GR 137379; (September, 2000) (Digest)
G.R. Nos. 137379-81; September 29, 2000
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ARTURO GARCIA Y CANDA, accused-appellant.
FACTS
Accused-appellant Arturo Garcia was charged with two counts of rape against his ten-year-old stepdaughter, Jeypen Enilog. The prosecution established that on March 5, 1997, and again on April 7, 1997, Garcia forcibly had carnal knowledge of Jeypen in their Pasay City home, threatening her not to tell anyone. The victim promptly reported the incidents to her mother and aunt, leading to a medico-legal examination which confirmed her non-virgin state with healed lacerations. Garcia was convicted by the Regional Trial Court and sentenced to death for both counts, prompting an automatic review.
Garcia denied the accusations, claiming the charges were fabricated by Jeypen’s mother after a personal quarrel. He asserted they were no longer living together during the alleged incidents. The trial court acquitted him in a separate rape case involving his daughter due to insufficient evidence but found Jeypen’s testimony credible and consistent, leading to his conviction for the two counts.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in convicting accused-appellant of two counts of rape and imposing the death penalty.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The Court upheld the trial court’s assessment of Jeypen’s credibility, noting that her candid and consistent testimony, corroborated by medical findings, sufficiently proved the commission of rape. The alleged inconsistencies were minor and did not affect the core of her narrative. The defense of denial and frame-up, being weak and unsupported, could not prevail over the positive identification by the victim.
However, the Court reduced the penalty from death to reclusion perpetua for each count. While the victim was under eighteen and the offender was the common-law spouse of her mother—a qualifying circumstance for the death penalty under Republic Act No. 7659—this specific relationship was not properly alleged in the informations, which erroneously referred to Garcia as the “stepfather.” For the death penalty to be imposed, the qualifying circumstance must be both alleged in the information and proved during trial. This fatal variance in allegation warranted the modification of the penalty to reclusion perpetua, in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence.