1. CRIMINAL LAW; MURDER; COPRINCIPALS BY DIRECT COOPERATION. — With regard to four of the seven defendants the evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that they conspired with another Moro to kill the deceased and cooperated with him in carrying out the object of the conspiracy, and they are, therefore, equally liable for said killing, even though the other Moro was the only one who fired the shot that caused the death.

2. ID.; ID.; AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES. — The acts alleged in the information to have been committed by the defendants and proven beyond a reasonable doubt at the trial, constitute the crime of murder defined and penalized by article 403 of the Penal Code. In the imposition of the penalty there should be taken into consideration the aggravating circumstance that the crime was committed by a band, the assailants numbering more than four, and all of them were armed, as well as the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation; but not that of uninhabited place, which the lower court took into consideration, for the reason that from the house of the deceased, the place where the boat was, could be seen and his voice could be heard therein; and there being no mitigating circumstance to offset there, the penalty of death should be imposed.

3. ID.; ID.; SECTION 106, ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF MINDANAO AND SULU. — Inasmuch as section 106 of the Administrative Code of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu grants the trial court discretionary power to lower the penalties provided by the Penal Code, and it not appearing that said trial court abused such discretion, the judgment should be affirmed as to said defendants, but not as to the other three, whose guilt has not been sufficiently established.

Moros Loato, Labi, Gumagadong, Manintong No. 1, Manintong No. 2, Udti and Guti appeal to this court from the judgment of the Court of First Instance of Lanao finding them guilty in accordance with the fiscal’s information, of the murder of Otto Seifert, and taking into account the aggravating circumstances of abuse of superior strength, uninhabited place and evident premeditation, sentencing each of them to life imprisonment, to indemnify the deceased’s heirs in the sum of P1,000 jointly and severally, with the accessories of the law, and to pay one-eighth of the costs.

In support of their appeal, appellants assign the following alleged errors as committed by the trial court in its judgment, to wit:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"1. The trial court erred in holding that the herein accused and appellants were members of the gang that murdered Otto Seifert, and that the crime committed by them was done with the knowledge and consent of Sultan Laoto, simply because said authors of the crime lived within his sultanry.

"2. The trial court erred in not holding that the real and only perpetrators of the crime against Otto Seifert, and the only ones liable for said criminal act were Karadang (alias Marcos), Andi, Dumaut, Solugan, Makarampat, and B. F. Mabasa, and in not acquitting the herein accused-appellants their guilt not having been proven beyond a reasonable doubt."cralaw virtua1aw library

The following facts were proved at the trial beyond a reasonable doubt:chanrob1es virtual 1aw library

Otto Seifert (alias Kid) purchased of Doctor Feliciano a parcel of land situated in the barrio of Lala, district of Kolambugan, Province of Lanao. With the intention of devoting himself to agriculture, Otto Seifert built a house in said barrio, bringing his family with him. The land was under the jurisdiction of the Sultan of Kapatagan, who is the appellant Moro Laoto, who pretended to be the owner of said land. Besides this dispute over the title, some of the hens and chickens of the accused Laoto had been killed by the deceased’s dog. Later on Otto Seifert had a discussion with a certain B. F. Mabasa as to the use of a river. He also had some words with Moro Karadang (alias Marcos) who pretended that Seifert had ordered him from his land after he had broken it and planted it with rice without paying him for his labor. In view of these difficulties the deceased interviewed Commandant Johnson of the Constabulary who advised him to be congenial with the natives if he wished to continue living there.

On the morning of June 13,1926, the deceased invited his servant, the Moro Aman, to help him plant coconuts. Having planted some seeds they went up the house to eat. After eating they resumed the planting until they finished it. Then, having nothing more to do Seifert invited Aman to go with him to the launch to see if anything was wrong, because he intended to go to Kolambugan to meet Commandant Johnson. Seifert went ahead and Aman remained behind to respond to a call of nature. A short time after, Aman heard two shots from the direction of the launch. He then cried out, "What is that?," and all the answer he got was moaning, "Ay, Ay," followed by four shots. At the same time he saw some Moros running towards the river, hiding themselves behind tree trunks. At the side of a tree, he saw two paliuntods (imitation shotguns). After a moment’s reflection he deemed it unwise to go to the launch for fear of being killed also, for he believed that Seifert was already dead. He went back to his master’s house where he met the latter’s wife in tears, who asked him about her husband. In answer he asked for the shotgun saying that there were enemies. With gun in hand and provided with ammunition, he left the house; but after having gone about 4 brazas from the stairway, the deceased’s wife cried out to him, "Come back, Aman, they are coming." At that moment the Moros entered the wire fence and upon coming to within 30 brazas of the house they spread out firing on Aman and crying that he was nobody to resist them, and asking him how many bullets of his paliuntod he could eat. In view of this attack Aman also fired on the assailants saying, "Let us commend ourselves to God for I have nothing against you to see who survives." Fortunately, they did not succeed in hurting him, but he killed one of them instead, and the rest ran away. The dead man was found to be the Moro Andi, who carried around his waist the sheat, Exhibit B, of the revolver which Seifert had on going out o