldiersstationed in the town$

olitical bac%ground: Narciso 4*ali and +arcial unzalan were old ti*efriends and belonged to the sa*e &olitical faction$ They both hel&edeach other get elected as 8ongress*an and +ayor, res&ecti#ely$ 9ut,4*ali beca*e ealous because of unzalan;s fast growing &o&ularitya*ong the &eo&le of Tiaong who loo%ed to hi* instead of 4*ali for&olitical guidance, leadershi&, and fa#ors$ In ti*e the strain in theirrelations beca*e such that they ceased to ha#e any dealings with

each other and they e#en 6led *utual accusations$ 4*ali e#encon#inced -7 of unzalanuently &ersuaded to gi#e u& their ar*s$

Then the elections a&&roached and unzalan ran for reelection$ Too&&ose hi*, and to cli& his &olitical wings and de6nitely blast hisa*bition for continued &ower and in?uence in Tiaong, 4*ali &ic%edE&ifanio asu*bal, his trusted leader$ The &re@election ca*&aign and6ght waged by both factions unzalan and asu*bal, was intenseand bitter, e#en ruthless$

The result of the elections &lainly showed that unzalan was the&olitical *aster and leader in Tiaong$ =e beat asu*bal by ano#erwhel*ing *a ority of -,--( #otes$ Naturally, 4*ali and asu*balwere %eenly disa&&ointed, and according to the e#idence, ado&ted*easures calculated to frustrate unzalan;s #ictory, e#en as&ro&hesied by 4*ali hi*self in one of his &re@election s&eeches aboutblood ?owing and gold coBn$


2/9

On the e#e of the election, 4*ali instructed asu*bal to contact the=u%s through 8o**ander Abeng so that unzalan will be %illed,

asu*bal co*&lying with the order of his 8hief '4*ali) went to the*ountains which were >uite near the town and held a conference with8o**ander Abeng$ It would see* that 4*ali and asu*bal had a

feeling that unzalan was going to win in the elections the neCt day,and that his death was the surest way to eli*inate hi* fro* theelectoral 6ght$

asu*bal re&orted to 4*ali about his conference with 8o**anderAbeng, saying that the latter was agreeable to the &ro&osition and hade#en outlined the *anner of attac%, that the =u%s would enter thetown 'Tiaong) under 8o**ander 3ucio and Aladin, the latter to leadthe sector towards the East0 but that 8o**ander Abeng hadsuggested that the raid be &ost&oned because asu*bal *ay yet winthe election the following day, thereby rendering unnecessary the raid

and the %illing of unzalan$It would a&&ear fro* the e#idence that the raid was well@&lanned$ As adi#ersionary *easure, &art of the attac%ing force was de&loyed towardthe ca*& or station of the Ar*y '&art of th 9$8$T$) in the suburbs andthe ca*& was 6red u&on, not eCactly to destroy or dri#e out that Ar*yunit but to %ee& it fro* going to the rescue and aid of the *ainob ecti#e of the raid$ The rest of the raiding &arty went toward

unzalan;s house and attac%ed it with auto*atic wea&ons, handgrenades, and e#en with bottles 6lled with gasoline '&o&ularly %nownas +oloto#;s coc%tail)$ It was e#ident that the &ur&ose of the attac% on

unzalan;s house was to %ill hi*$ Fortunately, however, andapparently unknown to the attackers and those who designedthe raid, at six o'clock that morning of November !thPun"alan and his #hief of Police had left $iaong to go to%ucena, the capital, to report the results of the election to the&overnor.

2O E2 82I+E:

e are con#inced that the &rinci&al and *ain, tho not necessarily the*ost serious, cri*e co**itted here was not rebellion but ratherthat of sedition $ The &ur&ose of the raid and the act of the raiders inrising &ublicly and ta%ing u& ar*s was not exactly against the&overnment and for the purpose of doing the things de ned in(rticle )! of the *evised Penal code under rebellion $ Theraiders did not e#en attac% the residencia, the seat of local

o#ern*ent$ 2ather, the ob ect was to attain by *eans of force,inti*idation, etc$ one ob ect, to wit, to in+ict an act of hate orrevenge upon the person or property of a public o cial,


3/9

namely, Pun"alan was then -ayor of $iaong $ 4nder Article (/" of the sa*e 8ode this was suBcient to constitute sedition$

As regards the cri*e of robbery with which a&&ellants were chargedand of which they were con#icted, we are also of the o&inion that it

was not one of the &ur&oses of the raid, which was *ainly to %idna& or%ill unzalan and destroy his house$ The robberies were actuallyco**itted by only so*e of the raiders, &resu*ably dissidents, as anafterthought, because of the o&&ortunity oFered by the confusion anddisorder resulting fro* the shooting and the burning of the threehouses, the articles being intended &resu*ably to re&lenish thesu&&lies of the dissidents in the *ountains$ Gor these robberies, onlythose who actually too% &art therein are res&onsible, and not the threea&&ellants herein$

ith res&ect to the cri*e of *ulti&le frustrated *urder, while the

assault u&on &olice*an edro 3acorte with a hand grenade causinghi* in uries resulting in his blindness in one eye, *ay be regarded asfrustrated *urder0 the wounding of Ortega, Anselo, 2i#ano, arcia and3ector should be considered as *ere &hysical in uries$ $he crimescommitted are, therefore, those of sedition, multiple murder,arson, frustrated murder and physical in uries $ The *urders *aynot be >uali6ed by e#ident &re*editation because the &re*editationwas for the %illing of unzalan$ The result was the %illing of three othersintended by the raiders ' eo&le vs $ uillen, .H OF)$ The %illing *ay,howe#er, be >uali6ed by treachery, the raiders using 6rear*s againstwhich the #icti*s were defenseless, with the aggra#ating circu*stance

of abuse of su&erior strength$ The three *urders *ay be &unished withthe &enalty of death$ =owe#er, because of lac% of the necessary #otes,the &enalty should be life i*&rison*ent$

People v. #abrera

+anila &olice*en arrested a wo*an who was a *e*ber of thehousehold of a 8onstabulary soldier$ The arrest of the wo*an wasconsidered by so*e of the 8onstabulary soldiers as an outrageco**itted by the &olice*en, and it instantly ga#e rise to frictionbetween *e*bers of +anila &olice de&art*ent and *e*ber of the

hili&&ine 8onstabulary$ The neCt day, a &olice*an na*ed Arte*io +o ica, had an encounterwith #arious 8onstabulary soldiers which resulted in the shooting of&ri#ate +acasinag of the 8onstabulary$ ri#ate +acasinag wasseriously, and as afterwards a&&eared, *ortally wounded$


4/9


5/9

42 OSE olitical@ to o#erthrowthe duly constitutedgo#ern*ent

+ay be &olitical orsocial for carrying out&rotest ordisobedience fro* a

go#ern*ental actionand not for the&ur&ose ofo#erthrowing thego#ern*ent$ The act*ay be against asocial class$

4SE OG GI2EA2+ 4se of 6rear* is anessential ingredient of rebellion

The use of 6rear* isnot an essentialingredient

U/ v. $olentino

Aurelio Tolentino was charged with inciting to sedition by allegedly*a%ing false, seditious, and in?a**atory words and scurrilous libels in

Tagalog language in a theatrical wor% written by, and &resented by hi*and others at the Teatro 3ibertad entitled ;Jaha&on Kgayon at 9u%as;'Lesterday, To@day, and To@*orrow)$

S8: e are all agreed that the &ublication and &resentation of thedra*a directly and necessarily tend to instigate others to cabal and*eet together for unlawful &ur&oses, and to suggest and inciterebellious cons&iracies and riots and to stir u& the &eo&le against thelawful authorities and to disturb the &eace of the co**unity and thesafety and order of the o#ern*ent$

The *anifest, un*ista%able tendency of the &lay, in #iew of the ti*e,&lace, and *anner of its &resentation, was to inculcate a s&irit ofhatred and en*ity against the A*erican &eo&le and the o#ern*entof the 4nited States in the hili&&ines, and we are satis6ed that the&rinci&al ob ect and intent of its author was to incite the &eo&le of the

hili&&ine Islands to o&en and ar*ed resistance to the constitutedauthorities, and to induce the* to cons&ire together for the secretorganization of ar*ed forces, to be used when the o&&ortunity&resented itself, for the &ur&ose of o#erthrowing the &resent

o#ern*ent and setting u& another in its stead$

Defense : 8ounsel for the a&&ellant insists that the intent of theaccused to co**it the cri*e with which he is charged does not a&&earfro* the e#idence of record, and that the dra*a is, in itself, a &urely


