PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS.

LEONCIO ROXAS
G.R. No. 39630. 13 November 1933. Bitte, J.

DOCTRINE: In case of self-defense, the number and the nature of the weapon
used by the aggressor is one of the factors to be considered in order to be said
that the means employed is rationally necessary.

FACTS: At about 9PM, in the municipality of Puerto Galera, Province of Mindoro, one
Leoncio Roxas (Roxas), armed with an automatic pocket-knife, did then and there
willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously attack, assault, and wound Felicisimo Garcia (Garcia)
with said weapon inflicting upon the latter two wounds in different parts of the body: one
incised wound 18½ centimeters long on the lower portion of the right chest, cutting the
6th and 7th ribs and exposing the 5th rib and lung; and another incised wound,
superficial, 1 1/3 centimeters long to the left of the vertebral column. As a result, Garcia
died instantaneously.

Roxas was charged and convicted with homicide, sentenced to 12 years and one day of
reclusion temporal, and required to indemnify the heirs of the deceased the sum of P1000.

ISSUE: Whether Roxas acted in self-defense.

RULING: NO, there was no self-defense absent all the requisites thereof.

Even though the deceased was the aggressor, the defendant himself admits that the
aggressor was not armed. There being no rational necessity shown for the means which
the accused used to repel the attack of his aggressor, Article 11 of the Revised Penal
Code cannot be invoked here to exempt the defendant from the responsibility.

ADD: Due to the issue that the accused was a minor when the offense was
committed, the counsel for the defense asked that this be considered as a
mitigating circumstance under Article 13, paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code.
In support, the defense counsel offered the evidence of the prosecution stating
that the accused was “17 years and eight months” at the time of the commission
of the offense. Therefore, they prayed for the reformation of the judgment in
conformity with Article 13, paragraph 2 in relation with Article 80 of the Revised
Penal Code.

The Court considered the mitigating circumstance and ordered that the Roax be
placed in the Philippine Training School for Boys at Welfareville in the custody and
care of the Commissioner of Public Welfare until he attained his majority.

Note to the reader: All the information supplied were the only ones deciphered from the
full text case by the author of this digest. The rest were written in Spanish.

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