Case Digest (G.R. No. 215331)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Ludigario Belen y Marasigan, G.R. No. 215331, January 23, 2017, Supreme Court Second Division, Peralta, J., writing for the Court. The respondent in the prosecution below is Ludigario Belen y Marasigan (appellant here), accused in two separate informations of having raped AAA, a female child, in July 1999; the informations charged qualified rape under Article 266-A(1)(a) of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Article 266-B(6)(1) as amended by Republic Act No. 8353 and in further relation to Section 5(a) of RA 8369.Appellant was arraigned on April 17, 2008 and pleaded not guilty. At trial the prosecution presented AAA (the alleged victim), Police Senior Inspector Dean C. Cabrera (the medico-legal officer), and BBB (AAA’s mother). AAA testified that when she was about eight years old appellant — her mother’s live-in partner — twice called her into the house in July 1999, threatened her with a knife, ordered her to remove her clothes, and inserted his penis into her vagina; she described being forced, crying, and the incidents lasting about half an hour each, and said the abuse continued several times thereafter until she was taken to a relative’s house. PSI Cabrera testified that he examined AAA on December 8, 2005 and reported a deep-healed laceration of the hymen at the 6:00 position. BBB corroborated that AAA told her in November 2005 that appellant had molested her and explained family living arrangements.
Appellant denied the charges, claimed separation from BBB in 1999 and alleged that the accusations were motivated by ill will and a property dispute. On December 20, 2010, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 76, San Mateo, Rizal, convicted appellant of two counts of simple rape (not qualified rape) and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua for each count with awards of civil indemnity, moral and exemplary damages (originally Php50,000; later modified by the Supreme Court). The RTC credited AAA’s testimony as candid and found the medico-legal report corroborative but concluded that the prosecution failed to prove AAA’s minority sufficiently to sustain qualified-rape allegations because the purported birth certificate was not authenticated and the Local Civil Registrar had no record.
A...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the prosecution prove beyond reasonable doubt that appellant committed the charged rapes?
- Was the rape proven to be qualified rape by reason of the victim’s minority and appellant’s status as common-law spouse of the victim’s mother?
- Do alleged leading questions on direct examination and the medico-legal report showing a single healed hymenal laceration fatally undermine AAA’s credibility and the sufficiency of evidence?
- Should the moneta...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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