1. People v. Catantan Sept.

5, 1997

Doctrine

Section 2, par. (d), of PD No. 532, defines piracy as "any attack upon or seizure
of any vessel, or the taking away of the whole or part thereof or its cargo,
equipment, or the personal belongings of the complement or passengers,
irrespective of the value thereof, by means of violence against or intimidation of
persons or force upon things, committed by any person, including a passenger
or member of the complement of said vessel, in Philippine waters, shall be
considered as piracy. The offenders shall be considered as pirates and punished
as hereinafter provided." And a vessel is construed in Sec. 2, par. (b), of the
same decree as "any vessel or watercraft used for transport of passengers and
cargo from one place to another through Philippine waters. It shall include all
kinds and types of vessels or boats used in fishing (underscoring supplied).
On the other hand, grave coercion as defined in Art. 286 of the Revised Penal
Code is committed by "any person who, without authority of law, shall, by
means of violence, prevent another from doing something not prohibited by
law, or compel him to do something against his will, whether it be right or
wrong."

Under the definition of piracy in PD No. 532 as well as grave coercion as

penalized in Art. 286 of the Revised Penal Code, this case falls squarely
within the purview of piracy. While it may be true that Eugene and Juan Jr.
were compelled to go elsewhere other than their place of destination, such
compulsion was obviously part of the act of seizing their boat. The testimony
of Eugene, one of the victims, shows that the appellant actually seized the
vessel through force and intimidation.

To sustain the defense and convert this case of piracy into one of grave
coercion would be to ignore the fact that a fishing vessel cruising in
Philippine waters was seized by the accused by means of violence against or
intimidation of persons. As Eugene Pilapil testified, the accused suddenly
approached them and boarded their pumpboat and Catantan aimed his
revolver at them as he ordered complaining witness Eugene Pilapil
to "dapa" or lie down with face downwards, and then struck his face with a
revolver, hitting the lower portion of his left eye, after which, Catantan told
his victims at gun point to take them to Daan Tabogon.

Facts

The Pilapil brothers- Eugene and Juan Jr. were fishing in the sea some 3
kilometers away from the shores of Tabogon, Cebu when accused Catantan
and Ursal boarded the pumpboat of the Pilapils and Catantan leveled his gun
on the Pilapils. With his gun, Catantan struck Eugene on the left cheekbone
 and ordered him and Juan Jr. to "dapa." [3] Then Catantan told Ursal to follow
him to the pumpboat of the Pilapils. There they hogtied Eugene, forced him
to lie down at the bottom of the boat, covered him with a tarpaulin up to his
neck, stepped on him and ordered Juan Jr. to ferry them to Daan Tabogon.

As the pumpboat of the Plapils breaks down, Catantan boarded another

pumboat and ordered the operator Juanito to take them to Mungaz, Cebu.

Issue
Whether accused-appellant committed grave coercion or piracy under PD
532.

2.