G.R. No. 130709 ; March 6, 2002
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Marianito Monteron y Pantoras, accused-appellant.

FACTS

On March 7, 1996, at 12:10 p.m., fifteen-year-old Mary Ann Martenez was walking home from school in Davao City. While on a secluded road, she was hit on the head by a stone from a slingshot. When she turned, she was hit again on the mouth, causing her to fall unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, she found herself naked on the grass with the accused-appellant, Marianito Monteron, also naked and on top of her. She struggled but was restrained. He placed his penis on top of her vagina, causing her pain. She grabbed his erect penis and pushed it away, causing him to stand up in pain, after which she fled. Her cousin, Arnel Arat, witnessed the incident and helped her home. A complaint was filed, leading to accused-appellant’s arrest. A medical examination revealed Mary Ann’s hymen was intact with no laceration, but her labia minora was coaptated and labia majora was gaping. Accused-appellant was charged with rape, pleaded not guilty, and was convicted by the trial court, which sentenced him to reclusion perpetua and ordered him to pay P50,000.00 in indemnity.

ISSUE

Whether the Regional Trial Court erred in convicting accused-appellant of rape despite reasonable doubt.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the trial court’s decision. It held that the crime committed was attempted rape, not consummated rape. The prosecution evidence, particularly Mary Ann’s testimony that accused-appellant’s penis was only placed on top of her vagina and was pushed away before penetration, coupled with the medical finding of an intact hymen, established only an attempt. The positive identification by Mary Ann and her cousin Arnel Arat outweighed accused-appellant’s denial and his claims of witness bias and family feud as motive for the accusation. The Court found accused-appellant was a minor (17 years old) at the time of the crime, a privileged mitigating circumstance. Applying the penalty for attempted rape (two degrees lower than reclusion perpetua, which is prision mayor) and further lowering it by one degree due to minority (to prision correccional), and applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, accused-appellant was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of four (4) months and one (1) day of arresto mayor, as minimum, to four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional, as maximum. He was ordered to pay the victim P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and P25,000.00 as moral damages.