Adm. Matter No. P-1175 - Sanchez vs. Fabillaran

In a verified letter-complaint dated January 30, 1976, Felicisima P. Sanchez charged Agustin F. Fabillaran, Deputy Sheriff of the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur at Vigan, with immorality.
The complaint alleged that in April 1975, Fabillaran, who is also the complainant’s first cousin, had sexual intercourse with her by resorting to force, threat, and intimidation.
The complainant, who was physically disabled due to polio, claimed that she was unable to resist the act.

After the sexual encounter, the respondent allegedly warned the complainant not to disclose the incident, threatening her life if she did.
For a period, the complainant remained silent to avoid disgracing her family, but decided to file a complaint following the birth of her baby girl on December 30, 1975.

In a third indorsement dated February 24, 1976, the respondent harshly denied the acts charged against him, alleging that:

The complainant had “framed up a charge” to pressure his father concerning property disputes involving the complainant’s mother.
The matter regarding the property was already settled.
The complainant had retracted her statement and was withdrawing her charges.

To support his position, the respondent attached a sworn letter (Annex “A”) purportedly showing a desistance by the complainant, dated February 20, 1976.

On July 19, 1976, the complainant refuted the withdrawal allegation, claiming she had never executed any letter of desistance.
She clarified that the only document she had seen from Mr. and Mrs. Fabillaran was an affidavit of support for her child.

The Court, in a resolution dated October 3, 1977, approved the request to transfer the investigation to Manila, and expedited the process to reduce the parties’ expenses.
Evidence established that:

The complainant and respondent are first cousins (the complainant’s mother being the sister of the respondent’s father).
The complainant had filed charges of rape against the respondent in the Court of First Instance of Vigan.
The respondent was acquitted of the crime of rape.
In the certificate of live birth for the complainant’s baby girl—named Jaquelin Sanchez Fabillaran—the respondent signed as the father.

He did not engage in any sexual intercourse with the complainant.
The actual father of the baby was a certain Luis de la Cruz, who testified that he had a romantic and intimate relationship with the complainant from February 1975 to June 1975.
His signature on the birth certificate was a reluctant act influenced by his wife’s pity for the complainant.

The certificate of live birth (Exhibit “A”) emerged as the most decisive evidence, as no person would typically sign as the father unless he were truly the biological father.

The manner in which the sexual act was committed, notwithstanding its classification not as rape but as an act of moral dereliction, was deemed sufficient to warrant disciplinary action.
The familial consanguinity (cousins within the fourth degree) compounded the gravity of the misconduct.
The respondent’s attempt to substitute Luis de la Cruz as the father was critically undermined by inconsistencies in the latter’s testimony regarding his knowledge of the complainant’s whereabouts.

Whether the respondent is indeed the biological father of the complainant’s child, as evidenced by his signature on the certificate of live birth.

Whether the act, though not legally classified as rape, constitutes an immoral and reprehensible behavior given the circumstances of force, threat, and the complainant’s physical disability.

How the documentary evidence (particularly the birth certificate) and testimonies reconcile with the respondent’s claims and alternative evidence provided by Luis de la Cruz.

Whether the consanguinity between the complainant and the respondent intensifies the wrongful nature of the act, thereby justifying administrative action.