2/10/2021 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 081

[No. L-1034. July 15, 1948]

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff and

appellee, vs. HONORATO ESPIRITU, defendant and
appellant

CRIMINAL LAW; TREASON; OVERT ACT; MAKAPILI

MEMBERSHIP.—Being a Makapili is in itself constitutive of
an overt act. It is not necessary, except for the purpose of
increasing the punishment, that the defendant actually went to
battle or committed nefarious acts against his country or
countrymen. The crime of treason was committed if he placed
himself at the enemy’s call to fight side by side with him when
the opportune time came even though an opportunity never
presented itself. Such membership by its very nature gave the
enemy aid and comfort. The enemy derived psychological
comfort in the knowledge that he had on his side nationals of
the country with which his was at war. It furnished the enemy
aid in that his cause was advanced, his forces augmented, and
his courage was enhanced by the knowledge that he could
count on men such as the accused and his kind who were ready
to strike at their own people. The practical effect of it was no
different from that of enlisting in the invader’s army.

APPEAL from a judgment of the People’s Court.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Santiago F. Alidio for appellant.
Assistant Solicitor General Carmelino G. Alvendia and
Acting Solicitor Antonio A. Torres for appellee.

HlLADO, J.:

Three counts were alleged in the information filed with the

People’s Court against the instant appellant, a Filipino
citizen, on December 1, 1945. That court dismissed the first
count but convicted appellant under the remaining two.
The second count charges that on or about
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236 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

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People vs. Espiritu

October 23, 1944, in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines, said

appellant, acting as informer or agent of the Imperial
Japanese Forces in the Philippines, for the purpose of and
with intent to give aid and/or comfort to the said enemy,
with the aid of a group of armed men who afforded him
impunity and taking advantage of the darkness of the
night, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously
and treasonably lead, accompany and participate in the
apprehension, arrest and investigation of one Conrado
Hernandez, suspected of being a guerrilla member, and
thereupon the said appellant did brutally maltreat and
torture the said Conrado Hernandez upon the latter’s
denial of any guerrilla connection.
The third count charges appellant with having in
December, 1944, and in the municipality of Sta. Rosa, in
order to make more effective the aid or comfort which he
intended to give the same enemy, voluntarily enlisted and
served as member of the Makapili, the military nature and
purposes1 of which organization were described in People vs.
Adriano, G.R. No. L-477, promulgated June 30, 1947 (44
Off. Gaz., 4300), as follows:

"* * * The mere fact of having joined a Makapili organization is

evidence of both adherence to the enemy and giving him aid and
comfort. Unless forced upon one against his will, membership in
the Makapili organization imports treasonable intent, considering
the purposes for which the organization was created, which,
according to the evidence, were ‘to accomplish the fulfillment of
the obligations assumed by the Philippines in the Pact of Alliance
with the Empire of Japan’, ‘to shed blood and sacrifice the lives of
our people in order to eradicate Anglo-Saxon influence in East
Asia’, ‘to collaborate unreservedly and unstintedly with the
Imperial Japanese Army and Navy in the Philippines’, and ‘to
fight the common enemies.'"

The third count also charges appellant with having

voluntarily joined and evacuated with the Japanese Army
in its retreat to the mountains of Luzon, and with having
stayed and remained with said army until he was
apprehended and captured by the American and guerrilla
forces.

____________

1 78 Phil., 561.

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VOL. 81, JULY 15, 1948 237

People vs. Espiritu

After due trial, the People’s Court in a unanimous decision

of the Fourth Division, found appellant guilty of treason
and imposed upon him the penalty of 15 years of reclusión
temporal, with the accessories of the law, and to pay a fine
of P5,000, plus the costs, “taking into special consideration
the degree of malice on the part of the accused in the
commission of the offense as may be gleaned from the
evidence as well as the extent of the acts of the accused and
the low degree of his instruction and education which is
apparent.” From that judgment, appellant has taken the
case on appeal to this Court.
As appears from the foregoing quotation, we have
already held in the Adriano case that mere membership in
the Makapili is treason under article 114 of the Revised
Penal Code for the following reasons:

“At the same time, being a Makapili is in itself constitutive of an

overt act. It is not necessary, except for the purpose of increasing
the punishment, that the defendant actually went to battle or
committed nefarious acts against his country or countrymen. The
crime of treason was committed if he placed himself at the
enemy’s call to fight side by side with him when the opportune
time came even though an opportunity never presented itself.
Such membership by its very nature gave the enemy aid and
comfort. The enemy derived psychological comfort in the
knowledge that he had on his side nationals of the country with
which his was at war. It furnished the enemy aid in that his cause
was advanced, his forces augmented, and his courage was
enhanced by the knowledge that he could count on men such as
the accused and his kind who were ready to strike at their own
people. The practical effect of it was no different from that of
enlisting in the invader’s army.”

The prosecution has clearly complied with the twowitness

rule in its evidence supporting the third count, which
concerns appellant’s membership in the Makapili, and his
acts as a member thereof. (Testimony of Conrado
Hernandez, t. s. n., pp. 15–17, 18–19, 32–33, February 11,
1946; testimony of Leonarda Gindia, t. s. n., pp. 3–4,
February 11, 1946, and p. 4, March 29, 1946.)
This suffices to affirm the judgment appealed from
without need of entering into a detailed discussion of

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238 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

People vs. Abarintos

the assignment of error presented by appellant’s counsel as

to compliance with the two-witness rule respecting count
No. 2.
Wherefore, judgment is affirmed, with costs against
appellant, So ordered,

Feria, Pablo, Perfecto, Bengzon, Briones, Padilla, and

Tuason, JJ., concur.

Parás, Actg. C.J., concurs in the result.

hè hereby certify that Mr. Justice Moran voted for the

affirmance of the decision appealed from.—PARÁS, Actg.
C.J.
Judgment affirmed.

_______________

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