G.R. No. 232308, October 07, 2020
People of the Philippines, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. XXX, Accused-Appellant.

FACTS

The accused-appellant, XXX, was charged with qualified rape of his niece, AAA, a 17-year-old minor. The prosecution alleged that on August 4, 2009, in Tuguegarao City, the appellant invited AAA to his house to choose clothes. Once inside, he used force and intimidation to have sexual intercourse with her against her will. AAA immediately reported the incident to her aunt and later to her mother, leading to a medico-legal examination which revealed fresh lacerations consistent with recent sexual activity.
The defense interposed denial and alibi, claiming AAA fabricated the charge due to a family grudge. The Regional Trial Court convicted XXX of qualified rape, a decision affirmed with modification by the Court of Appeals. The CA upheld the conviction but modified the crime to simple rape, finding the qualifying circumstance of relationship under Article 266-B was not sufficiently proven, and awarded civil indemnity, moral, and exemplary damages with interest.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in convicting the accused-appellant of rape despite his defense of denial and alibi, and in modifying the conviction from qualified to simple rape.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but sustained the modification to simple rape. The Court found AAA’s testimony to be credible, consistent, and corroborated by the medico-legal findings, which established the essential elements of rape through force or intimidation. The defense of denial and alibi, being inherently weak, cannot prevail over the positive and categorical identification by the victim.
On the qualification, the Court agreed with the CA that the prosecution failed to prove the exact nature of the relationship between the appellant and the victim with the required certitude. While the Information alleged that the appellant was the victim’s uncle (a first cousin of her father), the prosecution only presented the victim’s testimony and her birth certificate. The birth certificate, however, only proved the victim’s filiation to her parents, not her relationship to the appellant. No other documentary evidence, such as the appellant’s birth certificate, was presented to conclusively establish consanguinity within the third civil degree as required under Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code for qualification. Consequently, the crime is simple rape, punishable by reclusion perpetua. The awards of damages were affirmed in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence.