G.R. No. 127904; December 5, 2002
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Esteban Victor y Penis, accused-appellant.

FACTS

This is an automatic review of the Decision of the Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, finding accused-appellant Esteban Victor y Penis guilty beyond reasonable doubt of qualified rape (Criminal Case No. Q-96-67322) and acts of lasciviousness (Criminal Case No. Q-96-67323). The trial court sentenced him to death for rape and to an indeterminate penalty for acts of lasciviousness. The rape complaint alleged that sometime in May 1996, in Quezon City, the accused, by means of force and intimidation and armed with a knife, had carnal knowledge of his 13-year-old stepdaughter, Marilyn Villanueva, against her will. The acts of lasciviousness complaint alleged that on or about August 5, 1996, the accused committed lascivious acts upon the same minor complainant by mashing her private parts. At arraignment, the accused pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution presented Marilyn Villanueva and Dr. Rosaline O. Cosidon. Marilyn testified that in May 1996, while her mother was out, the accused, armed with a knife, entered her room, threatened her, undressed her, pinned her to the floor, and had sexual intercourse with her against her will. He warned her not to tell anyone. She later reported that the accused continued to subject her to lascivious acts. On August 5, 1996, after another incident, she ran away and reported the abuses to the police. Dr. Cosidon’s medico-legal report confirmed that Marilyn was in a non-virgin state with healed hymenal lacerations. The prosecution and defense stipulated that Marilyn was 13 years old at the time of the offenses.
The accused denied the charges, testifying that he considered Marilyn a stepdaughter and could not have abused her. He claimed Marilyn was residing elsewhere for her studies and that she filed the charges because he scolded her for arriving home late. He also claimed Marilyn was no longer a virgin due to a prior rape by another person. He did not present his marriage contract to Julieta Corpuz, Marilyn’s mother.

ISSUE

The primary issue raised by the accused-appellant is whether the trial court erred in imposing the death penalty for rape based on the qualifying circumstance of stepfather-stepdaughter relationship, despite the lack of conclusive proof of a legal marriage between the accused and the victim’s mother.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the decision of the trial court. It held that for the qualifying circumstance of relationship under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code (as amended by R.A. No. 7659) to apply in rape cases, the legitimate or common-law relationship between the accused and the victim’s parent must be alleged in the information and proved during trial as conclusively as the crime itself. In this case, the information alleged the accused was the “step-father” of the victim. However, the evidence only established that the accused was the common-law husband of the victim’s mother, not a stepfather in a legal sense, as no marriage contract was presented. Therefore, the qualifying circumstance of relationship was not proven with certainty. Consequently, the crime is simple rape, not qualified rape. The penalty for simple rape is reclusion perpetua. The Court affirmed the accused-appellant’s conviction for simple rape and acts of lasciviousness but modified the penalties. The death penalty was reduced to reclusion perpetua. The moral damages for rape were increased to ₱50,000.00, and for acts of lasciviousness, the indeterminate penalty was modified and moral damages set at ₱25,000.00.