People vs.

Apolinar
Facts:
Midnight of December 22, 1936, the defendant andappellant Anastacio Apolinar alias Atong was at
thattime the occupant of a parcel of land owned by JoaquinGonzales in Papallasen, La Paz, Umingan,
Pangasinan.Armed with a shotgun, Atong was looking over said landwhen he observed that there was
a man carrying abundle on his shoulder.Believing that he was a thief (of palay), the defendantcalled
his attention but he ignored him.The defendant fired in the air and then at the person.The man,
identified as Domingo Petras, was able to getback to his house and consequently narrated to
AngelNatividad, the barrio chief, that he had been woundedin the back by a shotgun.He then
showed the two wounds - one in each side of the spinal column - which wounds were circular in
formand a little bigger than a quarter of an inch, according tothe medical report of Dr.
Mananquil.Petras died of the wounds he sustained.The defendant surrendered to the
authoritiesimmediately after the incident and gave a swornstatement (Exhibit F) before the
Justice of Peace of Umingan on December 23, 1936.
Issue
: WON the killing of Petras was justified by defenseof property
Held:
No; the right to property is not of suchimportance as right to life, and defense of property canbe
invoked as a justifying circumstance only when it iscoupled with an attack on the person of one
entrustedwith said property.