People v. Teodoro y Sanchez
This is a criminal case decided by the Philippine Supreme Court on February 19, 1946. The case is People of the Philippines v. Tomas Teodoro y Sanchez. Teodoro was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and was charged with illegal possession of a deadly weapon. However, he claimed that he was a member of a recognized guerrilla unit and that he possessed the firearm for self-protection against Japanese snipers. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Teodoro and acquitted him, holding that before the demobilization order, possession of firearms by recognized guerrillas should not be criminally punished. The court noted that the proclamation and executive order requiring the surrender of all unlicensed firearms were issued after Teodoro was found in possession of the firearm. Therefore, Teodoro could not be held liable for violating a law that did not yet exist.
ADVERTISEMENT
SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. L-98. February 19, 1946.]
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. TOMAS TEODORO Y SANCHEZ, defendant-appellant.
Fidel Sicam for appellant.
First Assistant Solicitor General Reyes, Assistant Solicitor General Canizares, and Solicitor Torres for appellee.
SYLLABUS
1. CRIMINAL LAW; ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS; EXEMPTION OF RECOGNIZED GUERRILLAS BEFORE DEMOBILIZATION ORDER. — If the possession of firearms, before the demobilization order, by unrecognized guerillas is not criminally punishable, a member of a recognized guerrilla organization having such possession, should a fortiori be entitled to clearance.
D E C I S I O N
BENGZON, J p:
Late in the afternoon of August 13, 1945, Patrolman Saturnino Villasin, with some companions, conducted a search of the house at 1617 Economia Street, Sampaloc, Manila. In a carton box, full of clothes, they saw a pistol, caliber .22, with six bullets. The accused, Tomas Teodoro y Sanchez, who lived there and who happened to be absent, was called, and admitted to the officers that the firearm belonged to him, and that he had no license therefor; but he claimed to have purchased it in February, 1945, for self-protection, as member of a guerrilla unit, because there were Japanese snipers in Manila at that time.
Haled into court for illegal possession of the deadly weapon, he repeated the same explanation under oath, and offered the corroborative testimony of Vidal G. Escudal, Company Commander of the PQOG, (President Quezon's Own Guerrilla) Second Corps, a recognized unit. This witness swore that Tomas Teodoro y Sanchez was a regular member of his organization; that in February, 1945, Teodoro showed the pistol to him; that he advised Teodoro to keep it, and to surrender it when the time arrived for "processing" into the Army.
Having doubts as to the date defendant had joined the resistance movements, and holding that prior to August 13, 1945, all possessors of firearms, including guerillas, had been required to surrender their guns to the authorities, the trial judge held him guilty, as charged.
In this appeal, the Solicitor General recommends acquittal, because the day the accused was found in possession of the firearm, Proclamation No. 17, directing the surrender of all unlicensed firearms and ammunitions, and Executive Order No. 68, disbanding unrecognized guerrilla units and ordering their members to turn in all arms and ammunition, had not yet been issued, said government decrees having been signed by the President only on September 26, 1945.1
It is undenied that defendant and appellant was a member of a recognized guerillas organization. Therefore, if possession of firearms, before the demobilization order, by unrecognized guerillas should not be criminally punished, appellant should a fortiori be entitled to clearance.
Judgment reversed. Appellant acquitted, with costs de oficio.
Ozaeta, De Joya, Perfecto, and Hilado, JJ., concur.
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