"Time and time again, this Court has ruled that when conspiracy is proven, the act of one is the act of all.26 As shown above, the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that conspiracy had attended the commission of the crime of robbery with homicide. Despite the protestations of appellant that he did not conspire to rob and kill, but only to rob, the victim, we hold that appellant is liable for the special complex crime of robbery with homicide.
The elements of this special complex crime are the following: (1) the taking of personal property is committed with violence or intimidation against a person; (2) the property taken belongs to another; (3) the taking is done with animo lucrandi; and (4) by reason of the robbery or on occasion thereof, homicide (used in its generic sense) is committed.27
The records and the pleadings show that all the above-mentioned elements are present in the case at bar. Appellant and his cohorts broke into the house of Aragon’s uncle;28 took the victim’s wallet and cash, wrist watch and several pieces of jewelry amounting to P67,000;29 and, in the course of the robbery, stabbed and killed the victim.
As aforesaid, whenever a homicide is committed as a consequence of or on the occasion of a robbery, all those who took part in the asportation will be held guilty of the special complex crime of robbery with homicide, even if they did not all actually take part in the homicide, unless it appears that those who did not do so endeavored to prevent the killing.30
Appellant, upon hearing the groaning emanating from the bedroom, did not do anything to check on what was happening. Thinking that his cohorts were stabbing the victim,31 appellant simply allowed them to finish their dastardly deed. He hid for two years – first in the house of his grandmother32 and, later on, in that of his mother.33 On January 6, 1994, a barangay official apprehended and brought him to the Mandaluyong jail.34
It is therefore clear that appellant did not do anything to prevent his co-conspirators from stabbing and ultimately killing the victim. When he left the scene of the crime; he could have gone to the police to report the crime, but he hid and tried to escape the arm of the law. Because he did not do anything to prevent the homicide, he is therefore equally guilty of robbery with homicide.
We affirm the awards of actual damages which were duly proven.
WHEREFORE, the appeal is DENIED and the assailed Decision is AFFIRMED. Costs against appellant.
SO ORDERED."
G.R. No. 121272, June 6, 2001
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee,
vs. REYDERICK LAGO, appellant.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2001/jun2001/gr_121272_2001.html
