G.R. No. 137520 -22 May 9, 2002
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. ALFREDO BAROY and FELICISIMO NACIONAL, appellants.

FACTS

Appellants Alfredo Baroy and Felicisimo Nacional were charged with three counts of qualified rape. The prosecution alleged that in the early morning of March 2, 1998, in Parañaque, they blocked a tricycle, robbed the driver, and forcibly took the passenger, Emeliza Bueno, to a vacant lot. There, Baroy raped her at knifepoint while Nacional acted as a lookout. Nacional then raped her, and after he left, Baroy raped her a second time. The tricycle driver alerted security guards, who apprehended Baroy at the scene and later arrested Nacional based on information provided. The trial court convicted both appellants of three counts of qualified rape and imposed the death penalty for each count, citing the use of a deadly weapon and the aggravating circumstances of nighttime and confederation.
The defense presented alibis and denial. Nacional claimed he was at his employer’s house and later asleep at a guardhouse when arrested. Baroy admitted being present but claimed he only assisted the victim after the fact, stating that Nacional alone committed the rape. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court for automatic review due to the imposition of the death penalty.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court correctly imposed the death penalty for the crime of qualified rape.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The Court held that for the death penalty to be imposed for qualified rape under Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code, at least one qualifying circumstance must be both specifically alleged in the information and proven during trial. While the use of a deadly weapon was duly alleged and proven, constituting a qualifying circumstance, the trial court erroneously considered nighttime and confederation as aggravating circumstances to justify the death penalty. Under the law, the presence of a qualifying circumstance alone warrants the death penalty only if the law specifically prescribes it for that qualifier. For rape with the use of a deadly weapon, the prescribed penalty is reclusion perpetua to death. To justify the imposition of the death penalty within this range, the presence of at least one aggravating circumstance must be alleged and proven. Here, the aggravating circumstances of nighttime and confederation were neither alleged in the informations nor proven as intentionally sought to facilitate the crime. Consequently, with no aggravating circumstance properly established, the lesser penalty of reclusion perpetua, not death, must be applied for each count of rape. The Court thus sentenced each appellant to three separate penalties of reclusion perpetua and affirmed the awards of civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages.