[G.R. No.

L-27097, January 17, 1975]

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs
ANTONIO TOLING y ROVERO and JOSE TOLING y ROVERO, Defendants-
Appellants.

Facts:
Antonio Toling and Jose Toling, brothers, are residents of Barangay Nenita near
Mondragon, Northern Samar. They are illiterate farmers tilling their own lands.
Being identical twins, they look very much alike. The brothers decided to go to
Manila to visit their children who were working there.

On January 6, 1955 the twins set out to travel to Manila. They took several trips to
get there. They arrived in Paco, Manila on January 8, 1955 at around seven o’clock
in the morning. After travelling through the city, only Antonio managed to see his
daughter. Jose was not able to locate any of his children.

The twins then decided to go back home to Samar. After buying their tickets hey
boarded the night Bicol express train at about five o'clock in the afternoon. The
train left at six o'clock that evening.

After the train had resumed its speed after stopping in Cabuyao, Laguna, Jose
Toling stood up and stabbed the man directly in front of him. The victim stood up
but soon collapsed on his feet. While this was happening, Antonio Tolling stabbed
with a knife a sleeping old woman who was seated opposite him. The victim was
not able to get up anymore. It was during this time that the passengers scurried
away for safety but the twins who has run amuck, stabbed everyone whom they
encountered inside the coach. The twins continued their rampage before they were
eventually subdued by two Constabularymen.

When the train arrived at the Calamba station, Constabulary soldiers escorted the
twins from the train and turned them over to the Calamba police. A total of twelve
persons died from the bloody incident. Several were also injured. Eight bodies who
were found in the train died from stab wounds while the other four were presumed
to have jumped from the moving train to avoid being killed. The two
Constabularymen who subdued the twins, along with some of the injured victims,
each gave statements for the investigation.

Issue:
Whether or not the Toling twins should be criminally liable for the death of the
victims who jumped from the coach.

Ruling:
Yes. Article 4 of the Revised Penal Code states that “criminal liability shall be
incurred by any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done
be different from that which he intended”.

The twins are criminally liable for the death of the four victims who jumped off the
coach of the train since their rampage was responsible for their jump and eventual
death. Even if the twins never had the intent to kill those four victims specifically,
their violent actions led to the victims fleeing from danger and jumping off the train
in a state of panic.
The court stated “if a man creates in another man's mind an immediate sense of
danger which causes such person to try to escape, and in so doing he injures
himself, the person who creates such a state of mind is responsible for the injuries
which result”. Because of this, the Toling twins, apart from the charges of murder
and frustrated of murder should be criminally liable for the death of the four victims
who jumped off the coach of the train.

But it is important to note that in this particular case, the twins were never charged
for the death of the four victims because of the absence of eye-witness testimony
supporting the presumption that the four bodies who were found in the railroad
tracks. The court stated, “Had the necropsy reports been reinforced by testimony
showing that the proximate cause of their deaths was the violent and murderous
conduct of the twins, then the latter would be criminally responsible for their
deaths”.