6/9

literary and artistic &roduction wherein the legendary history of theseIslands and their future, as i*agined by the author, are &resented*erely for the instruction and entertain*ent of the &ublic$

This contention cannot be *aintained$ The &ublic &resentation of the

dra*a too% &lace less than two years after the establish*ent of the8i#il o#ern*ent$ The s*ouldering e*bers of a wide@s&read anddangerous insurrection were not yet entirely eCtinguished, and hereand there throughout the Islands occasional outbrea%s still re>uired theuse of the ar*ed forces of the o#ern*ent for their su&&ression$

The *anner and for* in which the dra*a was &resented at such ati*e and under such conditions, renders absurd the &retense that itwas *erely or e#en &rinci&ally a literary or artistic &roduction, and theclu*sy de#ices, the allegorical 6gures, the a&&arent re*oteness, &astand future, of the e#ents &ortrayed, could not and in fact were not

intended to lea#e the audience in doubt as to its &resent andi**ediate a&&lication, nor should they blind this court to the true&ur&ose and intent of the author and director of the &lay$

0spuelas v. People

Oscar Es&uelas had his &icture ta%en, *a%ing it to a&&ear as if he werehanging lifeless at the end of a &iece of ro&e sus&ended for* the li*bof the tree, when in truth and in fact, he was *erely standing on abarrel$ After securing co&ies of his &hotogra&h, Es&uelas sent co&ies ofsa*e to se#eral news&a&ers and wee%lies of general circulation, not

only in the ro#ince of 9ohol but also throughout the hili&&ines andabroad, for their &ublication with a suicide note or letter, wherein he*ade to a&&ear that it was written by a 6ctitious suicide, Alberto2e#eniera and addressed to the latter;s su&&osed wife translation ofwhich letter or note in hereunder re&roduced:

Dearest wife and children, bury *e 6#e *eters dee&$ O#er *y gra#edon;t &lant a cross or &ut ?oral wreaths, for I don;t need the*$

lease don;t bury *e in the lonely &lace$ 9ury *e in the 8atholicce*etery$ Although I ha#e co**itted suicide, I still ha#e the right toburried a*ong 8hristians$9ut don;t &ray for *e$ Don;t re*e*ber *e, and don;t feel sorry$ i&e*e out of your li#es$

+y dear wife, if so*eone as%s to you why I co**itted suicide, tellthe* I did it because I was not &leased with the ad*inistration of2oCas$ Tell the whole world about this$


7/9

And if they as% why I did not li%e the ad*inistration of 2oCas, &oint outto the* the situation in 8entral 3uzon, the 3eyte$

Dear wife, write to resident Tru*an and 8hurchill$ Tell the* that here

in the hili&&ines our go#ern*ent is infested with *any =itlers and+ussolinis

Teach our children to burn &ictures of 2oCas if and when they co*eacross one$

I co**itted suicide because I a* asha*ed of our go#ern*ent under2oCas$ I cannot hold high *y brows to the world with this dirtygo#ern*ent$

I co**itted suicide because I ha#e no &ower to &ut under Muez de

8uchillo all the 2oCas &eo&le now in &ower$ So, I sacri6ced *y ownself$

The latter is a scurrilous libel against the o#ern*ent$ It calls ourgo#ern*ent one of croo%s and dishonest &ersons 'dirty) infested withNazis and a Gascistis i$e$dictators$

And the co**unication re#eals a tendency to &roduce dissatisfactionor a feeling inco*&atible with the dis&osition to re*ain loyal to thego#ern*ent$ ritings which tend to o#erthrow or under*ine thesecurity of the go#ern*ent or to wea%en the con6dence of the &eo&le

in the go#ern*ent are against the &ublic &eace, and are cri*inal notonly because they tend to incite to a breach of the &eace but becausethey are conduci#e to the destruction of the #ery go#ern*ent itself$

1ith respect to #onstitutional right to redress of grievances2 Not to be restrained is the &ri#ilege of any citizen to criticize hisgo#ern*ent oBcials and to sub*it his criticis* to the free trade ofideas and to &lead for its acce&tance in the co*&etition of the*ar%et$ =owe#er, let such criticis* be s&eci6c and thereforeconstructi#e, reasoned or te*&ered, and not a conte*&tuousconde*nation of the entire go#ern*ent set@u&$ Such wholesale attac%is nothing less than an in#itation to disloyalty to the go#ern*ent$ Inthe article now under eCa*ination one will 6nd no &articularob ectionable actuation of the go#ern*ent$ It is called dirty, it is calleda dictatorshi&, it is called sha*eful, but no &articular o*issions orco**issions are set forth$ Instead the article dri& with *ale@#iolenceand hate towards the constituted authorities$ It tries to arouseani*osity towards all &ublic ser#ants headed by resident 2oCas


8/9

whose &ictures this a&&ellant would burn and would teach the youngergeneration to destroy$

Analyzed for *eaning and weighed in its conse>uences the articlecannot fail to i*&ress thin%ing &ersons that it see%s to sow the seeds

of sedition and strife$ The infuriating language is not a sincere eFort to&ersuade, what with the writer;s si*ulated suicide and false clai* to*artyrdo* and what with is failure to &articularize$ hen the useirritating language centers not on &ersuading the readers but oncreating disturbances, the rationable of free s&eech cannot a&&ly andthe s&ea%er or writer is re*o#ed fro* the &rotection of theconstitutional guaranty$

(s to the ob ect of the scurrilous libel2 If it be argued that thearticle does not discredit the entire go#ern*ental structure but only

resident 2oCas and his *en, the re&ly is that article (.- &unishes not

only all libels against the o#ern*ent but also libels against any ofthe duly constituted authorities thereof$ The 2oCas &eo&le in theo#ern*ent ob#iously refer of least to the resident, his 8abinet and

the *a ority of legislators to who* the ad ecti#es dirty, =itlers and+ussolinis were naturally directed$ On this score alone the con#ictioncould be u&held$

To to& it all, the a&&ellant &roclai*ed to his readers that he co**ittedsuicide because he had no &ower to &ut under uez de cuchillo all the2oCas &eo&le now in &ower$ Jnowing, that the eC&ression Muez de8uchillo *eans to the ordinary lay*an as the 3aw of the Jnife, a

su**ary and arbitrary eCecution by the %nife , the idea intended bythe a&&ellant to be con#eyed was no other than bloody, #iolent andun&eaceful *ethods to free the go#ern*ent fro* the ad*inistration of 2oCas and his *en$

-artine" v. -orfe

There is, to be sure, a full recognition of the necessity to ha#e*e*bers of 8ongress, and li%ewise delegates to the 8onstitutional8on#ention, entitled to the ut*ost freedo* to enable the* todischarge their #ital res&onsibilities, bowing to no other force eCce&tthe dictates of their conscience$ Necessarily the ut*ost latitude in frees&eech should be accorded the*$ hen it co*es to freedo* fro*arrest, howe#er, it would a*ount to the creation of a &ri#ileged class,without usti6cation in reason, if notwithstanding their liability for acri*inal oFense, they would be considered i**une during theirattendance in 8ongress and in going to and returning fro* the sa*e$

There is li%ely to be no dissent fro* the &ro&osition that a legislator ora delegate can &erfor* his functions eBciently and well, without the


9/9

need for any transgression of the cri*inal law$ Should such anunfortunate e#ent co*e to &ass, he is to be treated li%e any othercitizen considering that there is a strong &ublic interest in seeing to itthat cri*e should not go un&unished$ To the fear that *ay beeC&ressed that the &rosecuting ar* of the go#ern*ent *ight un ustly

go after legislators belonging to the *inority, it suBces to answer that&recisely all the safeguards thrown around an accused by the8onstitution, solicitous of the rights of an indi#idual, would constitutean obstacle to such an atte*&t at abuse of &ower$ The &resu*&tion of course is that the udiciary would *ain inde&endent$ It is trite to saythat in each and e#ery *anifestation of udicial endea#or, such a #irtueis of the essence$

Sedition Cases

Documents

Transcript of Sedition Cases