G.R. No. 244835 , December 11, 2019
People of the Philippines, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ABC, Accused-Appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant ABC was charged with two counts of Rape under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, committed against his minor daughter, AAA, who was nine years old at the time. The Informations alleged the crimes occurred on or between January 13 and 21, 2011 (Criminal Case No. R-QZN-14-07929-CR) and on or between April and May 2011 (Criminal Case No. R-QZN-14-07928-CR), both in Quezon City. AAA testified that on the evening of January 13 and 21, 2011, while sleeping with her father and brothers, ABC pressed something round on her head, threatened her with a gun, undressed her, and inserted his penis into her vagina. She felt pain and a wound the next morning. She stated the rapes occurred frequently, especially on weekends when ABC was drunk. For the April-May 2011 incident, AAA’s brother DDD testified he saw ABC go on top of AAA and take something in and out of her vagina in their dimly lit room. AAA revealed the abuse to her aunt CCC in January 2012, leading to ABC’s arrest. A medico-legal examination revealed “deep healed lacerations” on AAA’s hymen, consistent with blunt penetrating trauma. ABC denied the charges, claiming they were fabricated by his angry mother-in-law. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) convicted ABC of Rape for the January 2011 incident and, for the April-May 2011 incident, found insufficient evidence of penile penetration but convicted him of Acts of Lasciviousness. The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the Rape conviction but modified the conviction for the second incident to Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 5(b) of Republic Act No. 7610 , imposing a higher penalty. ABC appealed to the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming ABC’s conviction for the crimes charged.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the appeal and affirmed the CA Decision with modifications. The Court held that the prosecution proved ABC’s guilt for Qualified Rape in Criminal Case No. R-QZN-14-07929-CR beyond reasonable doubt. AAA’s credible, categorical, and consistent testimony, corroborated by the medico-legal findings of healed hymenal lacerations, established all elements of rape. The qualifying circumstances of minority and relationship were duly proven. For Criminal Case No. R-QZN-14-07928-CR, the Court agreed with the CA that the crime committed was Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610 , as the evidence showed lascivious conduct but not conclusive proof of penile penetration. The Court modified the awards of damages. For Qualified Rape, ABC was sentenced to reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole and ordered to pay AAA P100,000.00 as civil indemnity, P100,000.00 as moral damages, P100,000.00 as exemplary damages, and P50,000.00 as temperate damages. For Acts of Lasciviousness under R.A. No. 7610 , he was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of 14 years and 8 months of reclusion temporal minimum, as minimum, to 17 years and 4 months of reclusion temporal medium, as maximum, and ordered to pay P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, P50,000.00 as moral damages, and P50,000.00 as exemplary damages. All monetary awards shall earn 6% interest per annum from the finality of the decision until fully paid.