G.R. No. 133068 -69. May 31, 2000
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. EFREN JABIEN, accused-appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Efren Jabien was charged with three counts of rape committed against his daughter, Emie Jabien. During arraignment, he pleaded guilty to two counts (Criminal Case Nos. 98-06 and 98-07) and not guilty to one (98-08). The trial court, nonetheless, required the prosecution to present evidence. The evidence established that the sexual abuse began in December 1995 when Emie was eleven years old. The first rape occurred after her father read the Bible to her, threatened her, and then forcibly had carnal knowledge. This abuse continued regularly for months.
The abuse persisted even after Emie briefly lived with an aunt. In one instance in December 1996, the accused raped her while they shared a room with her sleeping mother. In April 1997, after discovering Emie was pregnant from the abuse, the accused raped her again under the guise of giving a massage and instructed her to claim she was raped by a masked man. The crimes were eventually reported, leading to the filing of the cases.

ISSUE

The core issue for automatic review is whether the trial court correctly convicted the accused-appellant of qualified rape and imposed the death penalty for the two counts to which he pleaded guilty.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and the imposition of the death penalty for the two counts of qualified rape. The legal logic rests on the conclusive establishment of the elements of rape and the presence of qualifying circumstances. A plea of guilt, especially in a capital offense, does not automatically result in conviction; the court must ensure the plea is made voluntarily and with full comprehension of its consequences, and that the prosecution evidence sustains the charge. Here, the prosecution’s evidence, including Emie’s credible and categorical testimony, thoroughly proved the crimes.
The crimes were qualified by the relationship of father and daughter and the minority of the victim (under eighteen), circumstances duly alleged in the informations. These qualifying circumstances warrant the imposition of the death penalty under Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659 . The Court modified the damages, ordering the accused-appellant to pay P75,000.00 as civil indemnity and P50,000.00 as moral damages for each count of rape. The records were ordered transmitted to the Office of the President for possible executive clemency, as required by law for death penalty cases.