G.R. No. L-25905, October 8, 1926
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS vs. INOCENTES BRETAÑA and BONIFACIO DAVI

FACTS

On the night of March 7, 1926, in an uninhabited area of Pototan, Iloilo, appellants Inocentes Bretaña and Bonifacio Davi, together with four other unidentified armed men, robbed the house of Francisco Precioso. Representing themselves as Constabulary soldiers, they tied up Francisco and threatened him with death. Inside the house, they stole jewelry and clothing valued at P145.70. After the robbery, Bonifacio Davi and two of the unknown companions took Francisco’s 16-year-old daughter, Jovita Precioso, a short distance from the house and successively raped her through force and intimidation. Inocentes Bretaña and the others remained and witnessed the act without intervening. The victims initially withheld the identities of the perpetrators out of fear and shame but later identified Bretaña and Davi. The appellants presented an alibi defense, claiming they were elsewhere loading sugar cane at the time.

ISSUE

1. Whether the guilt of appellants Inocentes Bretaña and Bonifacio Davi for the crime of robbery in band was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
2. Whether the crime committed was correctly classified as the complex crime of robbery with rape.

RULING

1. Yes. The Supreme Court found the positive identification by the victims credible. The initial failure to immediately identify the appellants was reasonably explained by the threats of death made during the crime and the natural shame and modesty of the young rape victim. The alibi defense, based solely on the testimony of companions, was insufficient to overcome the clear and positive evidence of the prosecution.
2. The crime is properly classified as the complex crime of robbery with rape under Article 503(2) of the Penal Code, not simple robbery in band. The robbery and the rape, committed on the same occasion by the same band, constitute one complex crime. All participants in the robbery are also liable for the rape, as it was a consequence of the same criminal act and they did nothing to prevent it (following U.S. vs. Tiongco).

The penalty for robbery with rape is *cadena temporal* in its medium degree to *cadena perpetua*. The aggravating circumstances of nocturnity, commission in an uninhabited place, and band (the latter not being a qualifying circumstance for this complex crime) were present, with no mitigating circumstances to offset them. Therefore, the penalty was imposed in its maximum degree.

DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
The appealed judgment was MODIFIED. Appellants Inocentes Bretaña and Bonifacio Davi were found guilty of the complex crime of robbery with rape. Each was sentenced to suffer the penalty of *cadena perpetua*. The rest of the trial court’s judgment (indemnity and costs) was affirmed.