People vs. Lol-lo and Saraw (G.R. No. 17958, February 27, 1922)

Facts: Pinirata nina Lol-lo, Saraw, at 22 iba pa na nakasakay sa anim na vinta ang dalawang barko kung saan nakasakay ang 11 Olandes sa karagatan ng Dutch East Indies. (Kalurky, hindi pa sila Indonesia! Ancient case is ancient!) Nagpanggap silang humihingi ng pagkain, at nang ma-board nila ang dalawang Olandes na barko, ninakawan, nambugbog, at nang-rape with methods "too horrible to be described." (HAHAHAHA na-offend ang quasi-Victorian sensibilities si Justice Malcolm!) Matapos nito'y iniwanan ng mga kups ang mga Olandes sa mga naturang barko na pinuncture na rin nila, but taking the two poor women with them. 

Pero animo'y hinabol rin sila ng hustisya, dahil nailigtas ang mga Olandes at eventually ay na-charge sina Lol-lo at Saraw sa CFI ng Sulu. (Hindi pa Sharia court. Char!) 

Issue: Jurisdiction ng CFI ng Sulu sa isang krimeng hindi naganap sa Pinas. 

Held: CFI of Sulu has jurisdiction. "'Pirates are in law hostes humani generis. Piracy is a crime not against any particular state but against all mankind. It may be punished in the competent tribunal of any country where the offender may be found or into which he may be carried. The jurisdiction of piracy unlike all other crimes has no territorial limits. As it is against all so may it be punished by all. Nor does it matter that the crime was committed within the jurisdictional 3-mile limit of a foreign state, "for those limits, though neutral to war, are not neutral to crimes.' (U.S. vs. Furlong [1820], 5 Wheat., 184.)

All of the elements of the crime of piracy are present. Piracy is robbery or forcible depredation on the high seas, without lawful authority and done animo furandi, and in the spirit and intention of universal hostility." (Emphasis akin. Obviously. Hindi iyo. CHAR!)

Ibig sabihin, kahit nasaan ka sa mundo, CHAR!!! pag nag-feeling Bluebeard or Captain Jack Sparrow ka, or nakipag-conspire ka with Somali pirates, pwede kang kasuhan sa mga korte sa Pinas, or basically any nation na may laws sa piracy. 


Napaka-poetic na whatnot ng Korte: The days when pirates roamed the seas, when picturesque buccaneers like Captain Avery and Captain Kidd and Bartholomew Roberts gripped the imagination, when grostesque brutes like Blackbeard flourished, seem far away in the pages of history and romance. Nevertheless, the record before us tells a tale of twentieth century piracy in the south seas, but stripped of all touches of chivalry or of generosity, so as to present a horrible case of rapine and near murder.