[Crim]
their barrio, but her mother, Teresa, warned Corazon not to tell
PEOPLE vs TALINGDAN
Topic: Accessories, Denies knowing assailants
DOCTRINE:
CIRCUMSTANCES SHOWING CONSPIRACY. The active cooperation
of the wife in the conspiracy against the life of the her husband is
clearly demonstrated in the categorical testimony of her 13-year old
daughter who declared that she saw her mother meeting with her
other co-accused in a hut on which occasion she overheard one of
them ask "Could he elude a bullet?"; that when her mother noticed
her presence, she shoved her away saying, "You tell your father that
we will kill him"; that in the evening of her father's death while she
was cooking supper she saw her mother go down the stairs and
meet the other accused who were armed with long guns in their
yard about 3 to 4 meters away from where she was and that she
heard them conversing in subdued tones; and, that after her father
was shot and her mother knew that she recognized and could
identify her father's assailants her mother warned her not to tell
anyone threatening to kill her if she did.
FACTS:
Armed with long guns, the four male accused gunned down
Bernardo from below the "batalan" of his house as he was sitting by
the supper table
His twelve-year old daughter Corazon was watching him nearby.
The accused then climbed the stairs and seeing Bernardo still alive,
accused Talingdan and Tobias fired at him again.
Corazon tried to call for help but Bides threatened to kill her.
Corazon recognized and knew the four as they were residents of
anyone that she recognized her father's killers threatening to kill her
if she did.
When peace officers repaired to their house to investigate what
happened, Teresa claimed that she had no suspects in mind.
Teresa was known to have illicit relations with Talingdan and prior
to this incident had been seen by her daughter Corazon meeting
with the other accused on two occasions.
The first time was in a hut near where the child was washing clothes
on which occasion she overheard one of them ask "Can he elude a
bullet?"
The second time was on the very night of the killing when Corazon
saw and heard them talking in subdued tones about 3 or 4 meters
away from the "batalan" where she was cooking supper.
The trial court found all the accused guilty of murder and sentenced
each of them to life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court found Corazon's testimony consistent, sincere,
and truthful considering that she was hardly thirteen years old
when she testified, an age when "a child is, as a rule, but little
influenced by the suggestion of others", no cogent explanation
having been offered why she would attribute the assault on her
father to three other men, aside from Talingdan whom she knew
had relations with her mother.
Judgment affirmed except that the four male appellants were
sentenced to death and appellant Teresa was convicted only as an
accessory to the crime.
ISSUE:

Whether Teresa is an accessory to the crime

HELD:

YES

When Corazon identified appellants Talingdan, Tobias, Berras and

Bides as the culprits, Teresa did not only enjoin her daughter not to
reveal what she knew to anyone, she went to the extent of warning
her, "Don't tell it to anyone. I will kill you if you tell this to
somebody."

Later, when the peace officers who repaired to their house to

investigate what happened, instead of helping them with the
information given to her by Corazon, she claimed she had no
suspects in mind.

In other words, whereas, before the actual shooting of her husband,

she was more or less passive in her attitude regarding her co-
appellants' conspiracy, known to her, to do away with him, after
Bernardo was killed, she became active in her cooperation with
them.

These subsequent acts of her constitute "concealing or assisting in

the escape of the principal in the crime" which makes her liable as
an accessory after the fact under paragraph 3 of Article 19 of the
Revised Penal Code

Teresa, she is hereby found guilty only as an accessory to the same

murder.