ENRILE v SALAZAR Ponente

: Narvasa, J.June 5, 1990

Facts
:
February 27, 1990
- Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan PonceEnrile was arrested by officers led by Director
Alfredo Lim on thestrength of a warrant issued by Hon. Jaime Salazar of the RegionalTrial
Court of Quezon City. The warrant had issued on aninformation charging Senator Enrile, the
spouses Rebecco andErlinda Panlilio, and Gregorio Honasan with the crime of rebellionwith
murder and multiple frustrated murder allegedly committedduring the period of the failed
coup attempt from November 29 toDecember 10, 1990.
Senator Enrile was taken to and held overnight at the NBI
headquarters without bail. The following morning, February 28,1990, he was brought
to Camp Tomas Karingal in Quezon City. Onthe same date, Senator Enrile, through counsel,
filed the petition forhabeas corpus. The Court issued the writ prayed for, returnableMarch 5,
1990 and set the plea for hearing on March 6, 1990.
The Solicitor General distinguished between the complex crime
("delito complejo") arising from an offense being a necessary meansfor committing another,
which is referred to in the second clause of Article 48, Revised Penal Code, and is the
subject of the Hernandezruling, and the compound crime ("delito compuesto") arising from
asingle act constituting two or more grave or less grave offensesreferred to in the
first clause of the same paragraph, with whichHernandez was not concerned and to which,
therefore, it should notapply. Enrile and Co. were charged in the information on theoccasion
, but not in furtherance, of rebellion
. Hernandez rulingcharged murders and other common crimes
committed as anecessary means for the commission of rebellion.ISSUE
:WON Hernandez ruling should still apply?WON the crime is rebellion?
HELD
:(1)YesCourt was given several options:(a) abandon Hernandez and adopt the minority view
expressed inthe main dissent of Justice Montemayor in said case that rebellion
cannot absorb more serious crimes, and that under Article 48 of theRevised Penal
Code rebellion may properly be complexed withcommon offenses.(b) hold Hernandez
applicable only to offenses committed infurtherance, or as a necessary means for the
commission, of rebellion, but not to acts committed in the course of a rebellionwhich also
constitute "common" crimes of grave or less gravecharacter;(c) maintain Hernandez as
applying to make rebellion absorb allother offenses committed in its course, whether or
not necessary toits commission or in furtherance thereof.- The majority held that
the Hernandez ruling should apply especiallyconsidering that Art 48 should be favorable
to the accused, and thusto rule that rebellion can be complexed with other crimes
wouldtherefore result in a penalty that is higher than if he was chargedwith separate
crimes.- Ratio - When two or more crimes are the result of a single act, theoffender is
deemed less perverse than when he commits said crimesthru separate and distinct acts(2)
Yes, although the information stated that the crime is rebellionwith murder and multiple
frustrated murder, it is still considered tofall under simple rebellion and the murders etc
are its ingredients.

PEOPLE v HERNANDEZ
[99 Phil 515 (1956)]
Ponente:
Concepcion, J.
FACTS:


Hernandez was arrested because as president of the Congress of Labor Relations (CLO) and
a member of the Communist Party, he was alleged to be guilty of the crime
of rebellion along with others.


5 years after his arrest, he requests for bail which was denied on the basis of the nature of
the offense (since his crime was complex, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be
imposed). He filed a petition to the Supreme Court.


The prosecution maintains that Hernandez is charged with, and has been convicted
of, rebellion complexed with murders, arsons and robberies, for which the capital
punishment, it is claimed, may be imposed, although the lower court sentenced him merely
to life imprisonment. Upon the other hand, the defense contends, among other things,
that rebellion cannot be complexed with murder, arson, or robbery.
Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code
provides that:" When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or
when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most
serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period."


It is obvious, from the language of this article, that the same presupposes the commission
of two (2) or more crimes, and, hence, does not apply when the culprit is guilty of only one
crime.
Article 134
of said code reads:" The crime of rebellion or insurrection is committed by rising publicly
and taking arms against the Government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to
said Government or its laws, the territory of the Philippine Islands or any part thereof, of
any body of land, naval or other armed forces, or of depriving the Chief Executive or the
Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives.
ISSUE:
WON Hernandez can be charged of rebellion complexed with murder, arsons and robbery.
HELD:

NO.

RATIO:


Rebellion in itself would include and absorb the said crimes, thus granting the accused his
right to bail. Murder and arson are crimes inherent and concomitant when rebellion is taking
place. Rebellion in the Revised Penal Code constitutes one single crime and that there is
no reason to complex it with other crimes. As basis, the Court cited several cases convicting
the defendants of simple rebellion
although they killed several persons
.