G.R. No. 241591 , July 08, 2020
ABC, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

Three separate Informations were filed against petitioner ABC, the grandfather of the victim AAA, a ten-year-old child, for crimes allegedly committed between March 28 to 31, 2015 in Baguio City. Criminal Case No. 37118-R charged him with Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to RA 7610, for making a “push and pull” motion on AAA’s vagina and mashing her breast. Criminal Case No. 37119-R and Criminal Case No. 37120-R both charged him with Sexual Assault under paragraph 2, Article 266-A of the RPC, for inserting his finger into AAA’s anal orifice and vagina, respectively. Petitioner pleaded not guilty. During trial, AAA testified that petitioner fondled her breasts and vagina, and demonstrated with anatomically correct dolls how he inserted his forefinger inside her vagina. The testimonies of the medico-legal and social welfare officers were dispensed with by stipulation. Petitioner waived his right to testify.
The Family Court, in a Consolidated Judgment, acquitted petitioner in Criminal Case Nos. 37118-R and 37120-R for insufficiency of evidence, but convicted him in Criminal Case No. 37119-R for Sexual Assault, sentencing him to an indeterminate penalty and ordering him to pay damages. Petitioner appealed, arguing that his conviction in Criminal Case No. 37119-R was erroneous since the proven act was the vaginal insertion charged in Criminal Case No. 37120-R, and that correcting this would place him in double jeopardy for the latter case where he was acquitted.
The Court of Appeals ruled that a typographical error existed in the Family Court’s dispositive portion. It clarified that the conviction was for the act proven—insertion of a finger into AAA’s vagina as charged in Criminal Case No. 37120-R—and accordingly modified the judgment to reflect petitioner’s guilt in Criminal Case No. 37120-R and acquittal in Criminal Case No. 37119-R. Petitioner filed a Petition for Review, asserting double jeopardy and challenging AAA’s credibility.

ISSUE

1. Whether the correction of the typographical error in the Family Court’s dispositive portion, resulting in petitioner’s conviction in Criminal Case No. 37120-R instead of Criminal Case No. 37119-R, violates his right against double jeopardy.
2. Whether the conviction should be upheld despite petitioner’s claim that the victim’s testimony was incredible and conflicting.

RULING

1. No, double jeopardy did not attach. The Supreme Court held that the fourth element for double jeopardy—that the accused was convicted or acquitted or the case was dismissed without his express consent—was not present. The Family Court’s body of decision clearly found that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the act of inserting a finger into AAA’s vagina as charged in Criminal Case No. 37120-R, but failed to prove the act charged in Criminal Case No. 37119-R (anal insertion). The dispositive portion contained a clerical error in the docket numbers. Following Cobarrubias v. People, where the body of the decision clearly indicates a mistake in the dispositive portion, the body prevails. The correction was merely to make the dispositive portion conform to the factual findings and conclusions in the decision’s body, not an acquittal or conviction on a new ground. Thus, petitioner was never truly acquitted in Criminal Case No. 37120-R based on the merits.
2. Yes, the conviction is upheld. The Court found no reason to disturb the lower courts’ assessment of AAA’s credibility. Testimonies of child-victims are given full weight and credit, as youth and maturity generally make them incapable of fabricating tales of sexual abuse. The alleged inconsistencies referred to by petitioner were minor and did not affect the core of her testimony—that petitioner sexually assaulted her by inserting his finger into her vagina. Her demonstration using anatomically correct dolls was a clear and credible narration of the event.
The Supreme Court DENIED the petition and AFFIRMED the CA Decision with MODIFICATION. Petitioner ABC is found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt in Criminal Case No. 37120-R for Rape by Sexual Assault under Article 266-A(2) of the RPC, as amended, in relation to Section 5(b) of RA 7610. He is sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of twelve (12) years and one (1) day of reclusion temporal minimum as minimum to fifteen (15) years, six (6) months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal medium as maximum. He is ORDERED to PAY AAA P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, P50,000.00 as moral damages, and P50,000.00 as exemplary damages, all with 6% interest per annum from finality until fully paid.