G.R. No. 116060 July 31, 1997
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Clemente de la Peña, alias “Ayag,” defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Clemente de la Peña, a 56-year-old bachelor, was convicted by the trial court of the rape of 10-year-old Janet Bajao on April 19, 1991, and sentenced to reclusion perpetua with damages. The victim testified that while she was alone gathering firewood, the accused forcibly dragged her to a nearby hut, undressed her, placed himself on top of her, masturbated, and then pushed his penis into her vagina, but she stated there was no penetration. Afterwards, he gave her a P2-coin. Her older sister, Rosalie, who went to fetch her, witnessed from about three meters away the accused on top of Janet making push-and-pull movements with his hips while masturbating and inserting his penis into her vagina. When the accused noticed Rosalie, he stopped, and she reported the incident. A medical examination conducted on the victim the same evening revealed that her hymen was intact but there was penetration; the hymenal tags were no longer visible due to constant rubbing of a hard object, probably an erect penis, and the edges of the labia minora were gaping with redness, which could have been caused by an erect penis forced into the vagina. The accused denied the crime, admitting only that he was masturbating inside his hut at the time with the victim outside, and he appealed his conviction, capitalizing on the victim’s statement that there was no penetration.

ISSUE

Whether the accused-appellant is liable for statutory rape despite the victim’s testimony that there was no penetration.

RULING

Yes, the accused-appellant is liable for statutory rape. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The Court reasoned that the victim, being only ten years old and guileless, likely thought that the mere touching of her vagina by the appellant’s penis constituted no penetration, a perception captive of her innocence. Her demonstration during testimony, using her finger to represent the penis inserted into her closed fist, indicated her childlike sexual awareness, possibly equating the act with masturbation. More significantly, the medical expert’s categorical finding of penetration—with the labia minora gaping and reddened and hymenal tags absent due to rubbing by a hard object—corroborated the fact of carnal knowledge. The Court cited People v. Castillo, where similar victim testimony of touching, coupled with medical evidence of penetration, was deemed sufficient to establish carnal knowledge. Statutory rape under Article 335(3) of the Revised Penal Code is committed by having carnal knowledge of a woman under twelve years of age, where penetration, however slight, or the mere introduction of the male organ into the labia of the pudendum, suffices. The testimony of the eyewitness sister further solidified the occurrence. The penalty of reclusion perpetua was affirmed, with a clarification that it entails imprisonment of at least thirty years, after which the convict becomes eligible for pardon, not immediate release. The moral damages award of P50,000 was affirmed, but the exemplary damages were reduced to P20,000.