Facts:
On July 29, 1934, in the barrio of Giporlos, municipality of Balangiga, Province of Samar, at about seven o’clock in the evening,
Felipe de Asis and
Eustaquio Cabanillas, together with a companion later identified as
Juan Cote, approached
Elena Cadayong and
Maria Bagason, two unmarried girls aged fourteen and twenty, respectively, while the girls were walking home from barrio Giporlos where they had gone to buy fish by order of their mothers. The appellants offered to accompany them to their homes, and when the girls objected, the appellants and their companion went in the opposite direction; however, at a stream the girls had to cross, they were unexpectedly met again by the appellants and their companion. According to the girls’ testimony,
Felipe de Asis took hold of
Maria Bagason, while
Elena Cadayong escaped from him to the other side of the road to hide. After losing sight of Elena, De Asis turned to Elena, held her by the legs, threw her down on her back, and did not release her.
Juan Cote held Elena’s arms in the fashion of a cross while
Eustaquio Cabanillas raised her skirt and mounted her to rape her.
Juan Cote and the companion of the appellants followed and took turns in the assaults, while De Asis continued holding Elena by the legs to render her helpless, and after the consummation the three fled. Maria, emerging from her hiding place, ran to the nearest house about 50 brazas away to report the incident and request help.
Monico Maracas, the owner of that house, went to the crime scene with Maria and assisted Elena in gathering the fish and items the girls had purchased that had been thrown on the ground during the attack. In the trial court, Juan Cote was acquitted for failure of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court convicted
Felipe de Asis for rape, imposed an indeterminate sentence of
six years and one day of prision mayor to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal, and ordered accessory penalties and payment of one-third of the costs. As to
Eustaquio Cabanillas, the trial judge did not render a judgment of conviction because he was under eighteen years of age and ordered confinement at the
Philippine Training School for Boys until he reached majority. On appeal, the remaining appellants argued, among others, that the girls could not have recognized their attackers due to darkness and that the trial court placed undue weight on the testimony of the sanitary inspector, and they also invoked
alibi.
Issues:
Whether the conviction of
Felipe de Asis for
rape was supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt despite the appellants’ claims of mistaken identity and the defenses raised, and whether the penalty and ancillary awards should be modified given the aggravating circumstances and omissions in the appealed sentence.
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: