G.R. No. 243151 , September 02, 2019
XXX, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

An Information was filed against petitioner XXX for violating Section 5(b) of Republic Act No. 7610 (R.A. 7610). The charge alleged that sometime in 2005, in Laguna, XXX, through force, intimidation, and coercion, willfully committed lascivious acts against AAA, who was eight years old at the time, by touching her breasts and vagina against her will. XXX pleaded not guilty. The prosecution presented AAA, her older sister BBB, and a social welfare officer. AAA testified that XXX, the common-law husband of her mother, touched her breasts and vagina while she was sleeping in 2005, and that these acts were repeated almost daily. She ran away from home in 2010 and reported the incidents to her sister BBB, who then filed the case. AAA’s testimony was supported by her Certificate of Baptism, establishing her birthdate as September 1, 1997, and a Social Case Study Report. The defense presented only XXX, who interposed denial and alibi, claiming he was working in Cavite in 2005, did not live with AAA’s family, and had never met AAA, suggesting her motive was resentment over his relationship with her mother. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) convicted XXX, finding AAA’s testimony credible. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the conviction, ruling that AAA’s testimony established all elements of the crime and that XXX’s defenses were weak.

ISSUE

Whether the RTC and the CA erred in convicting XXX.

RULING

The appeal was partially granted. The Supreme Court modified XXX’s conviction from “acts of lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to Section 5(b) of R.A. 7610” to “Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the RPC.” The Court held that the prosecution successfully proved the elements of Acts of Lasciviousness under the RPC: (1) XXX committed acts of lasciviousness by touching AAA’s breasts and vagina; (2) the acts were done when AAA was under 12 years of age; and (3) AAA was another person. The Court found AAA’s testimony candid, straightforward, and credible, and rejected XXX’s defenses of denial and alibi as inherently weak. However, applying prevailing jurisprudence, the Court ruled that when the victim of lascivious conduct is under 12 years old, the proper crime is Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the RPC, not in relation to R.A. 7610. Consequently, XXX was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of four (4) months of arresto mayor, as minimum, to four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correctional, as maximum. He was also ordered to pay AAA P20,000.00 as civil indemnity, P20,000.00 as moral damages, and P20,000.00 as exemplary damages, with 6% per annum interest from the finality of the decision.