By Chester B. Cabalza
It all began inside Fort Gregorio del Pilar (named after the young hero of the battle of Tirad Pass) of the sprawling 373-hectare handsome compound in Loakan, some 10 kilometers from downtown Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio City.
The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1959, being part of this premier military learning institution’s centennial existence, manifested its colorful traditions in its new location that was developed into a military training institution with facilities and infrastructure required by its growing number of aspiring cadets from all over the country.
Members of the Class ’59 were selected from the crème of the crop applicants all over Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Thus, by reminiscing the grueling assortment from thousand of applicants from all over the country, only 40 freshmen “plebe” cadets passed the very difficult and intricate entrance examinations, thus, they reported to the Academy on April 1, 1956 after receiving their appointments.
They had all their reasons of entering this august institution. From the rare chance and privilege to serve the country and for acquiring a well rounded education that would help them excel in academics, leadership, teamwork, and physical fitness. The incentives of receiving salary and allowances while studying and the prospect of a guaranteed job after their graduation. Lastly, some thought that they had a progressive career as an officer of the Philippine Army, Navy, Airforce and Philippine Constabulary. But beyond all the promises offered to them as young and idealist individuals, they needed to show that they deserve all the love, support, and honor given to them by their fellow citizens and loved ones.
After their appointment to the Academy, training their body and mind started through the Reception that played a turning point among cadets as that day marked their first day of a military career and the last day of their civilian lives. Their lives as plebes began here to build desirable character traits expected of cadets. They experienced living under an atmosphere of restraint prescribed by rules and regulations. These rules and regulations were all codified into what is known as the Graybook or "cadet bible." The Graybook defines, specifies, and covers all the "do's" and "dont's" of cadet behavior, activities, and actuations.
After eight long and arduous weeks of "Beast Barracks," the new cadets of the Class ’59 were ready to be regular members of the Cadet Corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. They occupied separate barracks and were kept apart from the rest of the Corps saved for the members of the Plebe Detail, as they joined the rest of the Corps in all activities. For the first time, during Incorporation Day, the new plebes joined the rest of the Corps as they passed in review. This Incorporation Ceremony was a meaningful ceremony to them all since it symbolized their fitness and worthiness as true and bonafide cadets.
Like all batches in the Academy, cadets of Class ‘59 followed very unique customs and traditions that were premised on the principle that "no one is fit to command who has not learned to obey." This tradition called for certain standards which the plebe - fresh from civilian life must meet. It was also considered as corrective measures that upperclassmen may take to enable the plebes to meet the standards. In other words, the custom operated for them to develop good qualities as individuals. Likewise, this helped them exercise their leadership qualities.
The development of character is one of the crucial aspects in the training of cadets. It is a fundamental objective which the Philippine Military Academy strives to achieve through the Honor Code and the Honor System. This system is a unique system which is administered by the cadets themselves. Through the Honor System, the cadet binds himself to the Code which states that: “We, the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do so.”
The Honor System is very special to the cadets, and transcends all aspects of his life in the Academy. It presupposes clean thinking and honest dealing; therefore, deception is neither tolerated nor are undue advantages allowed to be taken by one another. And as a tradition, Class ’59 adhered to the Honor System.
Among the memorable experiences they had as plebes were the hundred night show (signaled their 100-day countdown to graduation for the firstclass cadets) and ring hop (where a firstclass cadet dance and ceremony which takes place during Graduation Week) that brought them into the night of good memories, laughter, enjoyment, brotherhood, and camaraderie.
Prior to the end their sophomore “yearling” year or second year at the Academy, they already learned the service they wanted to enter into whether to become an army, navy, airforce or Philippine constabulary. That time, some of the members of the class, specialized in training courses like Marine radar/propulsion for future navy ensigns, aerodynamics/flight simulations for future air force lieutenants and the Army Infantry Weapons Effects Simulation System for future Army officers at the start of their third "cow" year.
Hence, cadets in the academy who excelled in both academics and physical training were also rendered the opportunity to enter and study at the United States Military Academy in West Point, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.
Years of heavy training at the Academy thought them so many things. The Recognition ceremony remained to be one of the most touching and memorable traditions they experienced in the PMA. That special day, through a simple yet profoundly meaningful handshake and pat on the back by an upperclass cadet, the fourthclass ceased to be a plebe. This is a rite of passage, the end of the numerous restrictions and difficulties that only a plebe can experience in the Academy.
After they received their commisionship of service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, graduation seemed to be nearing. The Graduation week is one of the most significant and important traditions celebrated in the Philippine Military Academy. It represented the culmination of their four exacting years of regimented training. It is during this week that the firstclass cadets pass on the mantle of leadership to the incoming firstclass cadets in moving and impressive ceremonies which form part of the graduation parade. The graduation week ends with the Graduation Exercises usually with the President of the Philippines and the Commander-in-Chief of the AFP as the guest of honor and speaker.
As part of their sworn duties to serve and protect the country, most members of the Class ’59 rendered their service to the Navy, Army, Airforce and Philippine Constabulary. This was the period of Diaspora and exposure to “Real Life” situations and experiences outside the halls of their beloved PMA.
As they developed from young military officers, their ranks in the military service rose, developed and evolved. Some of them took further studies and trainings locally and internationally. They educated themselves and obtained higher educational degrees and continued their service to the country, as they achieved high-ranking positions their respective fields in the AFP and other civic positions.
They got married and founded their own families. Most of them became triumphant and their children became good citizens and successful professionals. As they retired from military service, most of them pursued other interests in different fields of entrepreneurship, corporate employment, private practice, religious and socio-economic pursuits, and government service.
Finally, some resorted to apostolic mission, such as taking care of their grandchildren. Few already departed leaving substantial legacies. While some others afforded to travel and live abroad with family members while most of them are still active in the Golden Jubilee of the PMA Class 1959.
Monday, March 29, 2010
People vs Ruben Calijan
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Ruben Calijan
G.R. No. 94592
September 28, 1993
Facts:
The evidence for the government tends to establish that at about 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon of 30 June 1989, in Sitio Pinanginan, Barangay Obat, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Arnolfo Baya was weeding at the sugarcane field. Ruben Calijan, a 39-year old farmer, passed by and persuaded Arnolfo to accompany him to Felipe Nario's place at the "tabuan" (market fair). However, before proceeding, they fetched Fredo Paunillan, another farmer. While at Fredo's place, Ruben met Gerry Camporedondo, took the latter's six-inch hunting knife and tucked it to his waist. Then they all proceeded to Felipe's house where Ruben drank one "lapad" of Anejo rum while Arnolfo imbibed "tuba". Ruben played "hantak" (cara y cruz).
During the court proceedings, Ruben Calijan denied responsibility for the death of Gregorio. He pointed to the brothers Arnolfo and Edwin Baya as the real killers. He testified that at about 10:00 o'clock in the evening of 30 June 1989, after taking "tuba" in the house of Francing Esia, he walked home. As he neared the river separating the house of Gregorio and his, he heard him shouting for help.
Immediately he went to the house of Gregorio and saw Arnolfo and Edwin standing at the front yard looking down at the inert body of Gregorio. When he asked them what happened, they told him to go home as he had nothing to do with the incident, and that Gregorio was a "traitor" because the bamboo he had promised them was sold to another.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant committed the crime of homicide or murder?
Held:
After a careful assessment of the evidence, we hold that the trial court erred in appreciating treachery and evident premeditation as having qualified the crime to murder. Consequently, the killing of Gregorio Belnas was simple homicide aggravated by scoffing at the corpse and mitigated on the other hand by intoxication that was not habitual.
the Court finds the accused RUBEN CALIJAN Y MAGALSO guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of HOMICIDE, instead of murder, and imposes upon him an indeterminate prison term of eight (8) years, four (4) months and ten (10) days of prision mayor medium, as minimum, to fourteen (14) years, ten (10) months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal medium, as maximum.
The accused is further directed to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Gregorio Belnas in the increased amount of P50,000.00.
People vs Ruben Calijan
G.R. No. 94592
September 28, 1993
Facts:
The evidence for the government tends to establish that at about 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon of 30 June 1989, in Sitio Pinanginan, Barangay Obat, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Arnolfo Baya was weeding at the sugarcane field. Ruben Calijan, a 39-year old farmer, passed by and persuaded Arnolfo to accompany him to Felipe Nario's place at the "tabuan" (market fair). However, before proceeding, they fetched Fredo Paunillan, another farmer. While at Fredo's place, Ruben met Gerry Camporedondo, took the latter's six-inch hunting knife and tucked it to his waist. Then they all proceeded to Felipe's house where Ruben drank one "lapad" of Anejo rum while Arnolfo imbibed "tuba". Ruben played "hantak" (cara y cruz).
During the court proceedings, Ruben Calijan denied responsibility for the death of Gregorio. He pointed to the brothers Arnolfo and Edwin Baya as the real killers. He testified that at about 10:00 o'clock in the evening of 30 June 1989, after taking "tuba" in the house of Francing Esia, he walked home. As he neared the river separating the house of Gregorio and his, he heard him shouting for help.
Immediately he went to the house of Gregorio and saw Arnolfo and Edwin standing at the front yard looking down at the inert body of Gregorio. When he asked them what happened, they told him to go home as he had nothing to do with the incident, and that Gregorio was a "traitor" because the bamboo he had promised them was sold to another.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant committed the crime of homicide or murder?
Held:
After a careful assessment of the evidence, we hold that the trial court erred in appreciating treachery and evident premeditation as having qualified the crime to murder. Consequently, the killing of Gregorio Belnas was simple homicide aggravated by scoffing at the corpse and mitigated on the other hand by intoxication that was not habitual.
the Court finds the accused RUBEN CALIJAN Y MAGALSO guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of HOMICIDE, instead of murder, and imposes upon him an indeterminate prison term of eight (8) years, four (4) months and ten (10) days of prision mayor medium, as minimum, to fourteen (14) years, ten (10) months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal medium, as maximum.
The accused is further directed to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Gregorio Belnas in the increased amount of P50,000.00.
People vs Guardiano Marquez
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Guardiano Marquez
G.R. No. 31268
July 31, 1929
Facts:
The defendant admits that he killed his wife, Oliva Sumampong; but he alleges that he caught her in the act of adultery, and so took her life.
Issue:
W/O the accused is committed a crime under Articles 246 or 247 of the RPC?
Held:
This is a case of parricide which the trial court considered sufficiently proven against the herein appellant, who was sentenced, in consequence, to life imprisonment, the accessories of law, and a P1,000 indemnify to the heirs of the deceased, with costs.
But the court considered two mitigating circumstances of immediate provocation, and passion and obfuscation (article 9, paragraphs 4 and 7, Penal Code) to have been established. And by virtue of these two circumstances, following rule 5 of article 81 of the Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 2298, and there was no aggravating circumstance, the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law shall be imposed.
Once the appellant had admitted that it was he who killed his wife, it was incumbent upon him to completely prove his defense, which is, that he found her in the act of adultery. The testimony he gave during the hearing of this case in the trial court, noticeably weakened by his statements before the justice of the peace, cannot be considered sufficient proof of the justification he alleges, and so the fact remains that he took his wife's life without having proven sufficient justification.
People vs Guardiano Marquez
G.R. No. 31268
July 31, 1929
Facts:
The defendant admits that he killed his wife, Oliva Sumampong; but he alleges that he caught her in the act of adultery, and so took her life.
Issue:
W/O the accused is committed a crime under Articles 246 or 247 of the RPC?
Held:
This is a case of parricide which the trial court considered sufficiently proven against the herein appellant, who was sentenced, in consequence, to life imprisonment, the accessories of law, and a P1,000 indemnify to the heirs of the deceased, with costs.
But the court considered two mitigating circumstances of immediate provocation, and passion and obfuscation (article 9, paragraphs 4 and 7, Penal Code) to have been established. And by virtue of these two circumstances, following rule 5 of article 81 of the Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 2298, and there was no aggravating circumstance, the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law shall be imposed.
Once the appellant had admitted that it was he who killed his wife, it was incumbent upon him to completely prove his defense, which is, that he found her in the act of adultery. The testimony he gave during the hearing of this case in the trial court, noticeably weakened by his statements before the justice of the peace, cannot be considered sufficient proof of the justification he alleges, and so the fact remains that he took his wife's life without having proven sufficient justification.
People vs Nuepe Wagas
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Nuepe Wagas
G.R. No. 61704
March 8, 1989
Facts:
On 30 April 1981 in Baguio City, Nuepe Wagas killed his wife Victoria Wagas with whom he was united in lawful wedlock, and being then armed with a bladed instrument, he stabbed his wife and as a result of which attack she was wounded on her left chest which directly caused instantaneous death.
On the other hand, the accused-appellant, as the record of the case also shows, did not deny the killing of his spouse. His defense was that the killing had been committed under exceptional circumstances.
Issue:
Whether accused-appellant is deemed guilty of parricide or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances?
Held:
It is true that the evidence is replete with testimonies about the turmoil in the Wagas marriage; namely, that the spouses no longer lived together in the same house; that there had been a family dispute submitted for conciliation before the Barangay Council; and that the family elders had been consulted about the frequent marital spats. In addition, Victoria had not been the paragon of virtue, having been seen on several occasions, in familiarities unbecoming of a married woman with four children, with other men like a certain Johnny Diano.
This recount of salacious interludes involving his wayward wife, however, would not suffice to tilt the scales of justice in favor of Nuepe. The vindication of a Man's honor is justified because of the scandal an unfaithful wife creates; the law is strict on this, authorizing as it does, a man to chastise her, even with death. But killing the errant spouse as a purification is so severe as that it can only be justified when the unfaithful spouse is caught in flagrante delicto; and it must be resorted to only with great caution so much so that the law requires that it be inflicted only during the sexual intercourse or immediately thereafter.
Curiously, Nuepe himself admitted the absence of any feeling of jealousy or remorse, before the killing of his wife. And, as discussed earlier, he was not able to sufficiently establish catching his wife and another man in the sexual act.
The judgment appealed from is AFFIRMED, convicting the accused beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of parricide and imposing the penalty of reclusion perpetua. The indemnity, however, is increased from P12,000.00 to P30,000.00. Costs against the appellant.
People vs Nuepe Wagas
G.R. No. 61704
March 8, 1989
Facts:
On 30 April 1981 in Baguio City, Nuepe Wagas killed his wife Victoria Wagas with whom he was united in lawful wedlock, and being then armed with a bladed instrument, he stabbed his wife and as a result of which attack she was wounded on her left chest which directly caused instantaneous death.
On the other hand, the accused-appellant, as the record of the case also shows, did not deny the killing of his spouse. His defense was that the killing had been committed under exceptional circumstances.
Issue:
Whether accused-appellant is deemed guilty of parricide or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances?
Held:
It is true that the evidence is replete with testimonies about the turmoil in the Wagas marriage; namely, that the spouses no longer lived together in the same house; that there had been a family dispute submitted for conciliation before the Barangay Council; and that the family elders had been consulted about the frequent marital spats. In addition, Victoria had not been the paragon of virtue, having been seen on several occasions, in familiarities unbecoming of a married woman with four children, with other men like a certain Johnny Diano.
This recount of salacious interludes involving his wayward wife, however, would not suffice to tilt the scales of justice in favor of Nuepe. The vindication of a Man's honor is justified because of the scandal an unfaithful wife creates; the law is strict on this, authorizing as it does, a man to chastise her, even with death. But killing the errant spouse as a purification is so severe as that it can only be justified when the unfaithful spouse is caught in flagrante delicto; and it must be resorted to only with great caution so much so that the law requires that it be inflicted only during the sexual intercourse or immediately thereafter.
Curiously, Nuepe himself admitted the absence of any feeling of jealousy or remorse, before the killing of his wife. And, as discussed earlier, he was not able to sufficiently establish catching his wife and another man in the sexual act.
The judgment appealed from is AFFIRMED, convicting the accused beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of parricide and imposing the penalty of reclusion perpetua. The indemnity, however, is increased from P12,000.00 to P30,000.00. Costs against the appellant.
People vs Pilus Subano
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Pilus Subano
G.R. No. L-48143
September 30, 1942
Facts:
On July 9, 1940, defendant and his wife Bankalot had a quarrel because the latter, then suffering from a headache, refused to work in their kaiñgin. The defendant then remarked in a fit of anger that it would be better if she were dead. The quarrel was resumed the following morning when she again refused to accompany her husband to a creek of the Macasin River to catch fish; but this time, defendant dragged her along with him. When he returned home the afternoon of that day, he was alone and was noticeably pale and restless. Ebol Subano, father of Bankalot, and Biwang Subano, father of Cumay, another wife of the defendant, noticed bloodstains on his bolo and on its scabbard.
Defendant sought to explain these bloodstains as of a big fish which he had cut. Ebol and Biwang noticed, however, that the defendant had not brought home any fish, and suspecting the something might be wrong, Ebol asked the defendant where his daughter was. Defendant disclaimed knowledge of her. With nightfall bringing no sign of Bankalot's coming, Ebol and Biwang began searching for her.
Four days later, they found her dead body lying in an isolated place in the middle of a creek of the Macasin River with a mortal wound on the back and another at the neck which almost severed the head from the body, and with several contusions. Lieutenant Olivares, to whom the case was reported, repaired to the hut of the defendant who came down with an unsheathed bolo accompanied by his brother also carrying a bolo. The lieutenant ordered them to drop their bolos and when they refused he ordered his men to aim their rifles at them, whereupon the accused dropped his bolo and was arrested. Taken to the scene of the crime, he would not look at the dead body of his wife although he was asked to view and identify it, and showed no sign of grief. The accused at the trial denied having killed his wife.
Issue:
Whether or not the accused-defendant is liable for the crime of parricide or homicide?
Held:
The crime committed is homicide and not parricide. From the testimony of Ebol Subano, father of the deceased, it appears that the defendant has three wives and that the deceased was the last in point of time. Although the practice of polygamy is approved by custom among these non-Christians, polygamy, however, is not sanctioned by the Marriage Law which merely recognizes tribal marriage rituals. The deceased, under our law, is not thus the lawful wife of the defendant and this precludes conviction for the crime of parricide.
However, accused-defendant appealed his case to the CA, from the judgment of the Court of First Instance of Zamboanga where he was found guilty of the crime of parricide and sentencing him to reclusion perpetua and to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P2,000. But the judgment on the appellate court rendered with the modification that the accused be sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of from eight years of prision mayor to fifteen years of reclusion temporal, the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
People vs Pilus Subano
G.R. No. L-48143
September 30, 1942
Facts:
On July 9, 1940, defendant and his wife Bankalot had a quarrel because the latter, then suffering from a headache, refused to work in their kaiñgin. The defendant then remarked in a fit of anger that it would be better if she were dead. The quarrel was resumed the following morning when she again refused to accompany her husband to a creek of the Macasin River to catch fish; but this time, defendant dragged her along with him. When he returned home the afternoon of that day, he was alone and was noticeably pale and restless. Ebol Subano, father of Bankalot, and Biwang Subano, father of Cumay, another wife of the defendant, noticed bloodstains on his bolo and on its scabbard.
Defendant sought to explain these bloodstains as of a big fish which he had cut. Ebol and Biwang noticed, however, that the defendant had not brought home any fish, and suspecting the something might be wrong, Ebol asked the defendant where his daughter was. Defendant disclaimed knowledge of her. With nightfall bringing no sign of Bankalot's coming, Ebol and Biwang began searching for her.
Four days later, they found her dead body lying in an isolated place in the middle of a creek of the Macasin River with a mortal wound on the back and another at the neck which almost severed the head from the body, and with several contusions. Lieutenant Olivares, to whom the case was reported, repaired to the hut of the defendant who came down with an unsheathed bolo accompanied by his brother also carrying a bolo. The lieutenant ordered them to drop their bolos and when they refused he ordered his men to aim their rifles at them, whereupon the accused dropped his bolo and was arrested. Taken to the scene of the crime, he would not look at the dead body of his wife although he was asked to view and identify it, and showed no sign of grief. The accused at the trial denied having killed his wife.
Issue:
Whether or not the accused-defendant is liable for the crime of parricide or homicide?
Held:
The crime committed is homicide and not parricide. From the testimony of Ebol Subano, father of the deceased, it appears that the defendant has three wives and that the deceased was the last in point of time. Although the practice of polygamy is approved by custom among these non-Christians, polygamy, however, is not sanctioned by the Marriage Law which merely recognizes tribal marriage rituals. The deceased, under our law, is not thus the lawful wife of the defendant and this precludes conviction for the crime of parricide.
However, accused-defendant appealed his case to the CA, from the judgment of the Court of First Instance of Zamboanga where he was found guilty of the crime of parricide and sentencing him to reclusion perpetua and to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P2,000. But the judgment on the appellate court rendered with the modification that the accused be sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of from eight years of prision mayor to fifteen years of reclusion temporal, the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
US vs Francisco Abarca
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
US vs Francisco Abarca
G.R. No. 74433
September 14, 1987
Facts:
This is an appeal from the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Palo, Leyte, sentencing the accused-appellant Francisco Abarca to death for the complex crime of murder with double frustrated murder.
The case was elevated to this Court in view of the death sentence imposed. With the approval of the new Constitution, abolishing the penalty of death and commuting all existing death sentences to life imprisonment, we required the accused-appellant to inform us whether or not he wished to pursue the case as an appealed case. In compliance therewith, he filed a statement informing us that he wished to continue with the case by way of an appeal.
On 15 July 1984 in Tacloban City, the accused, Francisco Abarca with deliberate intent to kill and with evident premeditation, and with treachery, armed with an unlicensed firearm (armalite), M-16 rifle, shot several times Khingsley Paul Koh on the different parts of his body inflicting upon gunshot wounds which caused his instantaneous death and as a consequence of which also caused gunshot wounds to Lina Amparado and Arnold Amparado on the different parts of their bodies which have caused the death of said spouses.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant is liable for the crime of complex crime of murder with double frustrated murder?
Held:
The case at bar requires distinctions. Here, the accused-appellant was not committing murder when he discharged his rifle upon the deceased. Inflicting death under exceptional circumstances is not murder. We cannot therefore hold the appellant liable for frustrated murder for the injuries suffered by the Amparados.
For the separate injuries suffered by the Amparado spouses, we therefore impose upon the accused-appellant arresto mayor (in its medium and maximum periods) in its maximum period, arresto to being the graver penalty (than destierro).
The decision appealed from is hereby MODIFIED. The accused-appellant is sentenced to four months and 21 days to six months of arresto mayor. The period within which he has been in confinement shall be credited in the service of these penalties. He is furthermore ordered to indemnify Arnold and Lina Amparado in the sum of P16,000.00 as and for hospitalization expense and the sum of P1,500.00 as and for Arnold Amparado's loss of earning capacity. No special pronouncement as to costs.
US vs Francisco Abarca
G.R. No. 74433
September 14, 1987
Facts:
This is an appeal from the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Palo, Leyte, sentencing the accused-appellant Francisco Abarca to death for the complex crime of murder with double frustrated murder.
The case was elevated to this Court in view of the death sentence imposed. With the approval of the new Constitution, abolishing the penalty of death and commuting all existing death sentences to life imprisonment, we required the accused-appellant to inform us whether or not he wished to pursue the case as an appealed case. In compliance therewith, he filed a statement informing us that he wished to continue with the case by way of an appeal.
On 15 July 1984 in Tacloban City, the accused, Francisco Abarca with deliberate intent to kill and with evident premeditation, and with treachery, armed with an unlicensed firearm (armalite), M-16 rifle, shot several times Khingsley Paul Koh on the different parts of his body inflicting upon gunshot wounds which caused his instantaneous death and as a consequence of which also caused gunshot wounds to Lina Amparado and Arnold Amparado on the different parts of their bodies which have caused the death of said spouses.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant is liable for the crime of complex crime of murder with double frustrated murder?
Held:
The case at bar requires distinctions. Here, the accused-appellant was not committing murder when he discharged his rifle upon the deceased. Inflicting death under exceptional circumstances is not murder. We cannot therefore hold the appellant liable for frustrated murder for the injuries suffered by the Amparados.
For the separate injuries suffered by the Amparado spouses, we therefore impose upon the accused-appellant arresto mayor (in its medium and maximum periods) in its maximum period, arresto to being the graver penalty (than destierro).
The decision appealed from is hereby MODIFIED. The accused-appellant is sentenced to four months and 21 days to six months of arresto mayor. The period within which he has been in confinement shall be credited in the service of these penalties. He is furthermore ordered to indemnify Arnold and Lina Amparado in the sum of P16,000.00 as and for hospitalization expense and the sum of P1,500.00 as and for Arnold Amparado's loss of earning capacity. No special pronouncement as to costs.
People vs Francisco Jumawan, et.al.
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Francisco Jumawan, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 39303-39305
March 17, 1934
Facts:
On the basis of a written statement made by Vicente Recepeda on July 18, 1976, and an affidavit executed by Trinidad Alcantara on July 19, 1976, a complaint for murder was filed in the Municipal Court of Sariaya, Quezon, on July 19, 1976, by Station Commander Sisenando P. Alcantara, Jr. against Francisco Jumawan, Cesario Jumawan, Manuel Jumawan and Presentacion Jumawan for the death of Rodolfo Magnaye.
The lower court finds Cesario Jumawan, Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye, Manuel Jumawan, and Francisco Jumawan guilty as principals beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder as defined and punished under Art. 248 of the Revised Penal Code and hereby sentences each of them to suffer a penalty of life imprisonment and to indemnify jointly and severally the parents of the victim in the amount of Twenty-four Thousand (P24,000.00) Pesos.
It appears from the evidence adduced during the trial that Rodolfo Magnaye was married on 26 January 1974 to Presentacion Jumawan, one of the accused in the above entitled criminal case. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye left the conjugal home and stayed with her sister Sebastiana Jumawan. Rodolfo Magnaye, on the other hand, went and stayed with his mother Trinidad Alcantara.
The mother of Mrs. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye made several attempts to secure the signature of Rodolfo Magnaye on a document agreeing to a separation from his wife so that both he and his wife will be free to marry again but Rodolfo Magnaye persisted in refusing to sign said document.
On one occasion the mother of Mrs. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye even brought Rodolfo Magnaye and his mother to the Provincial Constabulary Command to ask for the assistance of Sgt. Mortilla to assist her daughter in securing a separation from Rodolfo Magnaye but they were told by Sgt. Mortilla that it cannot be legally done.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants be liable of the crime of parricide or simply murder?
Held:
Presentacion should have been accused of parricide but as it is, since her relationship to the deceased is not alleged in the information, she, like the others, can be convicted of murder only qualified by abuse of superior strength.
Although not alleged in the information, relationship as an aggravating circumstance should be assigned against the appellants. True, relationship is inherent in parricide, but Presentacion stands convicted of murder. And as to the others, the relationships of father-in-law and brother-in-law aggravate the crime. The penalty for murder with an aggravating circumstances is death. However, for lack of necessary votes, the penalty is reduced to reclusion perpetua. The jugment of the court a quo is hereby affirmed in toto. No costs. So Ordered.
People vs Francisco Jumawan, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 39303-39305
March 17, 1934
Facts:
On the basis of a written statement made by Vicente Recepeda on July 18, 1976, and an affidavit executed by Trinidad Alcantara on July 19, 1976, a complaint for murder was filed in the Municipal Court of Sariaya, Quezon, on July 19, 1976, by Station Commander Sisenando P. Alcantara, Jr. against Francisco Jumawan, Cesario Jumawan, Manuel Jumawan and Presentacion Jumawan for the death of Rodolfo Magnaye.
The lower court finds Cesario Jumawan, Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye, Manuel Jumawan, and Francisco Jumawan guilty as principals beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder as defined and punished under Art. 248 of the Revised Penal Code and hereby sentences each of them to suffer a penalty of life imprisonment and to indemnify jointly and severally the parents of the victim in the amount of Twenty-four Thousand (P24,000.00) Pesos.
It appears from the evidence adduced during the trial that Rodolfo Magnaye was married on 26 January 1974 to Presentacion Jumawan, one of the accused in the above entitled criminal case. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye left the conjugal home and stayed with her sister Sebastiana Jumawan. Rodolfo Magnaye, on the other hand, went and stayed with his mother Trinidad Alcantara.
The mother of Mrs. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye made several attempts to secure the signature of Rodolfo Magnaye on a document agreeing to a separation from his wife so that both he and his wife will be free to marry again but Rodolfo Magnaye persisted in refusing to sign said document.
On one occasion the mother of Mrs. Presentacion Jumawan-Magnaye even brought Rodolfo Magnaye and his mother to the Provincial Constabulary Command to ask for the assistance of Sgt. Mortilla to assist her daughter in securing a separation from Rodolfo Magnaye but they were told by Sgt. Mortilla that it cannot be legally done.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants be liable of the crime of parricide or simply murder?
Held:
Presentacion should have been accused of parricide but as it is, since her relationship to the deceased is not alleged in the information, she, like the others, can be convicted of murder only qualified by abuse of superior strength.
Although not alleged in the information, relationship as an aggravating circumstance should be assigned against the appellants. True, relationship is inherent in parricide, but Presentacion stands convicted of murder. And as to the others, the relationships of father-in-law and brother-in-law aggravate the crime. The penalty for murder with an aggravating circumstances is death. However, for lack of necessary votes, the penalty is reduced to reclusion perpetua. The jugment of the court a quo is hereby affirmed in toto. No costs. So Ordered.
People vs Hipolito Agbuya, et.al.
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People vs Hipolito Agbuya, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 36366-36368
September 23, 1932
Facts:
This appeal has been brought to reverse a judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Province of Pangasinan, finding the appellants, Hipolito Agbuya and Agustin Agbuya, guilty of two separate crimes of homicide, and finding the appellant, Agustin Agbuya, further guilty of the offense of illegal discharge of firearms; and sentencing each of the two appellants, for the two crimes of homicide, to undergo imprisonment for fourteen years, eight months and one day, reclusion temporal, and requiring them to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the amount of five hundred pesos, and to pay the costs, and imposing on Agustin Agbuya, for the offense of illegal discharge of firearms, the penalty of imprisonment for one year, eight months, and twenty-one days, prision correccional, and requiring him to pay the costs.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants be liable for the crimes of homicide and illegal discharge of firearms?
Held:
Upon the foregoing facts it is manifest that both the appellants are guilty as principals in the two homicides which are the subject of prosecution in the first two of the cases, and the trial court committed no error in so finding. The attorney for the appellants insists that Hipolito at least should be acquitted as not having participated in those acts in the character of principal. But his acts and attitude before, during and after the commission of the crimes show that the two accused were acting with a common design in taking the lives of Martin and Feliciano Palisoc. The preparatory act of cleaning the shotgun was done by Hipolito and his inquiry of Domingo Padua as to whether the latter had seen Martin Palisoc that morning is suggestive. At the time the two accused went out into the middle of the malecon to confront Martin Palisoc and his two companions, Hipolito, who had up to that time been carrying the gun, handed it to Agustin, when he must have known that the intention of Agustin was to use it in killing Martin Palisoc. Then, the occurrence later in the afternoon when the three Agbuyas went up to the dying Martin, and Hipolito seized one of his arms, while Agustin emptied the shotgun again into Martin's body, and the similar incident repeated over the body of Feliciano, all show conclusively a design on the part of Hipolito to contribute effectually to the destruction of the two Palisocs.
With respect to the qualification of illegal discharge of firearms on the part of Agustin Agbuya when he discharged his shotgun from a distance at Pioquinto Palisoc, the trial court did not err in qualifying the offense. The distance from where Agustin Agbuya stood to where Pioquinto was bending over the body of Martin Palisoc was so great, that it is difficult to impute an intention on the part of Agustin to kill Pioquinto. Nor does it appear that Agustin really aimed his gun directly at Pioquinto. It is not improbable that the gun was discharged chiefly with a view to frightening Pioquinto away.
It being understood, therefore, that the penalties imposed in the three cases shall be extinguished in succession, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law in each case, the judgment appealed from will be affirmed. So ordered, with costs in the first two cases against the two appellants.
People vs Hipolito Agbuya, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 36366-36368
September 23, 1932
Facts:
This appeal has been brought to reverse a judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Province of Pangasinan, finding the appellants, Hipolito Agbuya and Agustin Agbuya, guilty of two separate crimes of homicide, and finding the appellant, Agustin Agbuya, further guilty of the offense of illegal discharge of firearms; and sentencing each of the two appellants, for the two crimes of homicide, to undergo imprisonment for fourteen years, eight months and one day, reclusion temporal, and requiring them to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the amount of five hundred pesos, and to pay the costs, and imposing on Agustin Agbuya, for the offense of illegal discharge of firearms, the penalty of imprisonment for one year, eight months, and twenty-one days, prision correccional, and requiring him to pay the costs.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants be liable for the crimes of homicide and illegal discharge of firearms?
Held:
Upon the foregoing facts it is manifest that both the appellants are guilty as principals in the two homicides which are the subject of prosecution in the first two of the cases, and the trial court committed no error in so finding. The attorney for the appellants insists that Hipolito at least should be acquitted as not having participated in those acts in the character of principal. But his acts and attitude before, during and after the commission of the crimes show that the two accused were acting with a common design in taking the lives of Martin and Feliciano Palisoc. The preparatory act of cleaning the shotgun was done by Hipolito and his inquiry of Domingo Padua as to whether the latter had seen Martin Palisoc that morning is suggestive. At the time the two accused went out into the middle of the malecon to confront Martin Palisoc and his two companions, Hipolito, who had up to that time been carrying the gun, handed it to Agustin, when he must have known that the intention of Agustin was to use it in killing Martin Palisoc. Then, the occurrence later in the afternoon when the three Agbuyas went up to the dying Martin, and Hipolito seized one of his arms, while Agustin emptied the shotgun again into Martin's body, and the similar incident repeated over the body of Feliciano, all show conclusively a design on the part of Hipolito to contribute effectually to the destruction of the two Palisocs.
With respect to the qualification of illegal discharge of firearms on the part of Agustin Agbuya when he discharged his shotgun from a distance at Pioquinto Palisoc, the trial court did not err in qualifying the offense. The distance from where Agustin Agbuya stood to where Pioquinto was bending over the body of Martin Palisoc was so great, that it is difficult to impute an intention on the part of Agustin to kill Pioquinto. Nor does it appear that Agustin really aimed his gun directly at Pioquinto. It is not improbable that the gun was discharged chiefly with a view to frightening Pioquinto away.
It being understood, therefore, that the penalties imposed in the three cases shall be extinguished in succession, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law in each case, the judgment appealed from will be affirmed. So ordered, with costs in the first two cases against the two appellants.
People vs Felipe Kalalo, et.al.
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People vs Felipe Kalalo, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 39303-39305
March 17, 1934
Facts:
On November 10, 1932, the appellants namely, Felipe Kalalo, Marcelo Kalalo, Juan Kalalo, and Gregorio Ramos, were tried in the Batangas jointly with Alejandro Garcia, Fausta Abrenica and Alipia Abrenica in criminal cases Nos. 6858, 6859 and 6860, the first two for murder, and the last for frustrated murder. Upon agreement of the parties said three cases were tried together and after the presentation of their respective evidence, the said court acquitted Alejandro Garcia, Fausta Abrenica and Alipia Abrenica, and sentenced the other appellants.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants are liable of the crimes of murder and discharge of firearms?
Held:
The first case is, for the alleged murder of Marcelino Panaligan, to seventeen years, four months and one day of reclusion temporal, with the corresponding accessory penalties, and to indemnify the heirs of the said deceased Marcelino Panaligan in the sum of P1,000, with the costs.
The second case is, for the alleged murder of Arcadio Holgado, to seventeen years, four months and one day of reclusion temporal, with the corresponding accessory penalties, and to indemnify the heirs of the aforesaid victim, the deceased Arcadio Holgado, in the sum of P1,000, with the costs.
In the third case, that is, the court held that the crime committed was simply that of discharge of firearm, not frustrated murder, the appellant Marcelo Kalalo was sentenced to one year, eight months and twenty-one days of prision correccional and to pay the proportionate part of the costs of the proceedings. Felipe Kalalo and Juan Kalalo, as well as their co-accused Fausta and Alipia Abrenica, Gregorio Ramos and Alejandro Garcia, were acquitted of the charges therein.
In all other respects, the appealed sentences in the said three cases are hereby affirmed without prejudice to crediting the appellants therein with one-half of the time during which they have undergone preventive imprisonment, in accordance with article 29 of the Revised Penal Code. So ordered.
People vs Felipe Kalalo, et.al.
G.R. Nos. 39303-39305
March 17, 1934
Facts:
On November 10, 1932, the appellants namely, Felipe Kalalo, Marcelo Kalalo, Juan Kalalo, and Gregorio Ramos, were tried in the Batangas jointly with Alejandro Garcia, Fausta Abrenica and Alipia Abrenica in criminal cases Nos. 6858, 6859 and 6860, the first two for murder, and the last for frustrated murder. Upon agreement of the parties said three cases were tried together and after the presentation of their respective evidence, the said court acquitted Alejandro Garcia, Fausta Abrenica and Alipia Abrenica, and sentenced the other appellants.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants are liable of the crimes of murder and discharge of firearms?
Held:
The first case is, for the alleged murder of Marcelino Panaligan, to seventeen years, four months and one day of reclusion temporal, with the corresponding accessory penalties, and to indemnify the heirs of the said deceased Marcelino Panaligan in the sum of P1,000, with the costs.
The second case is, for the alleged murder of Arcadio Holgado, to seventeen years, four months and one day of reclusion temporal, with the corresponding accessory penalties, and to indemnify the heirs of the aforesaid victim, the deceased Arcadio Holgado, in the sum of P1,000, with the costs.
In the third case, that is, the court held that the crime committed was simply that of discharge of firearm, not frustrated murder, the appellant Marcelo Kalalo was sentenced to one year, eight months and twenty-one days of prision correccional and to pay the proportionate part of the costs of the proceedings. Felipe Kalalo and Juan Kalalo, as well as their co-accused Fausta and Alipia Abrenica, Gregorio Ramos and Alejandro Garcia, were acquitted of the charges therein.
In all other respects, the appealed sentences in the said three cases are hereby affirmed without prejudice to crediting the appellants therein with one-half of the time during which they have undergone preventive imprisonment, in accordance with article 29 of the Revised Penal Code. So ordered.
People vs Nicanor Sespeñe, et.al.
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Nicanor Sespeñe, et.al.
G.R. No. L-9346
October 30, 1957
Facts:
As a result of the investigation conducted by the authorities, a complaint for murder was filed on July 3, 1953, with the Justice of the Peace Court of Ibajay, Capiz, against Nicanor Sespeñe, Apolinario Leonardo, Pedro Calizo, Bienvenido Sajera, Domingo Sajona and Jesus Mangilog, which was provisionally dismissed for the reason that the principal witnesses for the prosecution, namely: Gloria Enerio, widow of the deceased Leonardo Enerio was absent, and Priscila Enerio Andrade could not be located. However, on July 29, 1954, the case was again revived with the filing of a new complaint against the same accused. Having the accused waived their right to a preliminary investigation, except Jesus Mangilog who bad not been arrested, the case was elevated to the Court of First Instance of Capiz where an information for murder was filed against all of them except Jesus Mangilog who continued at large.
After due bearing, all the defendants were found guilty of murder, qualified by treachery, and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law, to indemnify the heirs of the offended party in the sum of P6,000, and to pay the costs. The court further ordered that: "The amount of P3,500 that was paid to the widow as partial compensation for the death of Leonardo Enerio should be deducted from the indemnity of P6,000.”
From this decision all the defendants appealed to us and in this instance counsel for Pedro Calizo, Bienvenido Sajera, Domingo Sajona and Apolinario Leonardo, as well as counsel for appellant Nicanor Sespeñe charge the trial Judge with the commission of several errors relative to the sufficiency of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses for the prosecution.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants committed murder with corresponding penalty of reclusion perpetua or if not death?
Held:
The Solicitor General maintains that the crime at bar was attended by the aggravating circumstances of superior strength, aid of armed men and dwelling, and in view of the penalty attached by the Code to the crime—reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death (Art. 248 of the Revised Penal Code)— he recommends that the decision of the lower Court should be accordingly modified by raising the penalty to death. We do not agree with this recommendation. The aggravating circumstances of superior strength and aid of armed men, as well as night time which also concurred in the commission of the offense, are included in the qualifying circumstance of treachery and cannot be appreciated separately from the latter circumstance. As to the aggravating circumstance of dwelling, entertain some doubts as to its applicability to the case at bar because the deceased was only about to step on the first rung of the ladder of the house when he was assaulted by appellants, and We prefer to maintain the penalty of reclusion perpetua imposed by the trial Judge. Anyway the required number of votes for the imposition of the death penalty has not been obtained.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs against appellants. It is so ordered.
People vs Nicanor Sespeñe, et.al.
G.R. No. L-9346
October 30, 1957
Facts:
As a result of the investigation conducted by the authorities, a complaint for murder was filed on July 3, 1953, with the Justice of the Peace Court of Ibajay, Capiz, against Nicanor Sespeñe, Apolinario Leonardo, Pedro Calizo, Bienvenido Sajera, Domingo Sajona and Jesus Mangilog, which was provisionally dismissed for the reason that the principal witnesses for the prosecution, namely: Gloria Enerio, widow of the deceased Leonardo Enerio was absent, and Priscila Enerio Andrade could not be located. However, on July 29, 1954, the case was again revived with the filing of a new complaint against the same accused. Having the accused waived their right to a preliminary investigation, except Jesus Mangilog who bad not been arrested, the case was elevated to the Court of First Instance of Capiz where an information for murder was filed against all of them except Jesus Mangilog who continued at large.
After due bearing, all the defendants were found guilty of murder, qualified by treachery, and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, with the accessory penalties prescribed by law, to indemnify the heirs of the offended party in the sum of P6,000, and to pay the costs. The court further ordered that: "The amount of P3,500 that was paid to the widow as partial compensation for the death of Leonardo Enerio should be deducted from the indemnity of P6,000.”
From this decision all the defendants appealed to us and in this instance counsel for Pedro Calizo, Bienvenido Sajera, Domingo Sajona and Apolinario Leonardo, as well as counsel for appellant Nicanor Sespeñe charge the trial Judge with the commission of several errors relative to the sufficiency of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses for the prosecution.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants committed murder with corresponding penalty of reclusion perpetua or if not death?
Held:
The Solicitor General maintains that the crime at bar was attended by the aggravating circumstances of superior strength, aid of armed men and dwelling, and in view of the penalty attached by the Code to the crime—reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death (Art. 248 of the Revised Penal Code)— he recommends that the decision of the lower Court should be accordingly modified by raising the penalty to death. We do not agree with this recommendation. The aggravating circumstances of superior strength and aid of armed men, as well as night time which also concurred in the commission of the offense, are included in the qualifying circumstance of treachery and cannot be appreciated separately from the latter circumstance. As to the aggravating circumstance of dwelling, entertain some doubts as to its applicability to the case at bar because the deceased was only about to step on the first rung of the ladder of the house when he was assaulted by appellants, and We prefer to maintain the penalty of reclusion perpetua imposed by the trial Judge. Anyway the required number of votes for the imposition of the death penalty has not been obtained.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs against appellants. It is so ordered.
People vs Felipe Dueño, et.al.
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People vs Felipe Dueño, et.al.
G.R. No. L-31102
May 5, 1979
Facts:
On 21 January 1963, in Maayon, Capiz, the said accused were all armed with pistol, revolver and fighting bolo, conspiring, confederating and helping one another, with evident premeditation and treachery, and feloniously shoot and hit Bernardo Demontano which resulted in his instantaneous death.
Upon arraignment on 13 June and 25 July 1964 all of the accused pleaded not guilty. At the trial, the prosecution presented its evidence consisting of the testimonies of Dra. Teresa C. Andrada, Federico Dolfo, Roque Dellomos and Sets.
The appeal was directed to the Court of Appeals, but, in view of the penalty involved, the records were forwarded to this Court on October 4, 1969. 5 On January 2, 1977, and May 8, 1978 — after the case had been submitted for decision on February 1, 1972 - appellants Felipe Dueno and Sofronio Dueno, respectively, withdrew their appeals. These withdrawals were allowed in resolutions dated January 2, 1977 and June 28, 1978. 6 hence, only the appeal of accused appellant Andresito Belonio is wider review in this decision.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants committed murder under Art. 248 of the RPC?
Held:
The evidence for the prosecution establish that in the afternoon of January 21, 1963, the three accused-appellants fired upon Roque Dellomos and Federico Dolfo but missed them; and theft in the evening of the same day, the three again were Identified as the assailants who fired upon and killed Bernardo Demontaño who was mistaken for Roque Dellomos and/or Federico Dolfo. It also appears that their defense of alibi was not worthy of credence. The guilt of the three accused-appellants, therefore, has been established and proved beyond reasonable doubt.
There being no mitigating or aggravating circumstance, the penalty of life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua is the proper penalty in accordance with Art. 248, in relation to Articles 64, par. 1, and 77 of the Revised Penal Code.
The civil indemnity to the heirs of the deceased, however, should be raised from P6,000.00 to P12,000.00. The trial court's decision should accordingly be modified. Accused-appellants Felipe Dueno and Sofronio Dueno had withdrawn their appeals, and the decision of the trial court already became final and executory as to them. The decision is binding as to the third accused-appellant, Andresito Belonio, who pursued his appeal. With the modification that the indemnity to be paid to the heirs of the deceased should be raised from P6,000.00 to P12,000.00 without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, the decision appealed from is hereby Affirmed. No cost. So ordered.
People vs Felipe Dueño, et.al.
G.R. No. L-31102
May 5, 1979
Facts:
On 21 January 1963, in Maayon, Capiz, the said accused were all armed with pistol, revolver and fighting bolo, conspiring, confederating and helping one another, with evident premeditation and treachery, and feloniously shoot and hit Bernardo Demontano which resulted in his instantaneous death.
Upon arraignment on 13 June and 25 July 1964 all of the accused pleaded not guilty. At the trial, the prosecution presented its evidence consisting of the testimonies of Dra. Teresa C. Andrada, Federico Dolfo, Roque Dellomos and Sets.
The appeal was directed to the Court of Appeals, but, in view of the penalty involved, the records were forwarded to this Court on October 4, 1969. 5 On January 2, 1977, and May 8, 1978 — after the case had been submitted for decision on February 1, 1972 - appellants Felipe Dueno and Sofronio Dueno, respectively, withdrew their appeals. These withdrawals were allowed in resolutions dated January 2, 1977 and June 28, 1978. 6 hence, only the appeal of accused appellant Andresito Belonio is wider review in this decision.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellants committed murder under Art. 248 of the RPC?
Held:
The evidence for the prosecution establish that in the afternoon of January 21, 1963, the three accused-appellants fired upon Roque Dellomos and Federico Dolfo but missed them; and theft in the evening of the same day, the three again were Identified as the assailants who fired upon and killed Bernardo Demontaño who was mistaken for Roque Dellomos and/or Federico Dolfo. It also appears that their defense of alibi was not worthy of credence. The guilt of the three accused-appellants, therefore, has been established and proved beyond reasonable doubt.
There being no mitigating or aggravating circumstance, the penalty of life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua is the proper penalty in accordance with Art. 248, in relation to Articles 64, par. 1, and 77 of the Revised Penal Code.
The civil indemnity to the heirs of the deceased, however, should be raised from P6,000.00 to P12,000.00. The trial court's decision should accordingly be modified. Accused-appellants Felipe Dueno and Sofronio Dueno had withdrawn their appeals, and the decision of the trial court already became final and executory as to them. The decision is binding as to the third accused-appellant, Andresito Belonio, who pursued his appeal. With the modification that the indemnity to be paid to the heirs of the deceased should be raised from P6,000.00 to P12,000.00 without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, the decision appealed from is hereby Affirmed. No cost. So ordered.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Jayavarman VII: The Great Southeast Asian Leader
Copyright © 2010 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.
Jayavarman VII (born c. 1120/25 - died c. 1215/19) was perceived as one of the most forceful and productive kings of the Khmer Empire of Angkor. His vestiges were highly recalled that at the age of sixty-one, he was crowned as a sole king of the vast Kambujadesa and began a brilliant reign for more than thirty years, during which he brought the empire to its zenith, both in terms of territorial expansion and of royal architecture and sophistication. But before that, he was regarded as a fierce warrior in Angkor but later on as a prodigal son who emerged as the last of the great god-kings of the Khmers. His momentous military feat was perhaps when he gained power and sacked the rich and dominating neighbor of Champa . He invaded vast territories as far as southern Laos, portions of the Malay Peninsula and Burma under his theocratic "devarajah” kingship.
During his rule, he constructed large numbers of towering and newly awesome Indian-inspired temples. But he was known for building the Angkor Thom (big Angkor), a uniquely Mahayana Buddhist central pyramid temple designed to symbolize as the primary locus of the royal cult. It also served as his own personal mausoleum. Those beautiful bayons reflected and portrayed Jayavarman VII at a mature age, his features somewhat fleshy, his eyes lowered, meditating in outmost humility. His lips are synonymous with the famous “Angkor smile”. Sculptors relinquished the rather impersonal ideal canon of youth and beauty of earlier periods, adopting a more naturalistic, terrestrial, human style with sensitive modeling. In other words, those images profoundly express royal grandeur through the sense of devotion and spiritual serenity.
These smiling faces are prominent landmarks that sparked theories among scholars behind its real images. Some has articulated that the images have provoked a semblance of the Buddha. For many years, historians has been admiring Jayavarman VII’s powerful reign for building over a hundred ‘house of diseaselessness’ or hospitals from which he scattered it throughout the kingdom intended to alleviate the conditions of his subjects. He also engaged himself in other building programs that yielded numerous highways and ‘fire houses’ or rest houses in his guarded empire.
Scope and Delimitation
There are numerous literatures and Internet sources about the Angkor Civilization, mostly penned by western authors and few by native ‘Indo-Chienese’ scholars. But what maybe lacking in most of these researches is to trace the greatness as well as weaknesses of those ancient rulers in comparing the political philosophy and psychology of modern leaders in Southeast Asia. Has the vicious cycle of history affected the kind of leadership some of our modern leaders in the region who has claimed succession and divine right from great monarchs of the past? History may have an effect as to how Southeast Asian leaders manage and lead their own country. They might have imbibed some qualities of most revered ancient rulers to ascertain acceptance from the masses and to justify present roles in the course of history.
The extraordinary and kingly reign of an exceptional monarch like Jayavarman VII has a domino effect to the kind of leadership of modern Southeast Asian leaders. The charismatic yet destructive rule of Pol Pot in modern times may have been blamed to his campaign in regaining Kampuchea’s superiority to agriculture and irrigation systems to which extent he exaggeratedly staged a revolution to force the entire population of his country to bring back its former glory. The sailendra or the ‘kings of the mountain’ concept which embodies divine monarchy may have genetically influenced the kind of leadership of Suharto, who in the fate of history was an erstwhile strong Muslim President of Indonesia, in dealing with some government issues and rituals. This has mostly amazed contemporary neighboring leaders in the region but also the west. In other words, this innate kingly behavior of a modern leader can be traced back to the glorious times of his predecessors. Modern Southeast Asian leaders may even have externalized some of these ancient attitudes subconsciously, but the mere fact that it is still manifested in their actions and behaviors, it cannot be denied though, that they ascribed to ancient Indianized form of leadership of devarajah and sailendra.
This is an exploratory paper to understand and probably probe the kind of leadership executed by our modern Southeast Asian leaders in a more culturally diverse environment of today than to an almost singular and homogenous Indianized culture of Southeast Asia during the Angkor civilization. To better value ancient leadership and Jayavarman VII as the objects of study, the research will briefly cover the rise and fall of the Angkor civilization in mainland Southeast Asia and its greater influence to other Indianized kingdoms of maritime Southeast Asia. This is in retrospect with sailendra or ‘kings of the mountain’ and the devarajah or ‘god-king’ as concepts of ancient leadership. It will synthesize and analyze important rulers of the Angkor kingdom before and after the reign of Jayavarman VII. It will briefly discuss the implications of Jayavarman VII’s thirty years of reign as king of the Angkor Empire. And lastly, it will relate devarajah and sailendra to modern Southeast Asian leadership.
The Rise and Fall of the Angkor Civilization
Funan as the mother empire of all Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia disappeared from the Chinese record, late in the sixth century. This formative stage lasted to the rise of the Angkor in the ninth century. Some historians were inclined to place the ancestral home of the Khmer kingdom at the site of Vat Ph’u in Laos, near Bassac and not far from the confluence of the Mun and the Mekong rivers (Mabbet & Chandler, 1996). Mainland Southeast Asia was an arena where rulers competed for hegemony (Chou Ta-kuan, 1951).
Some Angkorian scholars (Harrison 1963, Coedès 1968, Mabbet and Chandler 1996) dramatized their description of Angkor like this one, “around many of these monuments, battered by time, the forest has come crowding. Galleries of beetling dipterocarps strain upwards into the hot sky, their trunks making a nave where bird cries echo in the cathedral stillness…” The world of Angkor was dominated by an obsessive cosmology that sought to banish the dark profane forces of the wilderness to the further side of a protected boundary, setting up an antithesis between disordered, demon-haunted nature and the meticulously symbolic domain of divinely constructed enclosures (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996).
In some accounts, it asserted the Khmer ingenuity with his pursuit on logic of self-imaging (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996), relentlessly seen to the extent of sculpting false windows on some stone temple walls, with false stone curtains equipped with false stone draw-cords. Each building was imitating the ideal form in heaven in order to realize it on earth.
Indian influence (Harrison, 1963) meant the introduction of a developed culture based upon the art of writing, and in this case the Sanskrit, clearly derived form Southern India. The Sanskrit language and literature, the cults of Brahmanism and Buddhism, Hindu mythology and distinctive artistic styles and techniques were influences came under the direct ‘Indianized’ rule, upon the Hindu conception of monarchy, codes of law, and methods of administration. The first inscription in the Khmer language, (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996) was dated 612 CE.
Conventional theories presumed that the vast territories where Angkor stood had been chosen as a settlement site because of its strategic military position and agricultural potential. Alternative scholars, on the other hand, believed the geographical location of the Angkor complex and the arrangement of its temples was based on a planet-spanning sacred geography from archaic times. Based from computer simulations it showed that the ground plan of the Angkor complex – the terrestrial placement of its principal temples which mirrored the stars in the constellation of Draco at the time of spring equinox in 10,500 BCE.
While the date of this astronomical alignment was far earlier than any known construction at Angkor, it appeared though that its purpose was to architecturally mirror the heavens in order to assist in the harmonization of the earth and the stars. Both the layout of the Angkor temples and iconographic nature of much of its sculpture, particularly the asuras (‘demons’) and devas (‘deities’) were also intended to indicate the celestial phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes and the slow transition from one astrological age to another.
The whole plan of cosmopolitan Angkor (Harrison, 1963) was based upon the ancient Indian conception of the structure of the universe. The essential features of this cosmology, common to Brahmanism and Buddhism, were a central mountain called Meru – above which was the home of the gods, a surrounding ocean, and an enclosing wall of rock.
Jayavarman II (802-834 CE) was the founder of the Angkor dynasty. His successors ultimately built the grandest and largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia.
The rise of the Angkor civilization can be attributed to three reasons:
1)The adoption of the Indian doctrines of devarajah which robed the ancient Khmer kings with divine kingship and absolute power to rule over the empire. It justified a successful monarchy system transported by the Indians. It also enhanced the king’s power to mobilize large manpower in serving naval fleets and military strongholds to protect its expanding territories and conquer more foreign lands. Brahmanism played a special role from the foundation of the dynasty in the ninth century down to the twelfth century. The aristocratic Brahmins were appointed as advisers to the god-king to run an efficient empire. The cult of god-king was closely bound up with the worship of Siva. Scholars even articulated that as part of the custom, a Khmer king, after his death he could become Siva or Vishnu or even Buddha, according to his own preference.
2)The strategic location of Angkor in Siam Rep hampered the attack of potential enemies. Its place in north of Tonle Sap Lake and upstream of the Mekong River, with rugged thick forests from all sides, protected Angkor from foreign attacks. Throughout its history of over six hundred years, Angkor lost only one major naval battle on Tonle Sap Lake to Champa in 1711.
3)Khmers’ mastery over the water control due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon and the dry season during off-monsoon gauged their ability to create many large reservoirs, dikes, moats and ponds to prevent floods and conserve water storage. The efficient and extensive irrigation system of the ancient Khmer enabled the empire to cultivate crops two to three times a year.
The demise of the great empire in this part of the world caused the Angkor civilization to falter until this day. Its fall can be blamed on four reasons:
1)The late interference of Theravada Buddhism in thirteenth century to the Khmers had turned out to hurt sublimely the basic foundation of the Angkor Empire in the long run. Khmer people lost their faith to the devarajah. Theravada Buddhism taught the people to seek self-enlightenment, abandon worldly things, and discourage any superstitious belief which directly and indirectly means all deities and all evils. Lastly, the sovereignty of the devarajah and his lavish lifestyle has been challenged.
2)Since the Khmers lost their trust and confidence to the king it meant their disobedience to his sovereignty. The erstwhile efficient irrigation and drainage system became silted and dry. The economy fell down and the productivity weakened with the decline of harvest.
3)History tells that Jayavarman VII was the last greatest monarch of the Angkor Empire. His successors lost the mystery and power of the mighty kingdom which was sacked by neighboring Thailand’s Ayuthaya in the west. The Thais were once considered allies to the Khmers, but it turned out that they changed their allegiance, and became traitors to their former friends.
4)The road networks built by Jayavarman VII had aided the transports of products and trade throughout the empire and also facilitated the Khmer troops to quell its neighbors. The invaders could easily marched in through this road network, instead of previously sailing up from the Mekong River. Angkor was finally sacked as a great empire in 1431.
The Avatars of the Angkor Empire
In the course of the Angkor civilization, every inspirational record was an exercise in apotheosis: the king is portrayed, not as the real individual he is, but as an imitation of an ideal king in heaven (Coedès, 1968).
In understanding the concept of devarajah, some Angkorian scholars have unleashed their ideas to justify the legitimacy of the god-king’s leadership to his people. Mabbet and Chandler (1996) synthesized this concept with the works of the following scholars: G. Coedès, a pioneer of the Angkorian Studies believes that devarajah is identified with the cult of kings at the kingdom’s shrines. J. Filliozat regards it as a cult of Siva under the name of devarajah. H. Kulke takes the important step of disassociating it decisively from the cult of royal shrines and suggests that it is the bronze image of Siva. C. Jacques points out that instead of seeing the Khmer version of the name as a translation of the Sanskrit (devarãja = ‘king of the gods’ or for some think it as, ‘god-king’), the latter was in fact a translation of an originally Khmer name for a local Khmer god = ‘god who is a king’, kamraten jagat ta raja. Michael Vickery accepts it as a type of Khmer cult. This cult had to take its place within the universe of Khmer religious thought, as a patron spirit with protective power, the likes of nak ta or ancestral spirits.
‘He who kills the king becomes the king’ had become the pitiless logic, the mantra of ancient Cambodia’s royal courts, and the principle grounded in the politics of succession disputes. This belief began with a legend about a royal cucumber gardener who had dedicated his life through his work, and even threatened everybody not to enter his garden without him knowing it; or else pain of death was bestowed. Until an intruder came in, and as his strict rule applied, he killed the stranger, ignorant that it was the king. He defended himself at the royal court that he did kill the king, in line of his duty. Because he killed the king, he was later proclaimed as his successor to the throne.
From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached as far as Vietnam to China and to the Bay of Bengal.
