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FRONDA
G.R. Nos. 102361-62 | May 14, 1993 | Third Division | Appeal
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee
RUDY FRONDA, defendant-appellant.
The Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellee.
Juan T. Antonio for accused-appellant.
Bidin, J.
Digest by Bryan John Maga
Short Version: Fronda presented the exempting circumstance of uncontrollable fear. He alleged that the
night before the killing of the Balaan brothers, he was taken by the NPA from his house. Later, he was
ordered to tie their hands and subsequently dig their graves. The Supreme Court held that f ear in order to
be valid should be based on a real, imminent or reasonable fear for one's life or limb. However, the
contemporaneous and subsequent acts of Fronda cannot be regarded as having been done under such
impulse. First, he was seen receiving from one of the armed men a hunting knife. Second, he had the
opportunity to escape when he was ordered by the NPA to go home but instead joined the armed men
when required to later bring a spade with which he was ordered to dig the grave. Last, Fronda was not
able to explain his failure to report the incident to the authorities for more than 3 years.
Facts:
- Brothers Eduardo and Esminio Balaan were taken by 7 armed men in fatigue uniform with long
firearms, suspected to be NPA members, accompanied by Rudy Fronda and Roderick Padua.
Fronda and Padua are residents of the same place. The armed men, with Fronda and Padua,
then proceeded towards the mountain in sitio Tulong, Cataratan, Allacapan, Cagayan passing
through the ricefields, taking along with them the Balaan brothers.
- About 3 years after, the bodies or remains of the Balaan brothers were found and examined by
the army. Subsequently, Fronda, together with one Reynaldo Agcaoili were charged with murder
before the RTC of Cagayan.
- Fronda testified that on the night before the incident, he was taken by the NPA from his house,
accompanied by Padua and Robert Peralta, alias Ka Jun to look for the Balaan brothers. After
finding them, they tied their hands and brought them to the mountain at Sitio Tulong. After that,
the NPA instructed them to go home, but in the afternoon of the same day, Ka Jun, sent Elmer
Martinez, Orlando Gonzales, George Peralta and Librado Duran to get him and ordered him to
get a spade and a crowbar. They were to dig a hole in the mountain, 1 kilometer away from his
house.
- Agcaoili was later acquitted but Fronda was found guilty as principal by indispensable
cooperation for two counts of the crime of murder and was sentenced to suffer in each case, the
penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA.
Issues: WON Fronda can claim the exempting circumstance of uncontrollable fear? No.
WON Fronda could be convicted as a principal by indispensable cooperation? No.
Dispositive:
Judgment appealed from modified. Fronda found guilty as an accomplice to the murder.
Reasoning: