G.R. No. L-743             October 11, 1949

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.POLICARPIO DUMAPIT, defendant-appellant.

Facts:

This is an appeal from a judgement of the People’s Court.

Appellant, Policarpio Dumapit was found guilty of treason and was penalize with reclusion perpetua. He was charged of six counts, but the People’s Court based appellant’s conviction only on count 4 and 6. The appellant is alleged to have caused, with the aid of a group of constabulary soldiers, that 8 guerrillas were investigated and tortured by the soldiers and the Japanese. But in the information gathered there was insufficient evidence that Policarpio Dumapit committed treason:

In Count 4, 3 victims were presented but two of them admitted that they were investigated for, and was suspected of arson, the other victim however admitted that the appellant helped him and his companions to be released. In Count 6, there was only one witness for the prosecution.

(the appellant was before a corporal of Manila Harbor Police and was the one entrusted with the task of taking the personal properties of the family of President Quezon.)

Issue:

Whether or not defendant-appellant is guilty of treason.

Held:

No. The defendant-appellant is not guilty of treason. Aside from the fact that the appellant denied having had any hand in the arrest in question, the circumstance remains that said arrest was effected as a result of the common crime of arson. The matter had no treasonous significance and those arrested were confined for almost the whole period of their detention in the provincial jail, and not in the Japanese garrison. The Supreme Court ruled that the appealed judgment be reversed and the appellant be acquitted.

Thata Gayamat – LLB 1