Some kings of Angkor (but not all) claimed their links with Jayavarman II (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996). When the Khmer civilization evolved in early ninth century, the Khmer kings inherited several elements from his predecessor as well as those from the Indian civilization. Jayavarman II crowned himself as a devarajah or "god-king" in 802 CE, and his regime was more or less a replica of the successful Indian monarchy.
But the circumstances of Jayavarman II’s rise as a monarch were obscure. He left no inscriptions of his own but was frequently referred to in the inscriptions of later kings. He was said to have come from ‘Java’, though this name was perhaps more likely to refer to somewhere on the Malayan coast. As an eleventh-century inscription suggested that his task was not only to unite the Khmers but also to rebut the claims over them made by the ‘Javanese’. This was an important step towards the unification of the Khmers beneath the authority of one throne. Jayavarman II died in about 834 CE, and according to the belief, he went to his own special heaven and was thereafter known by his posthumous name, Paramesvara, which declared his destiny in the abode of the supreme lord Siva (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996).
The greatest achievement of Jayavarman II was to unify his people and its territory. Unity was the product of particular historical conditions.
The reign of Jayavarman VI in 1080 CE appeared to have initiated a new line of rulers, the Mahidhara line. The rulers from Jayavarman VI’s (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996) family had territory in Thailand. The pattern of demographic spread suggested a westward thrust. This era represented a significant phase in Cambodian cultural expansion. In fact, every account in Thai cultural and artistic history had found space for a ‘Khmer period’ in their written history from tenth to eleventh centuries.
Angkor became supreme and a major empire under the dynasty of Suryavarman II who was consecrated in 113 CE but ended his reign about 1145-50 CE. He was the builder of the famous Angkor Wat, the most spectacular of all the monuments that remain to attest the empire’s glory. And up to now this national shrine is figured in Cambodia’s national flag. He also built temples like Beng Melea, Banteay, Samre, Chey Say Tevoda, and Thommanon. According to Mabbet and Chandler (1986), Angkor Wat’s name meant as ‘city-monastery’ is modern but the original foundation was in honor of Vishnu. It can be further explained by Angkorian scholars that Angkor Wat’s sculpture provided the world a tangible image of the aspirations and values of the culture which created it. His reign was distracted by wars with the perennial enemies, the Chams. By the 1170’s the Chams, by chance, took a surprise naval attack in Angkor from Tonle Sap and across the Great Lake before the Khmers could muster their defenses.
From here, a Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV ruled Angkor, then emerged, a fierce warrior and a Khmer prince to rise in power and destined to liberate his people. The prince was Jayavarman VII, the last of the great Khmer god-king who brought glory and honor to the avatars of the Angkor Empire.
The Emergence to Power of Jayavarman VII
Based from archaeological evidences and historical accounts, Jayavarman VII was the son of King Dharanindravarman II, roughly from 1150-1160 CE and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married a very religious, strong-minded, and devout princess, Indradevi, who exerted an important influence on him. Both before he gained the throne and during the early years of his rule as the last of the great monarch of the Angkor Empire.
Jayavarman VII stood up as a leader with a powerful vision to build and expand his kingdom with an image of order, stability, and purpose mediated by his religious beliefs. He spoke of his intentions in erecting temples as being, “full of deep sympathy for the good of the world, so as to bestow on men the ambrosia of remedies to win them immortality…by virtue of these good works would that I might rescue all those who are struggling in the ocean of existence.” (Harrison, 1963).
The successful adoption of the Indian doctrines of devarajah legitimized the leadership of Jayavarman VII to exercise divine kingship and absolute power over the entire empire. With the power vested on him, he launched a thousand vessels, a flamboyant attitude to show off his hegemonic power to his enemies. He exercised his military prowess by conquering foreign lands and defeating the kingdom’s nemesis. He led and commanded a strong and large battalion of warriors and his strong physical presence in warfare was expected from him. His success in every battle guided by strong philosophical and cosmological beliefs exuded a kingly behavior. And later on, he built a new city and temples of Angkor Thom that reflected his youthful and energetic image as the sole king of the mighty Kambujadesa.
Although, it was clear that during his late 30s and 40s he lived in the neighboring and prime foe of the Khmers, the Champa kingdom which is now the central region of Vietnam. As the story went on, when Jayavarman VII’s father died, a relative named Yasovarman II appeared to have claimed the throne, and out of Jayavarman VII’s frustration, he left his wife and retreated to Chmapa alone. Much of what can be said about the career of Jayavarman VII was derived from an inscriptional eulogy by his wife, Indradevi (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986). Archaeologists found inscriptions referring to Queen Indradevi’s thoughts after her husband went into exile…"asceticism, her virtuous conduct, her tears, her likeness to Sita, found by her husband and then separated from him, her body thinned by observances, her religion, her devotion to him, her joy at this ultimate return."
In 1166 Tribuvanadityavarman, a court official, stole the throne from Yasovarman II which caused trouble to Angkor’s succession of kingship. And because of worsening palace rebellion, prince Jayavarman VII hastened to Cambodia, maybe to help re-install his relative, Yasovarman II’s right to the throne or to assert his own succession rights. Twelve years after, Jayavarman VII thought that it was the right time to gain the throne from a former court official. He grabbed the opportunity and led a rebellion, in which that time, the Chams had moved in to Angkor 1177 that ultimately unrobed Tribhuvanadityavarman’s title as the king of Angkor. In less that five years of struggle, the prince-warrior emerged as a savior and was crowned as a new devarajah of Kambujadesa and from there he started his brilliant reign.
This was an inscription referring to the capture of the Cham city by King Jayavarman VII:
"In 1190, King Sri Jaya Indravarman ong Vatuv was against the King of Kambujadesa. The latter sent the Prince (Vidyanandana) as the head of the troops of the Kambuja to take Vijaya and defeat the king. He captured the king and had him conducted to Kambujadesa by the Kambuja troops. He proclaimed Suryajavarmadeva Prince, brother-in-law of the king of Kambujadesa, as king of the city of Vijaya."
Jayavarman VII’s reign was grander than any other kings of the empire. His inscriptions declared a loftier and more inspiring ambition. He made Mahayana Buddhism as his kingdom’s religion and built new shrines called the bayon. In his thirty-one years of service as king, he built 121 ‘fire houses’, 102 ‘halls of diseaselessness’, and his own reservoir at Jayatataka. An inscription referred him as to how he envisioned building the halls of diseaselessness or hospitals, "He suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings, and not their own grief."
After he subjugated Champa under his control, his administration reached as far as to present-day Laos. A Chinese record listed the dependencies of Angkor at the time, an act of homage by vassals; the list included what it called the king of Java (possibly a Malay ruler), the king of the Yavanas (the Vietnamese), and the two king of Champa. His stunning empire appeared to have been as great as Angkor had ever been (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
The world-renowned Bayon, which was Jayavarman VII’s central shrine, had been called ‘forest of heads’. It may be true, as some archaeologists have unearthed that all the faces in the sculptures of bayon represented the king himself. The idea was taken from the mythology of the Mahayana, according to which the Bodhisattva’s eyes sent rays of all-seeing compassion into the whole space, filling it with the light of his boundless merit.
In his greatness as a devarajah of the Angkor Empire, on the other side of the coin, it was the exhaustion of the kingdom brought about by Jayavarman VII’s extravagance that set it upon the downward course (Briggs, 1951). After his glorious reign, although the age of mighty deeds and massive endowments recorded in Sanskrit inscriptions came to an end. Angkor continued to be known as a prosperous kingdom after his death around 1215 CE and even monarchs in outer territories regarded him with certain high respect (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
Devarajah and Sailendra in Modern Southeast Asian Leadership
Post-colonial Southeast Asia has succeeded in producing far more competent, intelligent and oftentimes notorious leaders who expelled the western colonials in their territories. Some have been molded by circumstances while others used it to legitimize their rule. Almost all Southeast Asian countries have been able to produce imminent and respectable leaders in world politics. Some are known to have ruled their countries under an iron-fist and authoritarian regimes. These leaders have shone and been written in history as great leaders of Southeast Asia, the likes of President Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986) of the Republic of the Philippines, President Suharto (1966-1998) of the Republic of Indonesia, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1959-1990) of Singapore’s Parliamentary Government, Ho Chi Minh (1945-1969) of Vietnam under the Communist Government, Prime Minister Pol Pot (1976-1979) of Democratic Kampuchea, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981-2003) of the Constitutional Monarchy of Malaysia.
The modern leaders of Southeast Asia have fought peculiar faces of problems that confronted their countries. These faces of issues like western colonialism and imperialism, the rise and fall of communism, prevalent ethnic conflicts and poverty, economic reforms and political saga that have tested the strength of their regime. Some has successfully reached the zenith of their political ambitions at the same time achieved high-level of economic prosperity but others fell, ousted or died, leaving their countries with remnants of complex problems.
In trying to link up the concepts of devarajah of ancient Angkor and sailendra of ancient maritime kingdoms of Srivijaya in today’s modern leadership in Southeast Asia, important leaders of Cambodia and Indonesia shall be given emphasis.
The Angkor civilization decayed after the strong army of the neighboring Ayuthaya kingdom conquered the cosmopolitan city of Angkor. And later in history, foreshadowing the conduct of nineteenth and twentieth-century Cambodian leaders, the Cambodian king sought help from a distant country from the Spanish Philippines. The Cambodian king even promised to become a Catholic if sufficient military help arrived. But it never did instead the Thai returned in 1959 and sacked the Khmer capital (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
When France consolidated its holdings into Indo-China and Cambodia turned to a backwater, several scholarly mission to the kingdom copied, catalogued, and deciphered hundreds of inscriptions that had been found at Angkor (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986). Little by little, Cambodia’s half-forgotten past was brought to light. The French, obsessed with the dimensions of beauty of the ruins, invariably saw the contrast in terms of Cambodia’s decline. During these years, French officials sought to limit Norodom’s powers and to expand their own. They even forced King Norodom Sihanouk to sign a humiliating document that led to systematic French controls.
With this political transformation in Cambodia, King Norodom as embodied to be the modern devarajah had not been fully realized. In 1941, the Thai took advantage of French defeats in Europe and attacked French positions in Laos and Cambodia. Thailand once again regained its stronghold over most of Cambodia’s northwest. A nineteen-year-old Norodom Sihanouk, then a high-school student in Saigon succeeded the throne who later availed a French education.
But a fierce and notorious modern Khmer leader responsible for the ‘killing fields’ has emerged in Cambodia trying to bring back the past glory of Angkor. Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot was the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976-1979, having been a de facto leader since mid-1975. During his unforgettable rule, he adopted Theravada Buddhism to justify his non-standard communism. He instigated an aggressive policy of relocating people to the countryside in an attempt to purify the Cambodian people as a step toward a communist future. The means to this end included the extermination of two million intellectuals and other ‘bourgeois enemies’. In 1979 he led Cambodia into a disastrous war with Vietnam (the former ancient Champa kingdom which became the perennial nemesis of the Angkor kingdom).
Known as the ‘Javanese King’ by some Indonesians, General Suharto, in his autobiography Pak Harto published in 1989, deems and portrays himself as the only figure who can deliver prosperity and stave off the twin specters of Communist subversion and Islamic extremism. Without him, he claims, Indonesia could run amok again.
President Suharto’s ancestry has been raised from time to time in an attempt to link him to the royal house of Jogyakarta. In the Javanese cultural context, some of his subjects would like to link him with descent from the glorious Mataram kings. Given the vast extent of Javanese aristocratic genealogies, it is more likely that he, as a pure Javanese, could trace some ancestry to the royal palace or kraton (R.J. Vatikiotis, 1993). But Suharto empathetically denied this reports, instead he linked himself as a humble son of a farmer. Perhaps, this was a political strategy to identify himself with the masses, in disguising his persona as a son of a petani or farmer.
Inscriptions had that great empire of Srivijaya was thalassocratic. A thalassocracy is a Greek expression for a kingdom (a state for the west) whose realms are primarily maritime or empire at sea.
The political muscle of both Sukarno and Suharto under their regimes to unite a vast archipelagic country can be traced back to the thalassocratic leadership of the sailendras in ancient Srivijaya kingdom.
Both Generals Suharto and Sukarno have used military maneuvering in their leadership. President Sukarno as a founding father posed as a revolutionary but he failed to recognize the fragility of the republic he built up, until revolutionary rhetoric has devoured him up in his desire to preserve the social status quo. In the same level, the successor, President Suharto, a master politician, has always made economic development a holy mission. He brought a large degree of unity to the multi-ethnic nation and the world’s largest Muslim population through his shrewd political suppression on internal threats to stability.
Conclusion
The avatars of the Angkor Empire have taught us that beauty of a civilization is nestled by rich spiritual nourishment. The devarajah as well as the sailendra assumed supreme roles to rule a mandala. Jayavarman VII may have been regarded as the last of the great king of his empire before it ultimately faltered under his successors’ weak administrations. His greatness is until now carved throughout history. His narcissistic vestiges reflected through the bayons give us hope that the famous ‘Smile of Angkor’ has imparted us certain degree of beauty and serene spirituality of a ruler who once ruled a mighty Kambujadesa during his time.
Jayavarman VII conceived a prosperous society for his domain. At the peak of his power, he merged the close linkage between economic and political stability in his kingdom. He exercised successfully his theocratic devarajah power. The rise of a powerful and integrated kingdom has been attributed to the discovery and sustenance of agriculture and the surplus which it provides. During his reign, he expanded infrastructures like the halls of diseaselessness or hospitals, the firehouses or rest houses, numerous highways, and enhanced the irrigation system. This comes with the belief that the most important of all natural resources his kingdom owns is water. Water imposes the most immediate limitations on the life supporting potential of a given geography. Given that the two great kingdoms in Southeast Asia, the Angkor Empire (mainland) and the Srivijayan Empire (maritime), became so powerful because of its skillful knowledge in utilizing the water systems. The sophisticated irrigation systems of the Khmers and the strong maritime trading of the people of Srivijaya used intelligently the function of water in the development of their kingdoms.
Every great empire experiences the grim reality of life and death. It will rise and fall but great rulers are forever immortalized. New breed of leaders will soon imitate their mighty deeds and learn from their philosophy. But very few succeeds, to the extent of surpassing even the achievements of their predecessors. It may be possible that some modern leaders mimic the achievements of ancient rulers and portray a reincarnated persona to exploit power endowed to them by the people.
It is therefore true that the kind of leadership is ever evolving. The qualities of past rulers may had been brawny and also spiritual in nature, ascribed inheritors of the throne, a warrior who commanded naval fleets and military strongholds, and claim to have descended from the gods or act just like the gods. This may invariably be different in today’s type of leadership where technocrats and bureaucrats dominate the political scene. They are elected but can be ousted by the masses. Lastly, they should be accustomed to be servant-leaders of the people.
Bibliography
Ananta Toer, Pramoedya. 1980. Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations). London: Penguin.
Chou Ta-kuan. 1951. Memoires sur les coutomues du Cambodge de Tcheou Takouan. Paris: Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient.
Coedès, George. 1968. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Canberra: Australian National University Press.
Harrison, Brian. 1963. Southeast Asia: A Short History. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd..
L.P. Briggs. 1951. The Ancient Khmer Empire. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Mabbet, Ian and Chandler, David. 1996. The Khmers: The Peoples of Southeast Asiaand the Pacific. Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
R.C. Ng. 1979. The Geographical Habitat of Historical Settlement, In Early Southeast Asia: Essays in Archeology History and Historical Geography, ed. R.B. Smith and W. Watson, New York: Oxford University Press
R.J. Vatikiotis, Machael. 1993. Indonesian Politics Under Suharto. New York: Routledge.
Electronic References:
http://angkor1431.tripod.com/index/id19.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/jayavarman-vii
http://www.asiasource.org/society/sukarno.cfm
http://www.electionworld.org/history/cambodia.htm
http://www.museeguimet.fr/gb/pages/page_id18055_u1l2.htm
http://www.yale.edu/iforum/Winter1996/Suharto_Win96.htm
Jayavarman VII (born c. 1120/25 - died c. 1215/19) was perceived as one of the most forceful and productive kings of the Khmer Empire of Angkor. His vestiges were highly recalled that at the age of sixty-one, he was crowned as a sole king of the vast Kambujadesa and began a brilliant reign for more than thirty years, during which he brought the empire to its zenith, both in terms of territorial expansion and of royal architecture and sophistication. But before that, he was regarded as a fierce warrior in Angkor but later on as a prodigal son who emerged as the last of the great god-kings of the Khmers. His momentous military feat was perhaps when he gained power and sacked the rich and dominating neighbor of Champa . He invaded vast territories as far as southern Laos, portions of the Malay Peninsula and Burma under his theocratic "devarajah” kingship.
During his rule, he constructed large numbers of towering and newly awesome Indian-inspired temples. But he was known for building the Angkor Thom (big Angkor), a uniquely Mahayana Buddhist central pyramid temple designed to symbolize as the primary locus of the royal cult. It also served as his own personal mausoleum. Those beautiful bayons reflected and portrayed Jayavarman VII at a mature age, his features somewhat fleshy, his eyes lowered, meditating in outmost humility. His lips are synonymous with the famous “Angkor smile”. Sculptors relinquished the rather impersonal ideal canon of youth and beauty of earlier periods, adopting a more naturalistic, terrestrial, human style with sensitive modeling. In other words, those images profoundly express royal grandeur through the sense of devotion and spiritual serenity.
These smiling faces are prominent landmarks that sparked theories among scholars behind its real images. Some has articulated that the images have provoked a semblance of the Buddha. For many years, historians has been admiring Jayavarman VII’s powerful reign for building over a hundred ‘house of diseaselessness’ or hospitals from which he scattered it throughout the kingdom intended to alleviate the conditions of his subjects. He also engaged himself in other building programs that yielded numerous highways and ‘fire houses’ or rest houses in his guarded empire.
Scope and Delimitation
There are numerous literatures and Internet sources about the Angkor Civilization, mostly penned by western authors and few by native ‘Indo-Chienese’ scholars. But what maybe lacking in most of these researches is to trace the greatness as well as weaknesses of those ancient rulers in comparing the political philosophy and psychology of modern leaders in Southeast Asia. Has the vicious cycle of history affected the kind of leadership some of our modern leaders in the region who has claimed succession and divine right from great monarchs of the past? History may have an effect as to how Southeast Asian leaders manage and lead their own country. They might have imbibed some qualities of most revered ancient rulers to ascertain acceptance from the masses and to justify present roles in the course of history.
The extraordinary and kingly reign of an exceptional monarch like Jayavarman VII has a domino effect to the kind of leadership of modern Southeast Asian leaders. The charismatic yet destructive rule of Pol Pot in modern times may have been blamed to his campaign in regaining Kampuchea’s superiority to agriculture and irrigation systems to which extent he exaggeratedly staged a revolution to force the entire population of his country to bring back its former glory. The sailendra or the ‘kings of the mountain’ concept which embodies divine monarchy may have genetically influenced the kind of leadership of Suharto, who in the fate of history was an erstwhile strong Muslim President of Indonesia, in dealing with some government issues and rituals. This has mostly amazed contemporary neighboring leaders in the region but also the west. In other words, this innate kingly behavior of a modern leader can be traced back to the glorious times of his predecessors. Modern Southeast Asian leaders may even have externalized some of these ancient attitudes subconsciously, but the mere fact that it is still manifested in their actions and behaviors, it cannot be denied though, that they ascribed to ancient Indianized form of leadership of devarajah and sailendra.
This is an exploratory paper to understand and probably probe the kind of leadership executed by our modern Southeast Asian leaders in a more culturally diverse environment of today than to an almost singular and homogenous Indianized culture of Southeast Asia during the Angkor civilization. To better value ancient leadership and Jayavarman VII as the objects of study, the research will briefly cover the rise and fall of the Angkor civilization in mainland Southeast Asia and its greater influence to other Indianized kingdoms of maritime Southeast Asia. This is in retrospect with sailendra or ‘kings of the mountain’ and the devarajah or ‘god-king’ as concepts of ancient leadership. It will synthesize and analyze important rulers of the Angkor kingdom before and after the reign of Jayavarman VII. It will briefly discuss the implications of Jayavarman VII’s thirty years of reign as king of the Angkor Empire. And lastly, it will relate devarajah and sailendra to modern Southeast Asian leadership.
The Rise and Fall of the Angkor Civilization
Funan as the mother empire of all Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia disappeared from the Chinese record, late in the sixth century. This formative stage lasted to the rise of the Angkor in the ninth century. Some historians were inclined to place the ancestral home of the Khmer kingdom at the site of Vat Ph’u in Laos, near Bassac and not far from the confluence of the Mun and the Mekong rivers (Mabbet & Chandler, 1996). Mainland Southeast Asia was an arena where rulers competed for hegemony (Chou Ta-kuan, 1951).
Some Angkorian scholars (Harrison 1963, Coedès 1968, Mabbet and Chandler 1996) dramatized their description of Angkor like this one, “around many of these monuments, battered by time, the forest has come crowding. Galleries of beetling dipterocarps strain upwards into the hot sky, their trunks making a nave where bird cries echo in the cathedral stillness…” The world of Angkor was dominated by an obsessive cosmology that sought to banish the dark profane forces of the wilderness to the further side of a protected boundary, setting up an antithesis between disordered, demon-haunted nature and the meticulously symbolic domain of divinely constructed enclosures (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996).
In some accounts, it asserted the Khmer ingenuity with his pursuit on logic of self-imaging (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996), relentlessly seen to the extent of sculpting false windows on some stone temple walls, with false stone curtains equipped with false stone draw-cords. Each building was imitating the ideal form in heaven in order to realize it on earth.
Indian influence (Harrison, 1963) meant the introduction of a developed culture based upon the art of writing, and in this case the Sanskrit, clearly derived form Southern India. The Sanskrit language and literature, the cults of Brahmanism and Buddhism, Hindu mythology and distinctive artistic styles and techniques were influences came under the direct ‘Indianized’ rule, upon the Hindu conception of monarchy, codes of law, and methods of administration. The first inscription in the Khmer language, (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996) was dated 612 CE.
Conventional theories presumed that the vast territories where Angkor stood had been chosen as a settlement site because of its strategic military position and agricultural potential. Alternative scholars, on the other hand, believed the geographical location of the Angkor complex and the arrangement of its temples was based on a planet-spanning sacred geography from archaic times. Based from computer simulations it showed that the ground plan of the Angkor complex – the terrestrial placement of its principal temples which mirrored the stars in the constellation of Draco at the time of spring equinox in 10,500 BCE.
While the date of this astronomical alignment was far earlier than any known construction at Angkor, it appeared though that its purpose was to architecturally mirror the heavens in order to assist in the harmonization of the earth and the stars. Both the layout of the Angkor temples and iconographic nature of much of its sculpture, particularly the asuras (‘demons’) and devas (‘deities’) were also intended to indicate the celestial phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes and the slow transition from one astrological age to another.
The whole plan of cosmopolitan Angkor (Harrison, 1963) was based upon the ancient Indian conception of the structure of the universe. The essential features of this cosmology, common to Brahmanism and Buddhism, were a central mountain called Meru – above which was the home of the gods, a surrounding ocean, and an enclosing wall of rock.
Jayavarman II (802-834 CE) was the founder of the Angkor dynasty. His successors ultimately built the grandest and largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia.
The rise of the Angkor civilization can be attributed to three reasons:
1)The adoption of the Indian doctrines of devarajah which robed the ancient Khmer kings with divine kingship and absolute power to rule over the empire. It justified a successful monarchy system transported by the Indians. It also enhanced the king’s power to mobilize large manpower in serving naval fleets and military strongholds to protect its expanding territories and conquer more foreign lands. Brahmanism played a special role from the foundation of the dynasty in the ninth century down to the twelfth century. The aristocratic Brahmins were appointed as advisers to the god-king to run an efficient empire. The cult of god-king was closely bound up with the worship of Siva. Scholars even articulated that as part of the custom, a Khmer king, after his death he could become Siva or Vishnu or even Buddha, according to his own preference.
2)The strategic location of Angkor in Siam Rep hampered the attack of potential enemies. Its place in north of Tonle Sap Lake and upstream of the Mekong River, with rugged thick forests from all sides, protected Angkor from foreign attacks. Throughout its history of over six hundred years, Angkor lost only one major naval battle on Tonle Sap Lake to Champa in 1711.
3)Khmers’ mastery over the water control due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon and the dry season during off-monsoon gauged their ability to create many large reservoirs, dikes, moats and ponds to prevent floods and conserve water storage. The efficient and extensive irrigation system of the ancient Khmer enabled the empire to cultivate crops two to three times a year.
The demise of the great empire in this part of the world caused the Angkor civilization to falter until this day. Its fall can be blamed on four reasons:
1)The late interference of Theravada Buddhism in thirteenth century to the Khmers had turned out to hurt sublimely the basic foundation of the Angkor Empire in the long run. Khmer people lost their faith to the devarajah. Theravada Buddhism taught the people to seek self-enlightenment, abandon worldly things, and discourage any superstitious belief which directly and indirectly means all deities and all evils. Lastly, the sovereignty of the devarajah and his lavish lifestyle has been challenged.
2)Since the Khmers lost their trust and confidence to the king it meant their disobedience to his sovereignty. The erstwhile efficient irrigation and drainage system became silted and dry. The economy fell down and the productivity weakened with the decline of harvest.
3)History tells that Jayavarman VII was the last greatest monarch of the Angkor Empire. His successors lost the mystery and power of the mighty kingdom which was sacked by neighboring Thailand’s Ayuthaya in the west. The Thais were once considered allies to the Khmers, but it turned out that they changed their allegiance, and became traitors to their former friends.
4)The road networks built by Jayavarman VII had aided the transports of products and trade throughout the empire and also facilitated the Khmer troops to quell its neighbors. The invaders could easily marched in through this road network, instead of previously sailing up from the Mekong River. Angkor was finally sacked as a great empire in 1431.
The Avatars of the Angkor Empire
In the course of the Angkor civilization, every inspirational record was an exercise in apotheosis: the king is portrayed, not as the real individual he is, but as an imitation of an ideal king in heaven (Coedès, 1968).
In understanding the concept of devarajah, some Angkorian scholars have unleashed their ideas to justify the legitimacy of the god-king’s leadership to his people. Mabbet and Chandler (1996) synthesized this concept with the works of the following scholars: G. Coedès, a pioneer of the Angkorian Studies believes that devarajah is identified with the cult of kings at the kingdom’s shrines. J. Filliozat regards it as a cult of Siva under the name of devarajah. H. Kulke takes the important step of disassociating it decisively from the cult of royal shrines and suggests that it is the bronze image of Siva. C. Jacques points out that instead of seeing the Khmer version of the name as a translation of the Sanskrit (devarãja = ‘king of the gods’ or for some think it as, ‘god-king’), the latter was in fact a translation of an originally Khmer name for a local Khmer god = ‘god who is a king’, kamraten jagat ta raja. Michael Vickery accepts it as a type of Khmer cult. This cult had to take its place within the universe of Khmer religious thought, as a patron spirit with protective power, the likes of nak ta or ancestral spirits.
‘He who kills the king becomes the king’ had become the pitiless logic, the mantra of ancient Cambodia’s royal courts, and the principle grounded in the politics of succession disputes. This belief began with a legend about a royal cucumber gardener who had dedicated his life through his work, and even threatened everybody not to enter his garden without him knowing it; or else pain of death was bestowed. Until an intruder came in, and as his strict rule applied, he killed the stranger, ignorant that it was the king. He defended himself at the royal court that he did kill the king, in line of his duty. Because he killed the king, he was later proclaimed as his successor to the throne.
From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached as far as Vietnam to China and to the Bay of Bengal.
Some kings of Angkor (but not all) claimed their links with Jayavarman II (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996). When the Khmer civilization evolved in early ninth century, the Khmer kings inherited several elements from his predecessor as well as those from the Indian civilization. Jayavarman II crowned himself as a devarajah or "god-king" in 802 CE, and his regime was more or less a replica of the successful Indian monarchy.
But the circumstances of Jayavarman II’s rise as a monarch were obscure. He left no inscriptions of his own but was frequently referred to in the inscriptions of later kings. He was said to have come from ‘Java’, though this name was perhaps more likely to refer to somewhere on the Malayan coast. As an eleventh-century inscription suggested that his task was not only to unite the Khmers but also to rebut the claims over them made by the ‘Javanese’. This was an important step towards the unification of the Khmers beneath the authority of one throne. Jayavarman II died in about 834 CE, and according to the belief, he went to his own special heaven and was thereafter known by his posthumous name, Paramesvara, which declared his destiny in the abode of the supreme lord Siva (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996).
The greatest achievement of Jayavarman II was to unify his people and its territory. Unity was the product of particular historical conditions.
The reign of Jayavarman VI in 1080 CE appeared to have initiated a new line of rulers, the Mahidhara line. The rulers from Jayavarman VI’s (Mabbet and Chandler, 1996) family had territory in Thailand. The pattern of demographic spread suggested a westward thrust. This era represented a significant phase in Cambodian cultural expansion. In fact, every account in Thai cultural and artistic history had found space for a ‘Khmer period’ in their written history from tenth to eleventh centuries.
Angkor became supreme and a major empire under the dynasty of Suryavarman II who was consecrated in 113 CE but ended his reign about 1145-50 CE. He was the builder of the famous Angkor Wat, the most spectacular of all the monuments that remain to attest the empire’s glory. And up to now this national shrine is figured in Cambodia’s national flag. He also built temples like Beng Melea, Banteay, Samre, Chey Say Tevoda, and Thommanon. According to Mabbet and Chandler (1986), Angkor Wat’s name meant as ‘city-monastery’ is modern but the original foundation was in honor of Vishnu. It can be further explained by Angkorian scholars that Angkor Wat’s sculpture provided the world a tangible image of the aspirations and values of the culture which created it. His reign was distracted by wars with the perennial enemies, the Chams. By the 1170’s the Chams, by chance, took a surprise naval attack in Angkor from Tonle Sap and across the Great Lake before the Khmers could muster their defenses.
From here, a Cham king Jaya Indravarman IV ruled Angkor, then emerged, a fierce warrior and a Khmer prince to rise in power and destined to liberate his people. The prince was Jayavarman VII, the last of the great Khmer god-king who brought glory and honor to the avatars of the Angkor Empire.
The Emergence to Power of Jayavarman VII
Based from archaeological evidences and historical accounts, Jayavarman VII was the son of King Dharanindravarman II, roughly from 1150-1160 CE and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married a very religious, strong-minded, and devout princess, Indradevi, who exerted an important influence on him. Both before he gained the throne and during the early years of his rule as the last of the great monarch of the Angkor Empire.
Jayavarman VII stood up as a leader with a powerful vision to build and expand his kingdom with an image of order, stability, and purpose mediated by his religious beliefs. He spoke of his intentions in erecting temples as being, “full of deep sympathy for the good of the world, so as to bestow on men the ambrosia of remedies to win them immortality…by virtue of these good works would that I might rescue all those who are struggling in the ocean of existence.” (Harrison, 1963).
The successful adoption of the Indian doctrines of devarajah legitimized the leadership of Jayavarman VII to exercise divine kingship and absolute power over the entire empire. With the power vested on him, he launched a thousand vessels, a flamboyant attitude to show off his hegemonic power to his enemies. He exercised his military prowess by conquering foreign lands and defeating the kingdom’s nemesis. He led and commanded a strong and large battalion of warriors and his strong physical presence in warfare was expected from him. His success in every battle guided by strong philosophical and cosmological beliefs exuded a kingly behavior. And later on, he built a new city and temples of Angkor Thom that reflected his youthful and energetic image as the sole king of the mighty Kambujadesa.
Although, it was clear that during his late 30s and 40s he lived in the neighboring and prime foe of the Khmers, the Champa kingdom which is now the central region of Vietnam. As the story went on, when Jayavarman VII’s father died, a relative named Yasovarman II appeared to have claimed the throne, and out of Jayavarman VII’s frustration, he left his wife and retreated to Chmapa alone. Much of what can be said about the career of Jayavarman VII was derived from an inscriptional eulogy by his wife, Indradevi (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986). Archaeologists found inscriptions referring to Queen Indradevi’s thoughts after her husband went into exile…"asceticism, her virtuous conduct, her tears, her likeness to Sita, found by her husband and then separated from him, her body thinned by observances, her religion, her devotion to him, her joy at this ultimate return."
In 1166 Tribuvanadityavarman, a court official, stole the throne from Yasovarman II which caused trouble to Angkor’s succession of kingship. And because of worsening palace rebellion, prince Jayavarman VII hastened to Cambodia, maybe to help re-install his relative, Yasovarman II’s right to the throne or to assert his own succession rights. Twelve years after, Jayavarman VII thought that it was the right time to gain the throne from a former court official. He grabbed the opportunity and led a rebellion, in which that time, the Chams had moved in to Angkor 1177 that ultimately unrobed Tribhuvanadityavarman’s title as the king of Angkor. In less that five years of struggle, the prince-warrior emerged as a savior and was crowned as a new devarajah of Kambujadesa and from there he started his brilliant reign.
This was an inscription referring to the capture of the Cham city by King Jayavarman VII:
"In 1190, King Sri Jaya Indravarman ong Vatuv was against the King of Kambujadesa. The latter sent the Prince (Vidyanandana) as the head of the troops of the Kambuja to take Vijaya and defeat the king. He captured the king and had him conducted to Kambujadesa by the Kambuja troops. He proclaimed Suryajavarmadeva Prince, brother-in-law of the king of Kambujadesa, as king of the city of Vijaya."
Jayavarman VII’s reign was grander than any other kings of the empire. His inscriptions declared a loftier and more inspiring ambition. He made Mahayana Buddhism as his kingdom’s religion and built new shrines called the bayon. In his thirty-one years of service as king, he built 121 ‘fire houses’, 102 ‘halls of diseaselessness’, and his own reservoir at Jayatataka. An inscription referred him as to how he envisioned building the halls of diseaselessness or hospitals, "He suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings, and not their own grief."
After he subjugated Champa under his control, his administration reached as far as to present-day Laos. A Chinese record listed the dependencies of Angkor at the time, an act of homage by vassals; the list included what it called the king of Java (possibly a Malay ruler), the king of the Yavanas (the Vietnamese), and the two king of Champa. His stunning empire appeared to have been as great as Angkor had ever been (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
The world-renowned Bayon, which was Jayavarman VII’s central shrine, had been called ‘forest of heads’. It may be true, as some archaeologists have unearthed that all the faces in the sculptures of bayon represented the king himself. The idea was taken from the mythology of the Mahayana, according to which the Bodhisattva’s eyes sent rays of all-seeing compassion into the whole space, filling it with the light of his boundless merit.
In his greatness as a devarajah of the Angkor Empire, on the other side of the coin, it was the exhaustion of the kingdom brought about by Jayavarman VII’s extravagance that set it upon the downward course (Briggs, 1951). After his glorious reign, although the age of mighty deeds and massive endowments recorded in Sanskrit inscriptions came to an end. Angkor continued to be known as a prosperous kingdom after his death around 1215 CE and even monarchs in outer territories regarded him with certain high respect (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
Devarajah and Sailendra in Modern Southeast Asian Leadership
Post-colonial Southeast Asia has succeeded in producing far more competent, intelligent and oftentimes notorious leaders who expelled the western colonials in their territories. Some have been molded by circumstances while others used it to legitimize their rule. Almost all Southeast Asian countries have been able to produce imminent and respectable leaders in world politics. Some are known to have ruled their countries under an iron-fist and authoritarian regimes. These leaders have shone and been written in history as great leaders of Southeast Asia, the likes of President Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986) of the Republic of the Philippines, President Suharto (1966-1998) of the Republic of Indonesia, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1959-1990) of Singapore’s Parliamentary Government, Ho Chi Minh (1945-1969) of Vietnam under the Communist Government, Prime Minister Pol Pot (1976-1979) of Democratic Kampuchea, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981-2003) of the Constitutional Monarchy of Malaysia.
The modern leaders of Southeast Asia have fought peculiar faces of problems that confronted their countries. These faces of issues like western colonialism and imperialism, the rise and fall of communism, prevalent ethnic conflicts and poverty, economic reforms and political saga that have tested the strength of their regime. Some has successfully reached the zenith of their political ambitions at the same time achieved high-level of economic prosperity but others fell, ousted or died, leaving their countries with remnants of complex problems.
In trying to link up the concepts of devarajah of ancient Angkor and sailendra of ancient maritime kingdoms of Srivijaya in today’s modern leadership in Southeast Asia, important leaders of Cambodia and Indonesia shall be given emphasis.
The Angkor civilization decayed after the strong army of the neighboring Ayuthaya kingdom conquered the cosmopolitan city of Angkor. And later in history, foreshadowing the conduct of nineteenth and twentieth-century Cambodian leaders, the Cambodian king sought help from a distant country from the Spanish Philippines. The Cambodian king even promised to become a Catholic if sufficient military help arrived. But it never did instead the Thai returned in 1959 and sacked the Khmer capital (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986).
When France consolidated its holdings into Indo-China and Cambodia turned to a backwater, several scholarly mission to the kingdom copied, catalogued, and deciphered hundreds of inscriptions that had been found at Angkor (Mabbet and Chandler, 1986). Little by little, Cambodia’s half-forgotten past was brought to light. The French, obsessed with the dimensions of beauty of the ruins, invariably saw the contrast in terms of Cambodia’s decline. During these years, French officials sought to limit Norodom’s powers and to expand their own. They even forced King Norodom Sihanouk to sign a humiliating document that led to systematic French controls.
With this political transformation in Cambodia, King Norodom as embodied to be the modern devarajah had not been fully realized. In 1941, the Thai took advantage of French defeats in Europe and attacked French positions in Laos and Cambodia. Thailand once again regained its stronghold over most of Cambodia’s northwest. A nineteen-year-old Norodom Sihanouk, then a high-school student in Saigon succeeded the throne who later availed a French education.
But a fierce and notorious modern Khmer leader responsible for the ‘killing fields’ has emerged in Cambodia trying to bring back the past glory of Angkor. Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot was the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976-1979, having been a de facto leader since mid-1975. During his unforgettable rule, he adopted Theravada Buddhism to justify his non-standard communism. He instigated an aggressive policy of relocating people to the countryside in an attempt to purify the Cambodian people as a step toward a communist future. The means to this end included the extermination of two million intellectuals and other ‘bourgeois enemies’. In 1979 he led Cambodia into a disastrous war with Vietnam (the former ancient Champa kingdom which became the perennial nemesis of the Angkor kingdom).
Known as the ‘Javanese King’ by some Indonesians, General Suharto, in his autobiography Pak Harto published in 1989, deems and portrays himself as the only figure who can deliver prosperity and stave off the twin specters of Communist subversion and Islamic extremism. Without him, he claims, Indonesia could run amok again.
President Suharto’s ancestry has been raised from time to time in an attempt to link him to the royal house of Jogyakarta. In the Javanese cultural context, some of his subjects would like to link him with descent from the glorious Mataram kings. Given the vast extent of Javanese aristocratic genealogies, it is more likely that he, as a pure Javanese, could trace some ancestry to the royal palace or kraton (R.J. Vatikiotis, 1993). But Suharto empathetically denied this reports, instead he linked himself as a humble son of a farmer. Perhaps, this was a political strategy to identify himself with the masses, in disguising his persona as a son of a petani or farmer.
Inscriptions had that great empire of Srivijaya was thalassocratic. A thalassocracy is a Greek expression for a kingdom (a state for the west) whose realms are primarily maritime or empire at sea.
The political muscle of both Sukarno and Suharto under their regimes to unite a vast archipelagic country can be traced back to the thalassocratic leadership of the sailendras in ancient Srivijaya kingdom.
Both Generals Suharto and Sukarno have used military maneuvering in their leadership. President Sukarno as a founding father posed as a revolutionary but he failed to recognize the fragility of the republic he built up, until revolutionary rhetoric has devoured him up in his desire to preserve the social status quo. In the same level, the successor, President Suharto, a master politician, has always made economic development a holy mission. He brought a large degree of unity to the multi-ethnic nation and the world’s largest Muslim population through his shrewd political suppression on internal threats to stability.
Conclusion
The avatars of the Angkor Empire have taught us that beauty of a civilization is nestled by rich spiritual nourishment. The devarajah as well as the sailendra assumed supreme roles to rule a mandala. Jayavarman VII may have been regarded as the last of the great king of his empire before it ultimately faltered under his successors’ weak administrations. His greatness is until now carved throughout history. His narcissistic vestiges reflected through the bayons give us hope that the famous ‘Smile of Angkor’ has imparted us certain degree of beauty and serene spirituality of a ruler who once ruled a mighty Kambujadesa during his time.
Jayavarman VII conceived a prosperous society for his domain. At the peak of his power, he merged the close linkage between economic and political stability in his kingdom. He exercised successfully his theocratic devarajah power. The rise of a powerful and integrated kingdom has been attributed to the discovery and sustenance of agriculture and the surplus which it provides. During his reign, he expanded infrastructures like the halls of diseaselessness or hospitals, the firehouses or rest houses, numerous highways, and enhanced the irrigation system. This comes with the belief that the most important of all natural resources his kingdom owns is water. Water imposes the most immediate limitations on the life supporting potential of a given geography. Given that the two great kingdoms in Southeast Asia, the Angkor Empire (mainland) and the Srivijayan Empire (maritime), became so powerful because of its skillful knowledge in utilizing the water systems. The sophisticated irrigation systems of the Khmers and the strong maritime trading of the people of Srivijaya used intelligently the function of water in the development of their kingdoms.
Every great empire experiences the grim reality of life and death. It will rise and fall but great rulers are forever immortalized. New breed of leaders will soon imitate their mighty deeds and learn from their philosophy. But very few succeeds, to the extent of surpassing even the achievements of their predecessors. It may be possible that some modern leaders mimic the achievements of ancient rulers and portray a reincarnated persona to exploit power endowed to them by the people.
It is therefore true that the kind of leadership is ever evolving. The qualities of past rulers may had been brawny and also spiritual in nature, ascribed inheritors of the throne, a warrior who commanded naval fleets and military strongholds, and claim to have descended from the gods or act just like the gods. This may invariably be different in today’s type of leadership where technocrats and bureaucrats dominate the political scene. They are elected but can be ousted by the masses. Lastly, they should be accustomed to be servant-leaders of the people.
Bibliography
Ananta Toer, Pramoedya. 1980. Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations). London: Penguin.
Chou Ta-kuan. 1951. Memoires sur les coutomues du Cambodge de Tcheou Takouan. Paris: Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient.
Coedès, George. 1968. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Canberra: Australian National University Press.
Harrison, Brian. 1963. Southeast Asia: A Short History. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd..
L.P. Briggs. 1951. The Ancient Khmer Empire. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Mabbet, Ian and Chandler, David. 1996. The Khmers: The Peoples of Southeast Asiaand the Pacific. Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
R.C. Ng. 1979. The Geographical Habitat of Historical Settlement, In Early Southeast Asia: Essays in Archeology History and Historical Geography, ed. R.B. Smith and W. Watson, New York: Oxford University Press
R.J. Vatikiotis, Machael. 1993. Indonesian Politics Under Suharto. New York: Routledge.
Electronic References:
http://angkor1431.tripod.com/index/id19.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/jayavarman-vii
http://www.asiasource.org/society/sukarno.cfm
http://www.electionworld.org/history/cambodia.htm
http://www.museeguimet.fr/gb/pages/page_id18055_u1l2.htm
http://www.yale.edu/iforum/Winter1996/Suharto_Win96.htm
Low Quality of Education and the Culture of Hacking
Copyright © 2010 by Chester B. Cabalza
Practices of students and teachers which contribute to the low standards of education
One of the key forces of propelling nation-building, economic advancement, sensible and intelligent citizenry, and the love of country is to cement the foundations of education. However, best-learned practices of students and teachers should come hand-in-hand for a productive and high-quality education of higher learning.
Unfortunately, the goal of achieving very high quality education among some students around the country is not yet realized. There are several factors which hinder to this undertaking. For example, there is ineffective use of technology which contributes to low standards of education. It should be noted that the use of technology by teachers and students to catch the pace and competitiveness of schools and level of education worldwide should be guaranteed by the government. Because effective use of technology in education creates significant investments in hardware, software, infrastructure, professional development, and support services, for investment in school technology and quality education. This unprecedented level of investment in educational technology has raised expectations of legislators and the public who are now looking for returns on this investment and therefore are calling for evidence regarding the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of technology among its users, the teachers and students.
Educators need to look at the research on technology and student achievement and the contextual factors that affect learning goals. Hence, higher educational institutions must be open to more intensive and creative environment to make our schools not only communities of learners, where our students receive their diploma. But colleges and universities of the future that nurture young Filipinos to become responsible citizens and enlightened leaders of our country.
Public and private education and training institutions should adopt I.T. in education and develop a critical mass of I.T. professionals and an I.T.-literate workforce in different fields to level-up educational competitiveness and set aside low quality of education in the country.
Hacking and its effects of truth in the society
For a generation of young people, technology, particularly the Internet, has assumed a substantial stake in their social and educational lives. However, one of its downsides is hacking.
Hacking may be referred to as the re-configuring or re-programming of function in ways not facilitated by the owner, administrator, or designer of websites. Or used in modification of a program or device to give the user access to features that were otherwise unavailable.
One of the famous hacking activity done by a Filipino was the “Iloveyou” bug or loveletter computer worm which almost crippled the London stock market when it was launched and successfully attacked tens of millions of Windows computers in 2000.
Its effects in terms of truth in the society is that as information and communication technologies continue to invade and pervade human life; the risks for cyber cases, whether good or bad, will continue to grow. Certainly the use of technology in cyber attacks is plausible. Our very global way of life depends on the secure and safe operations of critical systems that depend on cyberspace.
A primary cause of alarm is the reality that hacking is another tool of destruction as are explosives and other deadly weapons. Furthermore, the resources to launch hacking activities are very easy to do and one may not even know that the attack has taken place until only sometime after it was launched.
The perceived notion that hackers may employ Information Technology (IT) as useful medium does not robotically mean that information infrastructure will constitute the next target. However, for hackers to exploit it, extended use and familiarization with technology is a necessary step before deciding to turn against the entire users of the World Wide Web.
In the process of acquiring and learning the use of IT for strategic and organizational purposes, hackers will more likely apply it as an offensive weapon to destroy and disrupt the community of Internet users.
Practices of students and teachers which contribute to the low standards of education
One of the key forces of propelling nation-building, economic advancement, sensible and intelligent citizenry, and the love of country is to cement the foundations of education. However, best-learned practices of students and teachers should come hand-in-hand for a productive and high-quality education of higher learning.
Unfortunately, the goal of achieving very high quality education among some students around the country is not yet realized. There are several factors which hinder to this undertaking. For example, there is ineffective use of technology which contributes to low standards of education. It should be noted that the use of technology by teachers and students to catch the pace and competitiveness of schools and level of education worldwide should be guaranteed by the government. Because effective use of technology in education creates significant investments in hardware, software, infrastructure, professional development, and support services, for investment in school technology and quality education. This unprecedented level of investment in educational technology has raised expectations of legislators and the public who are now looking for returns on this investment and therefore are calling for evidence regarding the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of technology among its users, the teachers and students.
Educators need to look at the research on technology and student achievement and the contextual factors that affect learning goals. Hence, higher educational institutions must be open to more intensive and creative environment to make our schools not only communities of learners, where our students receive their diploma. But colleges and universities of the future that nurture young Filipinos to become responsible citizens and enlightened leaders of our country.
Public and private education and training institutions should adopt I.T. in education and develop a critical mass of I.T. professionals and an I.T.-literate workforce in different fields to level-up educational competitiveness and set aside low quality of education in the country.
Hacking and its effects of truth in the society
For a generation of young people, technology, particularly the Internet, has assumed a substantial stake in their social and educational lives. However, one of its downsides is hacking.
Hacking may be referred to as the re-configuring or re-programming of function in ways not facilitated by the owner, administrator, or designer of websites. Or used in modification of a program or device to give the user access to features that were otherwise unavailable.
One of the famous hacking activity done by a Filipino was the “Iloveyou” bug or loveletter computer worm which almost crippled the London stock market when it was launched and successfully attacked tens of millions of Windows computers in 2000.
Its effects in terms of truth in the society is that as information and communication technologies continue to invade and pervade human life; the risks for cyber cases, whether good or bad, will continue to grow. Certainly the use of technology in cyber attacks is plausible. Our very global way of life depends on the secure and safe operations of critical systems that depend on cyberspace.
A primary cause of alarm is the reality that hacking is another tool of destruction as are explosives and other deadly weapons. Furthermore, the resources to launch hacking activities are very easy to do and one may not even know that the attack has taken place until only sometime after it was launched.
The perceived notion that hackers may employ Information Technology (IT) as useful medium does not robotically mean that information infrastructure will constitute the next target. However, for hackers to exploit it, extended use and familiarization with technology is a necessary step before deciding to turn against the entire users of the World Wide Web.
In the process of acquiring and learning the use of IT for strategic and organizational purposes, hackers will more likely apply it as an offensive weapon to destroy and disrupt the community of Internet users.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
US vs Eufrasio Alano
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
US vs Eufrasio Alano
G.R. No. L-11021
December 1, 1915
Facts:
This cause was instituted upon a complaint filed by the prosecuting attorney, on August 1, 1914, charging Eufrasio Alano y Agbuya with the crime of homicide, and on October 19th of the same year the trial court rendered judgment sentencing the defendant to the penalty of fourteen years eight months and one day of cadena temporal, to the accessory penalties, and to pay the costs. From this judgment defendant appealed.
Issue:
W/O the accused committed the crime or homicide or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances?
Held:
From the record it appears, then, to have been fully proven that, because the defendant caught his wife, Teresa Marcelo, in the act of committing adultery with Martin Gonzalez, after he had unsuccessfully pursued the latter, who succeeding in escaping and hiding himself, he assaulted the adultress and inflicted upon her twenty-four wounds which produced her death a few moments afterwards.
For the proper imposition of the penalty prescribed by law, account must be taken of the extenuating circumstance that the defendant acted upon an impulse of passion and obfuscation, and also of the special circumstance provided in article 11 of the Code, as amended by Act No. 2142; and, as there is no aggravating circumstance to offset these extenuating ones, the penalty of destierro (banishment) should be imposed upon him in the minimum degree.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment appealed from is reversed and Eufrasio Alano y Agbuya should be sentenced, as he is hereby, to the penalty of six months and one day of banishment (destierro) from the district of Malate, and he shall not reside or enter within a radius of twenty-five kilometers from the church of the said district during the period of this sentence. The costs of both instances shall, furthermore, be charged against him, without prejudice to his being furnished a certified copy of this decision and placed at the disposal of the Court of First Instance, so that he may be released from custody in order to serve out the said sentence of banishment (destierro). So ordered.
US vs Eufrasio Alano
G.R. No. L-11021
December 1, 1915
Facts:
This cause was instituted upon a complaint filed by the prosecuting attorney, on August 1, 1914, charging Eufrasio Alano y Agbuya with the crime of homicide, and on October 19th of the same year the trial court rendered judgment sentencing the defendant to the penalty of fourteen years eight months and one day of cadena temporal, to the accessory penalties, and to pay the costs. From this judgment defendant appealed.
Issue:
W/O the accused committed the crime or homicide or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances?
Held:
From the record it appears, then, to have been fully proven that, because the defendant caught his wife, Teresa Marcelo, in the act of committing adultery with Martin Gonzalez, after he had unsuccessfully pursued the latter, who succeeding in escaping and hiding himself, he assaulted the adultress and inflicted upon her twenty-four wounds which produced her death a few moments afterwards.
For the proper imposition of the penalty prescribed by law, account must be taken of the extenuating circumstance that the defendant acted upon an impulse of passion and obfuscation, and also of the special circumstance provided in article 11 of the Code, as amended by Act No. 2142; and, as there is no aggravating circumstance to offset these extenuating ones, the penalty of destierro (banishment) should be imposed upon him in the minimum degree.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment appealed from is reversed and Eufrasio Alano y Agbuya should be sentenced, as he is hereby, to the penalty of six months and one day of banishment (destierro) from the district of Malate, and he shall not reside or enter within a radius of twenty-five kilometers from the church of the said district during the period of this sentence. The costs of both instances shall, furthermore, be charged against him, without prejudice to his being furnished a certified copy of this decision and placed at the disposal of the Court of First Instance, so that he may be released from custody in order to serve out the said sentence of banishment (destierro). So ordered.
People vs Guardiano Marquez
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Guardiano Marquez
G.R. No. 31268
July 31, 1929
Facts:
The defendant admits that he killed his wife, Oliva Sumampong; but he alleges that he caught her in the act of adultery, and so took her life.
Once the appellant had admitted that it was he who killed his wife, it was incumbent upon him to completely prove his defense, which is, that he found her in the act of adultery. The testimony he gave during the hearing of this case in the trial court, noticeably weakened by his statements before the justice of the peace, cannot be considered sufficient proof of the justification he alleges, and so the fact remains that he took his wife's life without having proven sufficient justification.
Issue:
W/O the defendant is liable for the crime under Articles 246 or 247 of the RPC?
Held:
Nevertheless, it was established at the trial that on the occasion of the crime, the defendant saw an unknown person jump out of the window of his house and that the appellant's wife begged for his pardon on her knees. The first of these facts, under the circumstances, warrants the conclusion that the defendant believed his wife to be unfaithful, and was overcome by passion and obfuscation. The second fact leads us to believe that the wife could not have been wholly unaware of the unknown person's presence in her house that night, inasmuch as she considered herself guilty and begged her husband's pardon, which is an undisputed fact in these proceedings. To our mind, such conduct on the part of his wife, thus inferred from the proceedings, constitutes a sufficient provocation, which must be considered as a mitigating circumstance in the face of the defendant.
But we consider the two mitigating circumstances of immediate provocation, and passion and obfuscation (article 9, paragraphs 4 and 7, Penal Code) to have been established. And by virtue of these two circumstances, following rule 5 of article 81 of the Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 2298, and there was no aggravating circumstance, the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law shall be imposed.
The defendant is sentenced to the personal penalty of twelve years and one day cadena temporal instead of life imprisonment as held by the court below, the judgment appealed from is hereby affirmed in all other respects, with the costs of both instances against the appellant. So ordered.
People vs Guardiano Marquez
G.R. No. 31268
July 31, 1929
Facts:
The defendant admits that he killed his wife, Oliva Sumampong; but he alleges that he caught her in the act of adultery, and so took her life.
Once the appellant had admitted that it was he who killed his wife, it was incumbent upon him to completely prove his defense, which is, that he found her in the act of adultery. The testimony he gave during the hearing of this case in the trial court, noticeably weakened by his statements before the justice of the peace, cannot be considered sufficient proof of the justification he alleges, and so the fact remains that he took his wife's life without having proven sufficient justification.
Issue:
W/O the defendant is liable for the crime under Articles 246 or 247 of the RPC?
Held:
Nevertheless, it was established at the trial that on the occasion of the crime, the defendant saw an unknown person jump out of the window of his house and that the appellant's wife begged for his pardon on her knees. The first of these facts, under the circumstances, warrants the conclusion that the defendant believed his wife to be unfaithful, and was overcome by passion and obfuscation. The second fact leads us to believe that the wife could not have been wholly unaware of the unknown person's presence in her house that night, inasmuch as she considered herself guilty and begged her husband's pardon, which is an undisputed fact in these proceedings. To our mind, such conduct on the part of his wife, thus inferred from the proceedings, constitutes a sufficient provocation, which must be considered as a mitigating circumstance in the face of the defendant.
But we consider the two mitigating circumstances of immediate provocation, and passion and obfuscation (article 9, paragraphs 4 and 7, Penal Code) to have been established. And by virtue of these two circumstances, following rule 5 of article 81 of the Penal Code, as amended by Act No. 2298, and there was no aggravating circumstance, the penalty next lower to that prescribed by law shall be imposed.
The defendant is sentenced to the personal penalty of twelve years and one day cadena temporal instead of life imprisonment as held by the court below, the judgment appealed from is hereby affirmed in all other respects, with the costs of both instances against the appellant. So ordered.
People vs Marciano Gonzales
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Marciano Gonzales
G.R. No. 46310
October 31, 1939
Facts:
At the trial, appellant Marciano Gonzales testified that at midday on June 2, 1938, on returning to his house from the woods, he surprised his wife, Sixta Quilason, and Isabelo Evangelio in the act, told her that the man was the very one who used to ask rice and food from them, and counseled her not to repeat the same faithlessness. His wife, promised him not to do the act again. The accused left the house again and went towards the South to see his carabaos. Upon returning to his house at above five o'clock in the afternoon, and not finding his wife there, he looked for her and found her with Isabelo near the toilet of his house in a place covered with underbush, who was standing and buttoning his drawers, immediately took to his heels. The accused went after him, but unable to overtake him, he returned to where his wife was and, completely obfuscated, attacked her with a knife without intending to kill her. Thereafter, he took pity on her and took her dead body to his house.
The appellant contends that, having surprised his wife, in the afternoon of the date in question, under circumstances indicative that she had carnal intercourse with Isabelo, he was entitled to the privilege afforded by article 247 of the Revised Penal code providing: "Any legally married person who, having surprised his spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill either of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro.
Issue:
W/O the accused-appellant committed the crime under Art 247 of the RPC?
Held:
No. The court entirely accept the defense sought to be established by the accused, first, because his testimony is improbable. It is not conceivable that the accused had only mildly counseled his wife not to repeat committing adultery with Isabelo, instead of taking harsher measures as is natural in such circumstances, if the were true that he had surprised the two offender in the act of adultery on returning to his house at midday on the date in question. Neither is it likely that a woman thirty years of age, like Sixta Quilason, and twenty-five-year old Isabelo Evangelio, both of sound judgment as is to be supposed, had dared to have carnal intercourse near the toilet of the offended party house, a place which is naturally frequented by some persons. The circumstance that the place was covered by weeds, does not authorize the conclusion that the offenders could lay concealed under the weeds because the latter do not usually grow to such height as to conceal or cover two persons committing the guilt act. It seems that under the circumstances it is unnatural that they would execute the act in a place uncovered and open. We do not want to suppose that the sexual passion of two persons would border on madness.
Secondly, because even assuming that the accused caught his wife rising up and Isabelo cannot invoke the privilege of article 247 of the Revised Penal Code, because he did not surprise the supposed offenders in the very act of committing adultery, but thereafter, if the respective positions of the woman and the man were sufficient to warrant the conclusion that they had committed the carnal act. (3 Viada, Penal Code, p. 96; People vs. Marquez, 53 Phil., 260).Taking into account the mitigating circumstances of lack of intention on the part of the accused to commit so grave a wrong as that committed upon the person of the deceased, and of his lack of instruction, the appealed judgment is modified, and the accused is sentenced to the penalty of twelve years and one day to twenty years of reclusion temporal and indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the amount of P1,000 with the costs. So ordered.
People vs Marciano Gonzales
G.R. No. 46310
October 31, 1939
Facts:
At the trial, appellant Marciano Gonzales testified that at midday on June 2, 1938, on returning to his house from the woods, he surprised his wife, Sixta Quilason, and Isabelo Evangelio in the act, told her that the man was the very one who used to ask rice and food from them, and counseled her not to repeat the same faithlessness. His wife, promised him not to do the act again. The accused left the house again and went towards the South to see his carabaos. Upon returning to his house at above five o'clock in the afternoon, and not finding his wife there, he looked for her and found her with Isabelo near the toilet of his house in a place covered with underbush, who was standing and buttoning his drawers, immediately took to his heels. The accused went after him, but unable to overtake him, he returned to where his wife was and, completely obfuscated, attacked her with a knife without intending to kill her. Thereafter, he took pity on her and took her dead body to his house.
The appellant contends that, having surprised his wife, in the afternoon of the date in question, under circumstances indicative that she had carnal intercourse with Isabelo, he was entitled to the privilege afforded by article 247 of the Revised Penal code providing: "Any legally married person who, having surprised his spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill either of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro.
Issue:
W/O the accused-appellant committed the crime under Art 247 of the RPC?
Held:
No. The court entirely accept the defense sought to be established by the accused, first, because his testimony is improbable. It is not conceivable that the accused had only mildly counseled his wife not to repeat committing adultery with Isabelo, instead of taking harsher measures as is natural in such circumstances, if the were true that he had surprised the two offender in the act of adultery on returning to his house at midday on the date in question. Neither is it likely that a woman thirty years of age, like Sixta Quilason, and twenty-five-year old Isabelo Evangelio, both of sound judgment as is to be supposed, had dared to have carnal intercourse near the toilet of the offended party house, a place which is naturally frequented by some persons. The circumstance that the place was covered by weeds, does not authorize the conclusion that the offenders could lay concealed under the weeds because the latter do not usually grow to such height as to conceal or cover two persons committing the guilt act. It seems that under the circumstances it is unnatural that they would execute the act in a place uncovered and open. We do not want to suppose that the sexual passion of two persons would border on madness.
Secondly, because even assuming that the accused caught his wife rising up and Isabelo cannot invoke the privilege of article 247 of the Revised Penal Code, because he did not surprise the supposed offenders in the very act of committing adultery, but thereafter, if the respective positions of the woman and the man were sufficient to warrant the conclusion that they had committed the carnal act. (3 Viada, Penal Code, p. 96; People vs. Marquez, 53 Phil., 260).Taking into account the mitigating circumstances of lack of intention on the part of the accused to commit so grave a wrong as that committed upon the person of the deceased, and of his lack of instruction, the appealed judgment is modified, and the accused is sentenced to the penalty of twelve years and one day to twenty years of reclusion temporal and indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the amount of P1,000 with the costs. So ordered.
People vs Coricor
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Coricor
G.R. No. L-48768
December 4, 1971
Facts:
Appellant was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Pedro Lego in the sum of P2,000, and to pay the costs, having been found by the lower court guilty of murder committed on September 15, 1941. The evidence for the prosecution was presented on October 20 and 21, 1941, and the evidence for the defense on October 21 and 22, 1941. Six witnesses testified for the prosecution.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant committed the crime of murder under Art 248 or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances under Art. 247 of the RPC?
Held:
A careful weighing of the evidence both of the prosecution and the defense leads us to the conclusion that appellant's version as to the circumstance under which Pedro Lego was killed is the more credible. That appellant should have gone to the house of Severino Regis to invite Pedro Lego and his wife to come to appellant's house so as to advise Isabel, because she had a paramour, one Saturnino Caaya, as testified to by Catalina Regis, appears not to tally with the fact that, according to the testimony of the accused, not contradicted by the same Catalina Regis, he went twice to her to complain about the illicit relations between Pedro Lego and Isabel, to the extent that appellant manifested to Catalina that if he should surprise Lego in flagrant copulation with Isabel, he will kill them and would forget that Lego is his uncle.
The court applied in the case at bar Art 247, the death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances. Conjugal fidelity committed by a married woman and her paramour is punished, as adultery, by article 333 of the Revised Penal Code with from 4 months to 6 years of imprisonment, and the one committed by a husband and his mistress, as concubinage, by article 334, with imprisonment from 6 months and 4 years and 2 months for the erring husband and banishment for the mistress. Under article 334, not all cases of conjugal infidelity committed by a husband is punishable. The great majority of them are left unpunishable. No fiscal will think of prosecuting the husband who should indulge in sexual intercourse with discreet mistresses or with prostitutes. For such acts of conjugal infidelity, some punishable with short terms of imprisonment, others with simple banishment, and still others not punishable at all, article 247, in effect, confers to the offended spouse the power to inflict the supreme penalty of death. The banishment provided for the killer is intended more for his protection than as a penalty. Such a twisted logic seems possible only in a paranoiac mind. It is high time to relegate article 247 to where it properly belongs, to the memory of the sins that humanity promised to herself never to commit again. The majority of the Court, however, opines otherwise.
For all the foregoing, setting aside the appealed decision, appellant is found guilty of the offense of having killed Pedro Lego as punished by article 247 of the Revised Penal Code and, accordingly, is sentenced to 2 years, 4 months and 1 day of banishment, and to indemnify the heirs of Pedro Lego in the sum of P2,000.
People vs Coricor
G.R. No. L-48768
December 4, 1971
Facts:
Appellant was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Pedro Lego in the sum of P2,000, and to pay the costs, having been found by the lower court guilty of murder committed on September 15, 1941. The evidence for the prosecution was presented on October 20 and 21, 1941, and the evidence for the defense on October 21 and 22, 1941. Six witnesses testified for the prosecution.
Issue:
W/O accused-appellant committed the crime of murder under Art 248 or death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances under Art. 247 of the RPC?
Held:
A careful weighing of the evidence both of the prosecution and the defense leads us to the conclusion that appellant's version as to the circumstance under which Pedro Lego was killed is the more credible. That appellant should have gone to the house of Severino Regis to invite Pedro Lego and his wife to come to appellant's house so as to advise Isabel, because she had a paramour, one Saturnino Caaya, as testified to by Catalina Regis, appears not to tally with the fact that, according to the testimony of the accused, not contradicted by the same Catalina Regis, he went twice to her to complain about the illicit relations between Pedro Lego and Isabel, to the extent that appellant manifested to Catalina that if he should surprise Lego in flagrant copulation with Isabel, he will kill them and would forget that Lego is his uncle.
The court applied in the case at bar Art 247, the death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances. Conjugal fidelity committed by a married woman and her paramour is punished, as adultery, by article 333 of the Revised Penal Code with from 4 months to 6 years of imprisonment, and the one committed by a husband and his mistress, as concubinage, by article 334, with imprisonment from 6 months and 4 years and 2 months for the erring husband and banishment for the mistress. Under article 334, not all cases of conjugal infidelity committed by a husband is punishable. The great majority of them are left unpunishable. No fiscal will think of prosecuting the husband who should indulge in sexual intercourse with discreet mistresses or with prostitutes. For such acts of conjugal infidelity, some punishable with short terms of imprisonment, others with simple banishment, and still others not punishable at all, article 247, in effect, confers to the offended spouse the power to inflict the supreme penalty of death. The banishment provided for the killer is intended more for his protection than as a penalty. Such a twisted logic seems possible only in a paranoiac mind. It is high time to relegate article 247 to where it properly belongs, to the memory of the sins that humanity promised to herself never to commit again. The majority of the Court, however, opines otherwise.
For all the foregoing, setting aside the appealed decision, appellant is found guilty of the offense of having killed Pedro Lego as punished by article 247 of the Revised Penal Code and, accordingly, is sentenced to 2 years, 4 months and 1 day of banishment, and to indemnify the heirs of Pedro Lego in the sum of P2,000.
People vs Corazon Zamora de Cortez
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Corazon Zamora de Cortez
G.R. No. L-39461
February 24, 1934
Facts:
Appellant admits having killed Maria Bigay but claims that she committed the deed because she surprised her in the act of adultery with her husband, Angel Cortez, in the house of Lucia Celis. Her testimony in this respect is fully corroborated by that of Lucia Celis. Appellant's husband, in his testimony, also admitted that he was surprised by his wife in the act of adultery with Maria Bigay in Lucia Celis' house. While, as a general rule, the testimony of a husband in favor of his wife should be carefully scrutinized, courts are not justified in rejecting it entirely as proceeding from a biased source. In the case at bar, no motive for the killing has been established, and granting that proof of particular motive for taking the life of a human being is not indispensable to conviction for homicide, the absence of such motive is nevertheless important in determining which of two conflicting theories is more likely to be true.
Issue:
W/O the appellant committed the crime of murder under art 248 of the RPC?
Held:
As declared by this court, in criminal prosecutions, matters of defense, mitigation, excuse, or justification, must appear by a preponderance of evidence. (People vs. Embalido, 58 Phil., 152, 154.) We agree with the Solicitor-General that the preponderance of evidence in the present case does not justify appellant's claim that she acted in self-defense. If sufficiently indicates, however, that she killed Maria Bigay under the circumstances mentioned in article 247 of the Revised Penal Code.
Appellant was prosecuted in the Court of First Instance of Capiz for the crime of murder and, after due trial, was found guilty only of homicide and sentenced to suffer seventeen years and four months of reclusion temporal, with the accessory penalties provided by law, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Maria Bigay in the sum of P1,000, and to pay the costs.
People vs Corazon Zamora de Cortez
G.R. No. L-39461
February 24, 1934
Facts:
Appellant admits having killed Maria Bigay but claims that she committed the deed because she surprised her in the act of adultery with her husband, Angel Cortez, in the house of Lucia Celis. Her testimony in this respect is fully corroborated by that of Lucia Celis. Appellant's husband, in his testimony, also admitted that he was surprised by his wife in the act of adultery with Maria Bigay in Lucia Celis' house. While, as a general rule, the testimony of a husband in favor of his wife should be carefully scrutinized, courts are not justified in rejecting it entirely as proceeding from a biased source. In the case at bar, no motive for the killing has been established, and granting that proof of particular motive for taking the life of a human being is not indispensable to conviction for homicide, the absence of such motive is nevertheless important in determining which of two conflicting theories is more likely to be true.
Issue:
W/O the appellant committed the crime of murder under art 248 of the RPC?
Held:
As declared by this court, in criminal prosecutions, matters of defense, mitigation, excuse, or justification, must appear by a preponderance of evidence. (People vs. Embalido, 58 Phil., 152, 154.) We agree with the Solicitor-General that the preponderance of evidence in the present case does not justify appellant's claim that she acted in self-defense. If sufficiently indicates, however, that she killed Maria Bigay under the circumstances mentioned in article 247 of the Revised Penal Code.
Appellant was prosecuted in the Court of First Instance of Capiz for the crime of murder and, after due trial, was found guilty only of homicide and sentenced to suffer seventeen years and four months of reclusion temporal, with the accessory penalties provided by law, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Maria Bigay in the sum of P1,000, and to pay the costs.
People vs Berang
Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
People vs Berang
G.R. Nos. L-46526 and L-46527
October 31, 1939
Facts:
The appellant was charged in three different cases with parricide. He was acquitted in one of them and found guilty in the other two.
In the morning of November 4, 1938, Beling, the wife of the accused, and his children, four-year-old X and six-month-old Y, were boloed to death in the appellant's house. The first Government agents who arrived at the house were Constabulary Sergeant Ignacio Bersamina and the health inspector of Tugboc, Agustin Candia. The accused told the sergeant that he killed his wife and children because he was made with rage. In the afternoon of the same day the accused, who showed some wounds, was taken to the Davao Public Hospital, and on the following day, November 5th, answering the questions of the fiscal in the presence of Lieutenant Villares, deputy clerk of court Mr. Frias, and Sergeant Bersamina, he admitted killed his wife and children and having wounded himself on the neck and head.
Issue:
Whether accused-appellant is deemed guilty of both parricide and homicide?
Held:
Yes. Finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of killing his daughter X and wife Beling, with whom he lived maritally, in the absence of clear evidence of the marriage, the court considered the crime committed by Berang in killing Mora Beling as homicide only, and acquitted the accused in one of the three cases, sentencing him in the other, for the crime of homicide, to an indeterminate penalty ranging from six (6) months and one (1) day of prision mayor to twelve (12) years and (1) day of reclusion temporal, to indemnify the heirs of Beling in the amount of P2,000, and in the third case, for the crime of parricide for the death of his daughter X, it sentenced the accused to reclusion perpetua, and to pay the costs in both cases, without pronouncement as to the indemnity for the death of said X, considering that the accused, as the father, is the presumptive heir of the deceased.
In the present appeal the accused contends that his guilt has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt; that the testimony of Bayna, his mother, is contradictory; that he could not read well his declaration before the Fiscal when it was read to him, and that he had not spoken to Sergeant Bersamina. He testified that on November 4, 1938, while he was sleeping, he was wounded by Beling, and when he woke up he saw his daughter X dead by his side, and upon noting that Beling was holding a bolo, he grabbed it from her and gave her bolo blows, because according to him he took pity on his children. Wherefore, the court affirms the appealed judgment, with the costs to the appellant. So ordered.
People vs Berang
G.R. Nos. L-46526 and L-46527
October 31, 1939
Facts:
The appellant was charged in three different cases with parricide. He was acquitted in one of them and found guilty in the other two.
In the morning of November 4, 1938, Beling, the wife of the accused, and his children, four-year-old X and six-month-old Y, were boloed to death in the appellant's house. The first Government agents who arrived at the house were Constabulary Sergeant Ignacio Bersamina and the health inspector of Tugboc, Agustin Candia. The accused told the sergeant that he killed his wife and children because he was made with rage. In the afternoon of the same day the accused, who showed some wounds, was taken to the Davao Public Hospital, and on the following day, November 5th, answering the questions of the fiscal in the presence of Lieutenant Villares, deputy clerk of court Mr. Frias, and Sergeant Bersamina, he admitted killed his wife and children and having wounded himself on the neck and head.
Issue:
Whether accused-appellant is deemed guilty of both parricide and homicide?
Held:
Yes. Finding the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of killing his daughter X and wife Beling, with whom he lived maritally, in the absence of clear evidence of the marriage, the court considered the crime committed by Berang in killing Mora Beling as homicide only, and acquitted the accused in one of the three cases, sentencing him in the other, for the crime of homicide, to an indeterminate penalty ranging from six (6) months and one (1) day of prision mayor to twelve (12) years and (1) day of reclusion temporal, to indemnify the heirs of Beling in the amount of P2,000, and in the third case, for the crime of parricide for the death of his daughter X, it sentenced the accused to reclusion perpetua, and to pay the costs in both cases, without pronouncement as to the indemnity for the death of said X, considering that the accused, as the father, is the presumptive heir of the deceased.
In the present appeal the accused contends that his guilt has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt; that the testimony of Bayna, his mother, is contradictory; that he could not read well his declaration before the Fiscal when it was read to him, and that he had not spoken to Sergeant Bersamina. He testified that on November 4, 1938, while he was sleeping, he was wounded by Beling, and when he woke up he saw his daughter X dead by his side, and upon noting that Beling was holding a bolo, he grabbed it from her and gave her bolo blows, because according to him he took pity on his children. Wherefore, the court affirms the appealed judgment, with the costs to the appellant. So ordered.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Conversations with a Litigation Lawyer
Being a litigation attorney in the Philippines plays a daunting task especially if one stands against corruption. The first victim of corruption is government revenue. In a developing economy like the Philippines, this can be extremely debilitating. The continuing budgetary deficit of the government results into cutbacks in expenditures for much needed social services.
Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. Based on this definition, corruption occurs when a public official or employee uses his or her power to solicit or extort bribes. This is only one side of corruption, however, other side features private persons, bribing and influencing public officials to gain an undue competitive advantage or profitable government contract. Hence, TI further differentiates between “according to rule” corruption and “against the rule” corruption.
As indicated above, corruption thrives where temptation coexists with permissiveness. Where institutional checks on power are missing, where decision making remains obscure, where civil society is thin on ground, where great inequalities in the distribution of wealth condemn people to live in poverty and injustice, and that is where corrupt practices flourish. In other words, it cannot be stressed enough that corruption is alive and well even where political, economic, legal and social institutions are well entrenched.
The interview aims at knowing and learning how an Arellano Law alumnus stands against corruption in the government and how our interviewee did acquire litigation skills in the court for over 10 years now. It is by this privileged opportunity that as students of Arellano University School of Law, we get to know on how the interviewee has achieved success in his career as a tough litigation lawyer and how he still carries the ideals of the law school where he graduated from to become a crime buster against corruption.
The Arellano University School of Law (AUSL), formerly known as the Arellano Law College, formally opened in 1935, is now placed 10th among top law schools in the country out of over a hundred colleges of law, based on the percentage or passing rate for first time BAR passers in a decade from 1999 to 2009, having achieved a 49.3 percent (49.3%).
The significance of this standing simplifies the premise that AUSL is one of the best training grounds for future litigation lawyers in the country. Hence, it is indeed appropriate that, as law students of the said school, we take pride of the alumni of our law school.
Attorney Voltaire San Pedro is the Legal Officer of Mandaluyong City, a practicing litigation attorney and an alumnus of Arellano Law School. As the Chief Legal Counsel of the City, he takes charge of the Office for Legal Services. He formulates measures for the consideration of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and provides legal assistance and support to the City Mayor in carrying out the delivery of basic services and provisions of adequate facilities. He is at the frontline of protecting human rights and prosecuting any violator thereof.
With his broad legal background with more than ten (10) years of experience in the private sector gaining the necessary exposure in the field of legal profession with emphasis in litigating civil as well as criminal cases. The exercise of his said profession includes a specialized practice in Election and Immigration cases, as well as being a Professor/Lecturer of Administrative Law, Law on Public Officer and Election Law. He also demonstrated experience in managing outside counsel in litigation matters in hundred of cases. A persuasive individual possessing strong negotiating skills, both in oral and written communication skills.
As one of the Senior Partners of the San Pedro San Pedro San Pedro & Associates Law Offices, he represented a diverse group of clients in litigating cases before metropolitan trial courts, regional trial courts, the Sandiganbayan, Administrative boards and Arbitrators. He had likewise attained a great deal of experience in appealing cases before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. He also skillfully handled cases in the field of civil, family, labor, corporate, immigration, election and criminal law. He consistently achieved favorable results for clients involved in criminal suits and civil suits. Hence, he met with clients and developed trial strategy based on clients’ needs and recommendations.
He has a Master of Laws (2000-2002) from the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School (completed all academic units exclusive of the thesis) and Bachelor of Laws (1994-1998) from the Arellano University School of Law.
He has been the President of the Rotary Club of Mandaluyong East, RI District 3800 from 2003-2004; President of the Association of City Legal Officers of the Philippines from 2008-present; Member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Rizal Chapter; Member of the Toast Master’s Club, Makati City; Member of the Jaycees Philippines, Makati Chapter; Member of the Rotary Club Mandaluyong East; Recipient of the 2003-2004 Presidential Citation to “Lend a Hand” of Rotary Club; and Awardee of the 2004 Distinguished Rotary Leadership Award for his outstanding achievement and exceptional leadership and sincere dedication in the performance of his duties as Club President of RY 2003-2004.
Interview
Question: Sir, what is the primary reason why you took up law?
Atty. San Pedro: I was encouraged by my father to become a lawyer. Actually, I and my brother are now lawyers. My first impression of what is a lawyer was when I saw some lawyers at the side of the city hall doing notarial services, from then on, I was actually discouraged.
As a politician my Father is a very good speaker. Everyone is saying that we never came close on how good our Father was as a lawyer. When I was a young lawyer, he gives me advice that you cannot see it in the book, he would even ask so innocent question after which without knowing you already lost the case. That is the only time that law I’ve learned that law is as an art and that’s the only time I understood my Father.
Question: What prompted you to study law at the Arellano Law College?
Atty. San Pedro: I did not start in Arellano. I enrolled two semesters in FEU and my dad pulled me and forced me to enroll in Arellano by coercion. I finished my law school in Arellano. The reason of my father is that there is a high passing rate in Arellano of passing the BAR exams.
Question: Can you tell us some of the inspiring stories and challenges you encountered when you were studying at AUSL?
Atty. San Pedro: Most of my classmates were prominent people and because I am a friendly person, I have a lot of friends like the son of Senator Roco and Congressman Tanuatco. These people are also transferees from other schools from Ateneo and San Beda.
Our group was able to enjoy being law students and we loved law itself while we were students. The importance of studying law is that you have to enjoy it because it is very difficult.
In law school, right friends or group is very important, and you need to build your support. As a group, you need to find ways to support each other and pull each others up, to be able to succeed in law school.
