Facts:

• A rape incident occurred on July 12, 1966, in Barrio Bungao, Valencia, Oriental Negros.
• The victim, Petronila Baligasa, was a fourteen-year-old orphan gathering cornstalks with her eleven-year-old half-brother, Julito Santillan.
• Wendelino Amores, an eighteen-year-old acquaintance, and Proculo Inquig approached them.
• Amores forcibly restrained Petronila, who tried to escape but was recaptured when she paused to remove a thorn from her foot.
• He overpowered her, removed her panties, and raped her despite her resistance and cries for help.
• Petronila delayed reporting the incident due to fear, confiding in her grandmother five days later.
• A medical examination by Dr. Severiano M. Kho revealed injuries consistent with rape, including a ruptured hymen.
• The incident was reported to authorities, leading to a formal complaint filed in October 1967.
• The trial court found Amores guilty of rape, sentencing him to an indeterminate penalty of eighteen years and one day of reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua, and ordered him to pay P5,000 in moral damages.
• Amores appealed the conviction.

Issue:

• (Unlock)

Ruling:

• The Supreme Court upheld the trial court's conviction of Wendelino Amores for rape, finding no merit in his appeal.
• The Court deemed the testimonies of Petronila and her brother credible, supported by medical evidence.
• The claim regarding the affidavit of desistance was dismissed as it was not formally presented and was effectively revoked by Petronila's later compla...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The decision relied on the credibility of the victim's and her brother's testimonies, which were corroborated by medical findings.
• The absence of spermatozoa was not considered conclusive against the occurrence of rape, as sperm cells can disintegrate...continue reading