The Use of Motor Vehicle As Aggravating Circumstance in A Murder Charge

11/30/2020 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 107
342 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

The Use of Motor Vehicle As Aggravating Circumstance in
a Murder Charge
ANNOTATION
THE USE OF MOTOR VEHICLE AS AGGRAVATING

CIRCUMSTANCE IN A MURDER CHARGE
By
Prof. LOHEL A. MARTIREZ
§ 1. Introduction, p. 342.
(1) Scope and Related Matters, p. 344.
(a) Scope, p. 344.

(b) Related Matters, p. 344.
§ 2. The Meaning of “Motor Vehicle”, p. 344.

§ 3. Murder, defined, p. 346.
§ 4. Article 80, R.P.C., p. 346.
§ 5. Some points about “Conspiracy”, p. 349.
§ 6. Useful Pointers, p. 350.
_____________
§ 1. Introduction
A murder charge is one of the most difficult to prove. It

case where the supreme penalty of death could be imposed
upon conviction. Because men are free to choose the course
of action they may take in their dealings with their
fellowmen, the evil designs in the path of unrighteousness,
sometimes overrule the good in man. But, alas, TRUTH,
REASON and JUSTICE must prevail.
An example of that is the case under annotation
entitled, People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, versus
Feliciano
www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017618e2030121ddcdb0003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 1/11
343
VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 343

a Murder Charge
Muñoz and Justo Millora, defendants-appellants, G.R. No.

L38016, promulgated September 10, 1981. Although there
is a disagreement as to the appreciation of the use of motor
vehicle as an aggravating circumstance, conviction was still
sustained.
If only man could rest himself assured, that, God created
him, a God of reason and wisdom, cannot dare take
another’s life. Thus, it was written that “Reason” is a prime
quality which distinguishes man from the rest of the
animate world and it is basic, therefore, in man’s “nature.”
Every normal man is conscious within himself of the
pressure of “ought” made known to him by reason, which
points out what is just and righteous according as it is or is
not in conformity with the social and rational nature of
man.
As Cicero puts it:
“That animal which we call man, endowed with foresight and

quick intelligence, complex, keen, possessing memory, full of
reason and prudence, has been given a certain distinguished
status by the supreme God who created him; for he is the only one
among so many different kinds and varieties of living beings who
has a share in reason and thought, while all the rest are deprived
of it. (Cicero, De Legibus, Book 1, VII p. 321) Those creatures who
have received the gift of reason from Nature have also received
right reason, and therefore, they have also received the gift of law,
which is right reason applied to command and prohibition. (Id.
XII, pp. 333–335)
So Blackstone states:
“When the Supreme Being formed the Universe and created

matter out of nothing, he impressed certain principles upon that
matter from which it can never depart and without which it would
cease to be.. . Man considered as a creature must necessarily be
subject to the laws of his Creator. . . It is necessary that he should
in all points conform to his Maker’s will. . . This will of his Maker
is called the law of Nature.” (Blackstone’s Commentaries, 21, 31,
Lewis ed. 1897)
And Coke observes:
“The law of nature is that which God at the time of creation of the
nature of man infused into his heart for his preservation and
344

a Murder Charge
direction; and this is the eternal law, the moral law, called also
the law of nature... God and nature is one to all and therefore the
law of God and nature is one to all.” (Calvine’s Case, 7 Co. 12 [a],
77 Eng. Rep. 392 [1608], all quoted on p. 27, in a book entitled,
Jurisprudence with Selected Readings by Vicente J. Francisco,
1952)
(a) Scope
Except for the alleged attendant aggravating circumstance
of the use of a motor vehicle as enumerated in the
Information, the murder charge is the case under
annotation, the use of firearms, conspiracy and mutually
aiding each other, evident premeditation, treachery, intent
to kill. The case touched Article 80 of the Revised Penal
Code, alibi, confessions and credibility of witness, among
others.
(b) Related Matters

Annotations that may be read:
(1) “Conviction for Murder Reversed by the Supreme

Court”. Case: People vs. De Atras, G.R. No. L-
32423, October 29,1980;
(2) “For Failure to Prove the Elements of a Murder
Charge.” Case: People vs. Balictar, G.R. No. L-
29994, July 20, 1979;
(3) “A Murder Charge Rule to be Simple Homicide.''
Case: People vs. Estero, G.R. No. L-32574, June 29,
1979;
(4) ‘The Complex Crime of Kidnapping with Murder.”
Case: People vs. Datu Ombra Kiram, G.R. No. L-
28485, October 30, 1979;
(5) “Murder and Homicide Are Poles Apart”. Case:
People vs. Lanza, G.R. No. L-31782, December 14,
1979;
(6) “Two Distinct and Separate Murders.” Case: People
vs. Noveloso, G.R. No. L-30251, February 14,1980.
§ 2. The Meaning of “Motor Vehicle”
A”motor vehicle” shall mean any vehicle propelled by any

power other than mascular power using the public
highways,
345
VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 345

a Murder Charge
but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street sweepers,

sprinklers, lawn mowers, bulldozers, graders, forklifts,
amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on public
highways, vehicles, which run only on rail or tracks, and
tractors, trailers and traction engines of all kinds used
exclusively for agricultural purposes. Trailers having any
number of wheels, when propelled or intended to be
propelled by attachment to a motor vehicle, shall be
classified as separate motor vehicle with no power rating.
(Par. 2, Sec. 3 (a), R.A. 4136)
Based on the above definition of a Motor Vehicle, the
police patrol JEEP used by the accused falls within the
purview of the term. But insofar as the question of whether
or not, it (the jeep) was used purposely to attain the end of
killing the deceased, the majority opinion of the Supreme
Court did not believe that it was so used. However, a
dissenting opinion by Justice Makasiar is worth noting.
“The use of motor vehicle should be appreciated as an
aggravating circumstance. It is patent from the record that
appellant Muñoz and his co-accused Millora, both security
men of the then mayor of San Carlos City, Pangasinan,
purposely utilized the police patrol jeep (“police patrol”
presumably painted on its sides) not only to facilitate their
search for the victim, whose whereabouts on the day of the
murder they inquired from Pat. Agbuya of the San Carlos
City Police Department, but also patently to insure their
speedy escape from the scene of the crime as well as to
discourage any resistance or pursuit from the victim and
from the bystanders who saw the incident. As a matter of
fact, they loaded the body of the victim in the same police
patrol jeep and brought the victim to Calasiao where the
victim was dumped in barrio Duyong, Calasiao,
Pangasinan, about half a kilometer from the provincial
road.” Whereas, the majority opinion holds that, the “use of
motor vehicle should not be considered as an aggravating

circumstance. The use by accusedappellants Muñoz and
Millora of the police patrol jeep in looking for the victim
Ricardo Depacina and in carrying his dead body to
Calasiao, Pangasinan was incidental. The police patrol jeep
was not deliberately utilized to facilitate the killing of
Depacina, the escape of the appellants from the scene of
the
346

a Murder Charge
crime, and the concealment of the body of the victim.

Hence, the trial court erred in appreciating the use of a
motor vehicle, which was not alleged in the information, in
determining the penalty.”
§ 3. Murder, defined
Art. 248, R.P.C. Murder.—Any person who, not falling

within the provisions of article 246, shall kill another, shall
be guilty of murder and shall be punished by reclusion
temporal in its maximum period to death, if committed
with any of the f ollowing attendant circumstances:
1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior

strength, with the aid of armed men, or employing
means to weaken the defense, or of means to
weaken the defense or persons to insure or afford
impunity;
2. In consideration of a price, reward, or promise;
3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion,
shipwreck, stranding of a vessel, derailment, or
assault upon a street car or locomotive, fall of an
airship, by means of motor vehicles, or with use of
any other means involving great waste and ruin;
4. On occasion of any of the calamities enumerated in
the preceding paragraph, or of an earthquake,
eruption of a volcano, destructive cyclone, epidemic,
or any other public calamity;
5. With evident premeditation;
6. With cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly
augmenting the suffering of the victim, or outraging
or scoffing at his person or corpse.
§ 4. Article 80, R.P.C.
Art. 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents.—

Whenever a minor of either sex, under sixteen years of age
at the date of the commission of a grave or less grave
felony, is accused thereof, the court, after hearing the
evidence
347
VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 347

a Murder Charge
in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment

of conviction, shall suspend all further proceedings and
shall commit such minor to the custody or care of a public
or private, benevolent or charitable institution, established
under the law for the care, correction, or education of
orphaned, homeless, defective, and delinquent children, or
to the custody or care of any other responsible person in
any other place subject to visitation and supervision by the
Director of Public Welfare or any of his agents or
representatives, if there be any, or otherwise by the
superintendent of public schools or his representatives,
subject to such conditions as are prescribed herein below
until such minor shall have reached his majority or for
such less period as the court may deem proper.
The court, in committing said minor as provided above,
shall take into consideration the religion of such minor, his
parents or next of kin, in order to avoid his commitment to
any private institution not under the control and
supervision of the religious sect or denomination to which
they belong.
The Director of Public Welfare or his duly authorized
representatives or agents, the superintendent of public
schools or his representatives, or the person to whose
custody or care the minor has been committed, shall submit
to the court every four months and as often as required in
special cases, a written report on the good or bad conduct of
said minor and the moral and intellectual progress made
by him.
The suspension of the proceedings against a minor may
be extended or shortened by the court on the
recommendation of the Director of Public Welfare or his
authorized representatives or agents, or the
superintendent of public schools or his representatives,

according as to whether the conduct of such minor has been
good or not and whether he has complied with the
conditions imposed upon him, or not. The provisions of the
first paragraph of this article shall not, however, be
affected by those contained herein.
If the minor has been committed to the custody or care
of any of the institutions mentioned in the first paragraph
of this article, with the approval of the Director of Public
Welfare and subject to such conditions as this official in
accordance with
348

a Murder Charge
law may deem proper to impose, such minor may be

allowed to stay elsewhere under the care of a responsible
person.
If the minor has behaved properly and has complied
with the conditions imposed upon him during his
confinement, in accordance with the provisions of this
article, he shall be returned to the court in order that the
same may order his final release.
In case the minor fails to behave properly or to comply
with the regulations of the institution to which he has been
committed or with the conditions imposed upon him when
he was committed to the care of a responsible person, or in
case he should be found incorrigible or his continued stay
in such institution should be inadvisable, he shall be
returned to the court in order that the same may render
the judgment corresponding to the crime committed by
him.
The expenses for the maintenance of a minor delinquent
confined in the institution to which he has been committed,
shall be borne totally or partially by his parents or
relatives or those persons liable to support him, if they are
able to do so, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That
in case his parents or relatives or those persons liable to
support him have not been ordered to pay said expenses,
the municipality to which the offense was committed shall
pay one-third of said expenses; the province to which the
municipality belongs shall pay one-third; and the
remaining one-third shall be borne by the National
Government: Provided, however, That whenever the
Secretary of Finance (now, Minister of Finance) certifies
that a municipality is not able to pay its share in the

expenses above mentioned, such share which is not paid by
said municipality shall be borne by the National
Government. Chartered cities shall pay two-thirds of said
expenses; and in case a chartered city cannot pay said
expenses, the internal revenue allotments which may be
due to said city shall be withheld and applied in settlement
of said indebtedness in accordance with section five
hundred and eighty-eight of the Administrative Code. (As
amended by Com. Act No. 99 and Rep. Act No. 47)
349
VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 349

a Murder Charge
The Age of Minority is under 16 years old
(1) The provisions of Art. 80 are applicable only to

those offenders who are under 16, not only at the
commission of the offense, but also at the time of
the trial against him.
(2) If he is at or over the age of 16 at the time of the
trial, he is not entitled to the provisions of Art. 80,
but only to a reduction of the penalty by one or two
degrees (Art. 68).
(3) Not that minors 16 and 18 years old should no
longer be placed on probation in a reformatory
institution but should go straight to prison upon
conviction (People vs. Garcia, G.R. L2873).
Art 80 is applicable only to grave or less grave felonies.

This article is applicable only when the felony
committed is grave or less grave. When the felony
committed is light, this article is not applicable.
Effects of suspension of sentence under Art 80
(1) Since the sentence is suspended, the modifying

circumstances affecting the criminal liability of the
accused, below 16 years of age, cannot be
considered (People vs. Bakil, et al., 44 O.G., C.A.
102)
(2) Indemnity to the heirs cannot, for the same reason,
be considered. But the offended party may bring a
civil action for damages (Magtibay vs. Tiongco, 74
Phil. 576)
The minor who is found guilty is entitled to be out

(3) on bail pending appeal. (Ching Juat vs. Ysip, 77
Phil. 848) (See The Revised Penal Code by Luis B.
Reyes, 1956)
§ 5. Some points on “Conspiracy”
(a) A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come

to an agreement concerning the commission of a
felony and decide to commit it. (par. 2, Art. 8,
R.P.C.)
(b) When a conspiracy animates several persons with a
single purpose, their individual acts in pursuance of
that purpose are treated as a single act. (People vs.
Garcia, 96 SCRA 497)
350

a Murder Charge
(c) It need not be shown that the parties actually came

together and agreed in express terms to enter in
and pursue a common design. The existence of the
assent of minds which is involved in a conspiracy
may be, and, from the secrecy of the crime, usually
must be, inferred from proof of facts and
circumstances which, taken together, apparently
indicate that they are merely parts of some
complete whole. If it is proved that two or more
persons aimed their acts toward the
accomplishment of the same unlawful object, each
doing a part, so that their acts, though apparently
independent, were in fact connected and
cooperative, indicating a closeness of personal:
association of sentiment, a conspiracy may be
inferred though no actual meeting among them to
concert means is proved ... The details of the
conspiracy need not be proved. If a community of
purpose among the parties to do some criminal act
or acts is shown, it is not necessary that the acts
which are charged, or of which evidence has been
given, were specifically contemplated by them or
included in the original design. (People vs.

Carbonel, 48 Phil. 870)
§ 6. Useful Pointers
On “Evident Premeditation”
Where it is proved that the accused, on various occasions
bef ore committing the crime, planned and decided not only
to steal but also to kill the victim, there is present
premeditation which should be considered as an
aggravating circumstance f or the purpose of imposing
upon the accused the proper period of the proper penalty
for the crime committed. (People vs. Valeriano, G.R. No. L-
2159)
On “Alibi”
It is indispensable and necessary in order to establish an
alibi successfully, that the accused was at some other place
at the time the crime was committed, and that it was
physically impossible for him to be in the place where the
crime took place. (People vs. Angeles, 92 SCRA 432)
351
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a Murder Charge
On “Treachery”
There is treachery when the offender commits any of the
crimes against the person, employing means, methods, or
forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and
specially to insure its execution, without risk to himself
arising from the defense which the offended party might
make. (No. 16, Art. 14, R.P.C.)
_____________
352
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11/30/2020 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 107

342 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

THE USE OF MOTOR VEHICLE AS AGGRAVATING

(1) Scope and Related Matters, p. 344.

(a) Scope, p. 344.

§ 2. The Meaning of “Motor Vehicle”, p. 344.

A murder charge is one of the most difficult to prove. It

VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 343

Muñoz and Justo Millora, defendants-appellants, G.R. No.

“That animal which we call man, endowed with foresight and

“When the Supreme Being formed the Universe and created

And Coke observes:

344 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

(b) Related Matters

(1) “Conviction for Murder Reversed by the Supreme

§ 2. The Meaning of “Motor Vehicle”

A”motor vehicle” shall mean any vehicle propelled by any

VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 345

but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street sweepers,

motor vehicle should not be considered as an aggravating

346 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

crime, and the concealment of the body of the victim.

Art. 248, R.P.C. Murder.—Any person who, not falling

1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior

§ 4. Article 80, R.P.C.

Art. 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents.—

VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 347

in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment

superintendent of public schools or his representatives,

348 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

law may deem proper to impose, such minor may be

that a municipality is not able to pay its share in the

VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 349

The Age of Minority is under 16 years old

(1) The provisions of Art. 80 are applicable only to

Art 80 is applicable only to grave or less grave felonies.

(1) Since the sentence is suspended, the modifying

The minor who is found guilty is entitled to be out

§ 5. Some points on “Conspiracy”

(a) A conspiracy exists when two or more persons come

350 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

(c) It need not be shown that the parties actually came

included in the original design. (People vs.

VOL. 107, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981 351

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