Studying law is like courting with someone. You need to learn how to love it as well as to enjoy everything you do. Originally you don’t like it, but as you go on with the relationship, it becomes stronger that you become more involved with it and you’ll start to love it more. But remember you need to enjoy it. And at the end, get married with the law. You have to enjoy the law, the rule of law and the community in the law profession.
Question: When did you graduate and take the bar exams?
Atty. San Pedro: I graduated in 1998 and took the BAR in 1999. The reason behind was that my Father’s advice to me is to pass the BAR in my first take. Because if you did not pass the first take, the rate of passing it will be lower, so you should make sure that you are ready for it before taking the BAR.
Your approach for the BAR should be scientific. It is not difficult to pass the BAR, it is how you study. You should love it and must be focused about it. I did an advance pre-bar review, while I am in my car, I listen to the recordings of my lecturers and at the same time, when I am at home, and I read the topics the professors have discussed. You have to love it because you will need to understand all the roots of it, the connection and the entirety of the principles, that revolves around it.
I have discovered due to so much passion in law that out of 2276 articles, only 219 provisions in the Civil Code, are repeatedly asked in the bar for the past 20 years. You should know what to eliminate and what to retain but you need also to know the working knowledge of it.
Question: What were the options you had in mind after passing the bar?
Atty. San Pedro: After passing the BAR, I want to earn and be rich. But what I did was I automatically enrolled to the Masters of Civil Law in UST and taught in the undergrad to force myself to study. Because for the first two years after passing the BAR, I felt I am not yet as good as a lawyer. I am a lawyer but I did not have the experience. I practiced in JRU for one year and then transferred to Arellano Law and taught there as well. Since I want to earn as soon as possible, I asked myself what would separate men from boys. By that time, I pursued and completed my masters, because if only few pass the BAR, there are fewer lawyers who take the masters of law.
Question: What field of law do you love or you specialized on for the past 10 years?
Atty. San Pedro: I have handled all branches of law but what I enjoyed most is Criminal Law because it has a lot of actions and is not boring. However, there is really no money in criminal law. If you want money, then get cases which involve those boring subjects, such as commercial law, banking, patent, maritime, and transportation law. Well I really specialized in criminal and civil litigation for the past 10 years.
Question: How did you take the challenge as a litigation lawyer?
Atty. San Pedro: You should have a rebellious attitude and should never stop solving the problem until you are not satisfied with it and have fully understood it. That should also be the attitude of all law students. That you will not stop reading your books until you have fully understood the subject or the book, and you will not sleep until you did not understand it very well.
Every time, you should be passionate or get enraged to take the challenge, and to fight with full gear, there is no room for slacking and fear. Like a dog when you are trying to release him from your bitten arms, the more it gets harder to take out.
As a litigator, until you do not understand up to the fingertips of the case, until you are not confident about your position, and you don’t have the mastery of your case, you should not stop reading and researching on your case.
Question: What is the most important character you need to have when you are starting in litigation?
Atty. San Pedro: As I said a rebellious attitude. In litigation there is a lot of action going on there and there is no room for mistake. In fact in litigation, you go against the judge, you go against the opposing counsel, and even your client. You should always be ready when asked by your client what happened during the last time the case was discussed, and you should always review and read the cases, and the issues of your cases as a litigator.
Question: How does it feel when you won your first case?
Atty. San Pedro: It is like reaching your orgasm, and I am very proud of it. My first case is a drug case and my client even raised me up inside the court because he was overwhelmingly overjoyed, because I knew he was innocent and he knew that no matter what happens, I will protect him.
Question: What is the most important case that you have ever encountered and you literally burned your time, energy, and resources for it?
Atty. San Pedro: A criminal case about drugs, involving his poker. “Nung bata pa ako merong isang mama na kumukha ng kanin baboy sa bahay namin hanggang sa tumanda nako up to naging lawyer nako. Isang araw lumapit siya sakin humingi ng tulong, yung kapatid niya ay na frame –up, nung una di ako naniniwala pero dahil siya yung kumukuha ng kanin baboy samin kinuha ko yung kaso.” (When I was a kid, there was an old man who used to get feeds of pigs in our house until when I grew up and became a lawyer I knew him. One day, he went to me to seek assistance because his brother was framed-up. At first, I did not believe him, but because he was the same person who regularly come to our house to get feeds, I took his brother’s case).
“The brother is a good looking man and nagka girlfriend siya na GRO, tapos yung GRO may nanliligaw din sa kanya na pulis. Eh ayaw ng GRO dun sa pulis and ang ginawa nya hinuli yung lalaki at pinainan ng drugs. That is the greatest case I most enjoyed in and in fact the only payment I received is “saba” every morning. He was convicted in the lower court but was reversed by the CA. The judge was even reprimanded.” (The brother is a good looking man and had a girlfriend who was a GRO. The GRO was also courted by a police officer. But the GRO hesitated to be courted by the police, but the latter retaliated by framing-up her boyfriend with drugs. That is the greatest case I most enjoyed in and in fact the only payment I received was banana every morning. His brother was convicted in the lower court but was reversed by the CA. The judge was even reprimanded.
Question: Are there instances that someone offered you bribery?
Atty. San Pedro: The lawyer is not being offered the bribe, rather it is the client who bribes the opposing side. There is no lawyer that I ever met that directly bribes his co – practitioner.
(To quip he said, “The question is irrelevant together with the succeeding questions related to bribery. The following questions were not impliedly related to bribery being offered to a lawyer, rather the question should have dwelt on, if I ever experienced bribery in the court or that I was being informed that the opposing side is bribing the judge for a favorable decision?”)
Question: Is there any point of time that you think corruption can be advantageous too?
Atty. San Pedro: Corruption is never been an advantage. It should be always in equal footing since it is a wrong doing and an absolute wrong act, thus, no one wins in corruption. Justice is never been accomplished if you used corruption, so therefore, from the start it is should not exist.
Question: Being a lawyer for so long now, what advice can you give to future aspiring lawyers and soon to be litigation practitioners?
Atty. San Pedro: Once you pass the BAR, do not look for money first. It should be, you must immediately improve yourself, enroll yourself to masters, harness your skills for at least two years. It will come to you, “darating at darating ka dyan”, the way you talk and even the way you stand would give you an impression that you are really good. For at least two years, do not focus on looking for money, improve yourself as a lawyer, improve your skills as a lawyer, and you should persevere to have your own art of being a lawyer. Harness your skills as a lawyer, because money will come later.
Group: Thank you very much Atty. San Pedro (Then members of the group had the chance to have picture taking with him. See Attached photos)
The Interview so far brought us to the reality of legal profession. It mirrors how justice prevails when a good lawyer and the legal system conspire for equality and impartiality.
The Interview, in a way, also inspires us law students, especially when the interviewee addressed his advice to us by stating that, “studying law is like courting with someone. You need to learn how to love it as well as to enjoy everything you do. Originally you don’t like it, but as you go on with the relationship, it becomes stronger that you become more involved with it and you’ll start to love it more. But remember you need to enjoy it. And at the end, get married with the law. You have to enjoy the law, the rule of law and the community in the law profession.”
Hence, in a study recent study presented by the Social Weather Station on corruption in the Philippines, it revealed that the adverse effects of corruption manifest in lower levels of human development. The lost of failure to win the battle against corruption translates into lost opportunities for job creation and poverty reduction.
Eyeing on the topic of corruption, Atty. San Pedro quips by saying that, “corruption is never been an advantage. It should be always in equal footing since it is a wrong doing and an absolute wrong act, thus, no one wins in corruption. Justice is never been accomplished if you used corruption, so therefore, from the start it is should not exist.”
Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. Based on this definition, corruption occurs when a public official or employee uses his or her power to solicit or extort bribes. This is only one side of corruption, however, other side features private persons, bribing and influencing public officials to gain an undue competitive advantage or profitable government contract. Hence, TI further differentiates between “according to rule” corruption and “against the rule” corruption.
As indicated above, corruption thrives where temptation coexists with permissiveness. Where institutional checks on power are missing, where decision making remains obscure, where civil society is thin on ground, where great inequalities in the distribution of wealth condemn people to live in poverty and injustice, and that is where corrupt practices flourish. In other words, it cannot be stressed enough that corruption is alive and well even where political, economic, legal and social institutions are well entrenched.
The interview aims at knowing and learning how an Arellano Law alumnus stands against corruption in the government and how our interviewee did acquire litigation skills in the court for over 10 years now. It is by this privileged opportunity that as students of Arellano University School of Law, we get to know on how the interviewee has achieved success in his career as a tough litigation lawyer and how he still carries the ideals of the law school where he graduated from to become a crime buster against corruption.
The Arellano University School of Law (AUSL), formerly known as the Arellano Law College, formally opened in 1935, is now placed 10th among top law schools in the country out of over a hundred colleges of law, based on the percentage or passing rate for first time BAR passers in a decade from 1999 to 2009, having achieved a 49.3 percent (49.3%).
The significance of this standing simplifies the premise that AUSL is one of the best training grounds for future litigation lawyers in the country. Hence, it is indeed appropriate that, as law students of the said school, we take pride of the alumni of our law school.
Attorney Voltaire San Pedro is the Legal Officer of Mandaluyong City, a practicing litigation attorney and an alumnus of Arellano Law School. As the Chief Legal Counsel of the City, he takes charge of the Office for Legal Services. He formulates measures for the consideration of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and provides legal assistance and support to the City Mayor in carrying out the delivery of basic services and provisions of adequate facilities. He is at the frontline of protecting human rights and prosecuting any violator thereof.
With his broad legal background with more than ten (10) years of experience in the private sector gaining the necessary exposure in the field of legal profession with emphasis in litigating civil as well as criminal cases. The exercise of his said profession includes a specialized practice in Election and Immigration cases, as well as being a Professor/Lecturer of Administrative Law, Law on Public Officer and Election Law. He also demonstrated experience in managing outside counsel in litigation matters in hundred of cases. A persuasive individual possessing strong negotiating skills, both in oral and written communication skills.
As one of the Senior Partners of the San Pedro San Pedro San Pedro & Associates Law Offices, he represented a diverse group of clients in litigating cases before metropolitan trial courts, regional trial courts, the Sandiganbayan, Administrative boards and Arbitrators. He had likewise attained a great deal of experience in appealing cases before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. He also skillfully handled cases in the field of civil, family, labor, corporate, immigration, election and criminal law. He consistently achieved favorable results for clients involved in criminal suits and civil suits. Hence, he met with clients and developed trial strategy based on clients’ needs and recommendations.
He has a Master of Laws (2000-2002) from the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School (completed all academic units exclusive of the thesis) and Bachelor of Laws (1994-1998) from the Arellano University School of Law.
He has been the President of the Rotary Club of Mandaluyong East, RI District 3800 from 2003-2004; President of the Association of City Legal Officers of the Philippines from 2008-present; Member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Rizal Chapter; Member of the Toast Master’s Club, Makati City; Member of the Jaycees Philippines, Makati Chapter; Member of the Rotary Club Mandaluyong East; Recipient of the 2003-2004 Presidential Citation to “Lend a Hand” of Rotary Club; and Awardee of the 2004 Distinguished Rotary Leadership Award for his outstanding achievement and exceptional leadership and sincere dedication in the performance of his duties as Club President of RY 2003-2004.
Interview
Question: Sir, what is the primary reason why you took up law?
Atty. San Pedro: I was encouraged by my father to become a lawyer. Actually, I and my brother are now lawyers. My first impression of what is a lawyer was when I saw some lawyers at the side of the city hall doing notarial services, from then on, I was actually discouraged.
As a politician my Father is a very good speaker. Everyone is saying that we never came close on how good our Father was as a lawyer. When I was a young lawyer, he gives me advice that you cannot see it in the book, he would even ask so innocent question after which without knowing you already lost the case. That is the only time that law I’ve learned that law is as an art and that’s the only time I understood my Father.
Question: What prompted you to study law at the Arellano Law College?
Atty. San Pedro: I did not start in Arellano. I enrolled two semesters in FEU and my dad pulled me and forced me to enroll in Arellano by coercion. I finished my law school in Arellano. The reason of my father is that there is a high passing rate in Arellano of passing the BAR exams.
Question: Can you tell us some of the inspiring stories and challenges you encountered when you were studying at AUSL?
Atty. San Pedro: Most of my classmates were prominent people and because I am a friendly person, I have a lot of friends like the son of Senator Roco and Congressman Tanuatco. These people are also transferees from other schools from Ateneo and San Beda.
Our group was able to enjoy being law students and we loved law itself while we were students. The importance of studying law is that you have to enjoy it because it is very difficult.
In law school, right friends or group is very important, and you need to build your support. As a group, you need to find ways to support each other and pull each others up, to be able to succeed in law school.
Studying law is like courting with someone. You need to learn how to love it as well as to enjoy everything you do. Originally you don’t like it, but as you go on with the relationship, it becomes stronger that you become more involved with it and you’ll start to love it more. But remember you need to enjoy it. And at the end, get married with the law. You have to enjoy the law, the rule of law and the community in the law profession.
Question: When did you graduate and take the bar exams?
Atty. San Pedro: I graduated in 1998 and took the BAR in 1999. The reason behind was that my Father’s advice to me is to pass the BAR in my first take. Because if you did not pass the first take, the rate of passing it will be lower, so you should make sure that you are ready for it before taking the BAR.
Your approach for the BAR should be scientific. It is not difficult to pass the BAR, it is how you study. You should love it and must be focused about it. I did an advance pre-bar review, while I am in my car, I listen to the recordings of my lecturers and at the same time, when I am at home, and I read the topics the professors have discussed. You have to love it because you will need to understand all the roots of it, the connection and the entirety of the principles, that revolves around it.
I have discovered due to so much passion in law that out of 2276 articles, only 219 provisions in the Civil Code, are repeatedly asked in the bar for the past 20 years. You should know what to eliminate and what to retain but you need also to know the working knowledge of it.
Question: What were the options you had in mind after passing the bar?
Atty. San Pedro: After passing the BAR, I want to earn and be rich. But what I did was I automatically enrolled to the Masters of Civil Law in UST and taught in the undergrad to force myself to study. Because for the first two years after passing the BAR, I felt I am not yet as good as a lawyer. I am a lawyer but I did not have the experience. I practiced in JRU for one year and then transferred to Arellano Law and taught there as well. Since I want to earn as soon as possible, I asked myself what would separate men from boys. By that time, I pursued and completed my masters, because if only few pass the BAR, there are fewer lawyers who take the masters of law.
Question: What field of law do you love or you specialized on for the past 10 years?
Atty. San Pedro: I have handled all branches of law but what I enjoyed most is Criminal Law because it has a lot of actions and is not boring. However, there is really no money in criminal law. If you want money, then get cases which involve those boring subjects, such as commercial law, banking, patent, maritime, and transportation law. Well I really specialized in criminal and civil litigation for the past 10 years.
Question: How did you take the challenge as a litigation lawyer?
Atty. San Pedro: You should have a rebellious attitude and should never stop solving the problem until you are not satisfied with it and have fully understood it. That should also be the attitude of all law students. That you will not stop reading your books until you have fully understood the subject or the book, and you will not sleep until you did not understand it very well.
Every time, you should be passionate or get enraged to take the challenge, and to fight with full gear, there is no room for slacking and fear. Like a dog when you are trying to release him from your bitten arms, the more it gets harder to take out.
As a litigator, until you do not understand up to the fingertips of the case, until you are not confident about your position, and you don’t have the mastery of your case, you should not stop reading and researching on your case.
Question: What is the most important character you need to have when you are starting in litigation?
Atty. San Pedro: As I said a rebellious attitude. In litigation there is a lot of action going on there and there is no room for mistake. In fact in litigation, you go against the judge, you go against the opposing counsel, and even your client. You should always be ready when asked by your client what happened during the last time the case was discussed, and you should always review and read the cases, and the issues of your cases as a litigator.
Question: How does it feel when you won your first case?
Atty. San Pedro: It is like reaching your orgasm, and I am very proud of it. My first case is a drug case and my client even raised me up inside the court because he was overwhelmingly overjoyed, because I knew he was innocent and he knew that no matter what happens, I will protect him.
Question: What is the most important case that you have ever encountered and you literally burned your time, energy, and resources for it?
Atty. San Pedro: A criminal case about drugs, involving his poker. “Nung bata pa ako merong isang mama na kumukha ng kanin baboy sa bahay namin hanggang sa tumanda nako up to naging lawyer nako. Isang araw lumapit siya sakin humingi ng tulong, yung kapatid niya ay na frame –up, nung una di ako naniniwala pero dahil siya yung kumukuha ng kanin baboy samin kinuha ko yung kaso.” (When I was a kid, there was an old man who used to get feeds of pigs in our house until when I grew up and became a lawyer I knew him. One day, he went to me to seek assistance because his brother was framed-up. At first, I did not believe him, but because he was the same person who regularly come to our house to get feeds, I took his brother’s case).
“The brother is a good looking man and nagka girlfriend siya na GRO, tapos yung GRO may nanliligaw din sa kanya na pulis. Eh ayaw ng GRO dun sa pulis and ang ginawa nya hinuli yung lalaki at pinainan ng drugs. That is the greatest case I most enjoyed in and in fact the only payment I received is “saba” every morning. He was convicted in the lower court but was reversed by the CA. The judge was even reprimanded.” (The brother is a good looking man and had a girlfriend who was a GRO. The GRO was also courted by a police officer. But the GRO hesitated to be courted by the police, but the latter retaliated by framing-up her boyfriend with drugs. That is the greatest case I most enjoyed in and in fact the only payment I received was banana every morning. His brother was convicted in the lower court but was reversed by the CA. The judge was even reprimanded.
Question: Are there instances that someone offered you bribery?
Atty. San Pedro: The lawyer is not being offered the bribe, rather it is the client who bribes the opposing side. There is no lawyer that I ever met that directly bribes his co – practitioner.
(To quip he said, “The question is irrelevant together with the succeeding questions related to bribery. The following questions were not impliedly related to bribery being offered to a lawyer, rather the question should have dwelt on, if I ever experienced bribery in the court or that I was being informed that the opposing side is bribing the judge for a favorable decision?”)
Question: Is there any point of time that you think corruption can be advantageous too?
Atty. San Pedro: Corruption is never been an advantage. It should be always in equal footing since it is a wrong doing and an absolute wrong act, thus, no one wins in corruption. Justice is never been accomplished if you used corruption, so therefore, from the start it is should not exist.
Question: Being a lawyer for so long now, what advice can you give to future aspiring lawyers and soon to be litigation practitioners?
Atty. San Pedro: Once you pass the BAR, do not look for money first. It should be, you must immediately improve yourself, enroll yourself to masters, harness your skills for at least two years. It will come to you, “darating at darating ka dyan”, the way you talk and even the way you stand would give you an impression that you are really good. For at least two years, do not focus on looking for money, improve yourself as a lawyer, improve your skills as a lawyer, and you should persevere to have your own art of being a lawyer. Harness your skills as a lawyer, because money will come later.
Group: Thank you very much Atty. San Pedro (Then members of the group had the chance to have picture taking with him. See Attached photos)
The Interview so far brought us to the reality of legal profession. It mirrors how justice prevails when a good lawyer and the legal system conspire for equality and impartiality.
The Interview, in a way, also inspires us law students, especially when the interviewee addressed his advice to us by stating that, “studying law is like courting with someone. You need to learn how to love it as well as to enjoy everything you do. Originally you don’t like it, but as you go on with the relationship, it becomes stronger that you become more involved with it and you’ll start to love it more. But remember you need to enjoy it. And at the end, get married with the law. You have to enjoy the law, the rule of law and the community in the law profession.”
Hence, in a study recent study presented by the Social Weather Station on corruption in the Philippines, it revealed that the adverse effects of corruption manifest in lower levels of human development. The lost of failure to win the battle against corruption translates into lost opportunities for job creation and poverty reduction.
Eyeing on the topic of corruption, Atty. San Pedro quips by saying that, “corruption is never been an advantage. It should be always in equal footing since it is a wrong doing and an absolute wrong act, thus, no one wins in corruption. Justice is never been accomplished if you used corruption, so therefore, from the start it is should not exist.”
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