GR 121637; (April, 2003) (Digest)
G.R. No. 121637 ; April 30, 2003
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. EDGARDO GREFALDIA, appellant.
FACTS
On December 3, 1988, armed men attacked the household of Vilma Convocar. Her husband, Gilberto, was shot. A masked man, later identified as appellant Edgardo Grefaldia, ordered Vilma to extinguish their light and to point out a neighbor’s house, after which gunshots were heard there. Vilma was then forcibly taken to Grefaldia’s house in another barangay. There, she was successively raped by Grefaldia and three other unidentified men. Grefaldia raped her twice. She recognized Grefaldia when he removed his mask inside his house. After the assaults, she was taken to a highway where Grefaldia shot at her, allowing her a chance to escape. She returned home at dawn to find her husband dead. Grefaldia was later apprehended hiding in a rolled mat in his house.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether the prosecution proved Grefaldia’s guilt for five counts of rape beyond reasonable doubt, particularly challenging the credibility of the victim’s identification and testimony.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The Court upheld the trial court’s assessment of Vilma Convocar’s credibility, finding her testimony clear, consistent, and convincing. Her positive identification of Grefaldia was deemed reliable; she recognized him by his features when he initially peered into her home and confirmed his identity when he unmasked himself at his residence. The use of force and intimidation was evident from the armed attack on her family, the killing of her husband and neighbors, and her abduction. The number of rapes was established by her straightforward account of the sequential assaults.
Applying Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code, the crime was qualified by the use of a deadly weapon and commission by two or more persons, warranting the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death. However, as the crime was committed in 1988 before the re-imposition of the death penalty in 1994, the proper penalty for each count was reclusion perpetua. The Court modified the civil liabilities, increasing the indemnity to P50,000 and awarding moral damages of P50,000 for each count of rape, in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence.