THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.

DIOSCORO ALCONGA and ADOLFO

BRACAMONTE, defendants.DIOSCORO ALCONGA, appellant.| 30 April 1947| J. Hilado

Short Version: Barion, in a fit of anger after losing to a game of black jack against de Raposo and her partner,
Alconga, attacked Alconga who fought back in self-defense. Barion fled and Alconga chased him, slashing his
cranium with his bolo and thus killing Barion. Court found that Alconga no longer acted in self-defense after
Barion fled the scene and Alconga still pursued him.

Provocation in order to be an MC must be sufficient and immediately preceding the act. It should be
proportionate to the act committed and adequate to stir one to its commission

Facts

On the night of May 27, 1943, in the house of one Mauricio Jepes, in the Municipality of San Dionisio, Iloilo,
several persons were playing prohibited games.

Silverio Barion was the banker in the game of black jack, and Maria de Raposo, a witness for the prosecution,
was one of those playing the game.

Maria de Raposo invited accused Dioscoro Alconga to join her as partner in the game of black jack. Alconga
agreed and each of them contributed P5 to a common fund.

Maria de Raposo played the game while Alconga posted himself behind the deceased, acting as a spotter of the
cards of the latter and communicating by signs to de Raposo.

Barion appeared to suffer losses in the game because of the teamwork of de Raposo and Alconga.

Upon discovery of what the pair was doing, Barion expressed his anger at Alconga. An exchange of words
followed, and the two would have come to blows but for the intervention of the maintainer of the games. In a fit
of anger, Barion left the house but not before telling Alconga, "tomorrow morning I will give you a breakfast"

Barion and Alconga only met on the morning of 29 May 1943, when Alconga was in the guardhouse located in
the barrio of Santol, performing his duties as "home guard". While Alconga was seated on a bench in the
guardhouse, Barion came along and, addressing the former, said, "Coroy, this is your breakfast," followed
forthwith by a swing of his "pingahan"

Alconga avoided the blow by falling to the ground under the bench with the intention to crawl out of the
guardhouse. A second blow hit the bench. Alconga crawled his way out of the guardhouse.

While Barion was in the act of delivering his third blow. Alconga, still in a crawling position, fired at him with
his reolver causing Barion to fall to the ground.

Barion rose to his feet and drew a dagge, directing a blow at Alconga who was able to parry the same with his
bolo. A hand-to-hand fight thus ensued.

Barion sustained several wounds and ran away but Alconga followed him. After 200m, Barion was overtaken
and another fight took place wherein Alconga slashed the cranium of Barion, causing him to fall to the ground,
face down, and still many other blows were delivered to him left and right.
At this instant, the other accused, Adolfo Bracamonte arrived and, being the leader of the "home guards" of San
Dionisio, placed under his custody Alconga with a view to turning him over to the proper authorities.

The two men were stopped by Juan Collado, a guerilla soldier. Bracamonte turned Alconga In the afternoon of
the same day, Collado delivered Alconga to Gregorio Barredo, a municipal policeman of San Dionisio, together
with the weapons used in the fight: a revolver, a bolo, and a dagger.

Issue: Did Alconga act in self-defense? NO.

Ratio

There were two stages in the fight between Alconga and Barion:

(1) Barion assaulted Alconga without sufficient provocation on the part of the latter. Resisting the aggression,
Alconga managed to have the upper hand in the fight, inflicting several wounds upon Bario causing him to
retreat; (Court held Alconga was acting in self-defense)

(2) Alconga pursued Barion, there being then no more aggression to defend against. Alconga inflicted many
additional wounds upon Barion. Barion was clearly not fatally wounded in the first encounter since he was still
able to run 200m before being overtaken by Alconga (Court held that Alconga was no longer acting in self-
defense since there was no aggression.)

Although Alconga was not the aggressor, he is not exempt from criminal liability because he struck several
blows on Bailon, among them the fatal one, after the necessity for defending himself had ceased.

The Revised Penal Code provides:

ART. 13. Mitigating circumstances:

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4. That sufficient provocation or threat on the part of the offended party immediately preceded the act.

It is therefore apparent that the Code requires for provocation to be such a mitigating circumstance that it not
only immediately precede the act but that it also be sufficient.

Sufficient provocation, being a matter of defense, should, like any other, be affirmatively proven by the
accused. This, the instant appellant has utterly failed to do.

Paula P.