Criminal Law: Masipequina vs CA Case Digest (Self Defense)

G.R. No. L-51206 August 25, 1989

NORBERTO MASIPEQUINA and JOVENCIO ALAMPAYAN, petitioners, 

vs.

HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS and THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.

Paulino G. Clarin for petitioners.

CORTES, J.:

FACTS: On December 18, 1975, Leopoldo chased the wife of Nicolas with a bolo and almost hacked her. He always carried a bolo, and had threatened his own wife, daughter, brothers, and even his parents with death. Fearing for their safety, they transferred temporarily to the Home Economics building of the barrio school and left Leopoldo alone in the house of his father. Nicolas Potane and his immediate relatives wanted Leopoldo to be examined and treated by the Provincial Health Officer for his mental ailment.

Patrolmen Norberto Masipequina and Jovencio Alampayan, the former armed with a 38 cal. revolver and the latter with the Thompson submachine gun, were ordered by the sub-station commander to arrest Leopoldo. Thereafter, the two policemen, accompanied by several persons, among whom was Nicolas Potane, went to the house of Pedro Potane where Leopoldo was. Upon arrival thereat, Pat. Masipequina, a childhood friend of Leopoldo, called Leopoldo and urged him to come out. Leopoldo instead told him to come up. Pat. Masipequina went up the house followed by Nicolas Potane with a petromax lamp. Patrolman Jovencio Alampayan and the rest stayed in the yard Although in the yard, Patrolman Alampayan could see what was going on inside the house because it was a single storey house and had an elevation of only 4 feet. Nicolas stayed on the door landing while Masipequina entered the sala and was about to sit down on a rocking chair when Leopoldo suddenly emerged from an adjacent room and rushed at him swinging a bolo. Masipequina pushed the rocking chair towards Leopoldo. Leopoldo hit Masipequina on the bridge of the nose. As the latter retracted, he lost his balance and was hit on the right side of his face. At this juncture, Masipequina drew his revolver and fired three shots. One shot misfired but the other two hit Leopoldo on the chest. Leopoldo continued to advance towards him. He pushed the rocking chair at Leopoldo and ran out of the house shouting for help. Leopoldo ran after him. Pat. Masipequina jumped from the house and landed on the ground. In the process he hit his shin on a piece of stone. Leopoldo also jumped to the ground and continued to pursue Masipequina. As Leopoldo poised to hack Pat. Masipequina, Pat. Alampayan fired his gun hitting Leopoldo once at the thigh. Leopoldo Potane died some thirty (30) minutes later while being brought to the health center for treatment.

ISSUE: WON, given the undisputed facts, petitioner Masipequina had acted in lawful self-defense.

HELD: YES, n the leading case of U.S. v. Mojica, 42 Phil. 784 (1922), where a policeman trying to quell a disturbance shot with his revolver and fatally wounded a man who attacked him with a knife, the Court laid down the following rule:

"A police officer, in the performance of his duty, must stand his ground and cannot, like a private individual, take refuge in flight; his duty requires him to overcome his opponent. The force which he may exert therefore differs somewhat from that which may ordinarily be offered in self-defense. Bearing this in mind, we do not think that the appellant in using his revolver against the deceased can be said to have employed unnecessary force. The deceased attacked him with a deadly weapon; he might, perhaps, have saved himself by running away, but this his duty forbade. Was he to allow himself to be stabbed before using his arms? It may, perhaps, be argued that the appellant might have used his club, but a policeman's club is not a very effective weapon as against a drawn knife and a police officer is not required to afford a person attacking him the opportunity for a fair and equal struggle.”

Tested by this standard, the means employed by Masipequina in repelling the attack were, under the circumstances, both reasonable and necessary. He initially tried to defend himself by pushing the rocking chair toward Leopoldo Potane but when that proved futile and he (Masipequina) was caught in a very precarious position, i.e., his back was on the floor and Leopoldo Potane kept flailing at him with the bolo, he had no other choice but to use his revolver to defend himself against the attack. Under the circumstances, there was no opportunity for Masipequina to carefully take aim. He just discharged his weapon at the deceased in the hope that such would save him from any further injury or death.

It must also be borne in mind that the rule is that the reasonable necessity of the means employed to repel or prevent the attack depends upon the imminent danger of injury, not on the harm actually done to the accused [U.S. v. Paras, 9 Phil. 367 (1907)]. Thus, that Masipequina escaped serious injuries does not necessarily imply that the means he used to repel the attack were unreasonable and excessive. The fact remains that the act of Leopoldo Potane of attacking Masipequina with a bolo was a very real danger to his life that the latter had to repel the best way he can. That the gunshot wounds he inflicted on Leopoldo Potane proved to be fatal does not make the means he employed any less reasonable under the circumstances.