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Supreme Court of the Philippines

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667 Phil. 92

SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 187083, June 13, 2011
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
VS. EDUARDO DAHILIG Y AGARAN, ACCUSED-
APPELLANT.
DECISION
MENDOZA, J.:

This is an appeal from the October 29, 2008 Decision [1] of the Court of
Appeals (CA) in CA G.R. CR-H.C. No. 01488, which modified the July 19,
2005 Decision [2] of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 159, Pasig City (RTC), in
Criminal Case No. 121472-H, by finding the accused guilty of child abuse,
defined and penalized in Sec. 5(b) of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7610, instead of
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the crime of rape.

The Information, dated August 6, 2001, indicting the accused for rape reads:

Criminal Case No. 121472-H

The undersigned 2nd Assistant Provincial Prosecutor accuses

EDUARDO DAHILIG Y AGARAN, of the crime of Rape
(Violation of Article 266-A par. 1 in relation to Article 266-B, 1st par.
of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 8353 and in further
relation to Section 5(a) of RA 8369), committed as follows:

That on or about the 17th day of December 2000, in the

municipality of San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines, and
within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above
named accused, by means of force and intimidation, and
taking advantage of night time and in the dwelling of
complainant, did, then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously have carnal knowledge with one AAA, [3]
sixteen (16) year old minor at the time of the commission
of the offense, against her will and consent.

CONTRARY TO LAW. [4]

[Underscoring supplied]

During the trial, the prosecution presented AAA, the private complainant; and
Police Senior Inspector Bonnie Y. Chua, the medico-legal officer, as its
witnesses. The defense, on the other hand, presented the accused himself,
Eduardo Dahilig (accused), as its sole witness.

Accused and AAA were both employed as house helpers by a certain Karen
Gomez. AAA was only sixteen (16) years old at the time of the commission of
the act, having been born on August 17, 1984. Their respective versions of the
incident, as expected, were diametrically opposed.

Version of the Prosecution

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On December 17, 2000, at around 4:00 o'clock in the morning, AAA was lying
in bed with her fellow helper, Roxanne. As it was hot and humid that morning,
AAA moved to the floor. While on the floor, she felt someone touching her.
At that instant, she found out it was the accused. She tried to resist his
advances, but he succeeded in pinning her down with his weight and he told her
not to move. She shouted for help from Roxanne but to no avail because the
latter was sound asleep. Eventually, the accused was able to remove her shirt,
shorts and undergarments and afterwards was able to get on top of her. Then,
he forced his penis into her vagina which caused her pain. After he was done
with her, he returned to his quarters on the third floor.

The following day, AAA angrily confronted the accused and asked him why he
did such an act against her. He reacted by getting all his belongings and
immediately left their employer's house. AAA then informed her employer what
the accused did to her. Their employer immediately assisted her in filing a case
against him. This caused the arrest of the accused and, at this point, he offered
to marry her. His offer, however, was rejected because AAA was determined to
seek justice for the ordeal she suffered in his hands.

A few days after the incident, AAA was medically examined. The medico-legal
examination disclosed that there was a healing laceration in her hymen although
no spermatozoa was found. It was also stated in the medico-legal report that
AAA could have lost her virginity on or about December 17, 2000.

Version of the Accused

Accused denied having raped AAA. According to him, the sexual congress that
transpired between them was consensual as she was then his girlfriend. He
related that he came to know AAA sometime in July 2000 and after a month of
courtship, they became sweethearts. In fact, on November 10, 2000, at around
9:00 o'clock in the evening, she went up to the floor where he was sleeping and
had sex with him. Afterwards, she returned to her room which was located on
the second floor. It was also in the same month that his former girlfriend,
Roxanne, arrived and demanded that he choose between her and AAA.

On the day of the incident, he was very tired and decided to lie down on the
floor where AAA and Roxanne were sleeping. AAA noticed him and moved
beside him. At around 4:00 o'clock in the morning, they made love. He noticed
during that time Roxanne was awake because her eyes were open. When their
employer arrived at around 5:00 o'clock in the morning, she asked him to go
upstairs to his room.

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At around 8:00 o'clock of that same morning, the accused was fetched by her
sister to attend a birthday party. When he returned at around 5:00 o'clock in the
afternoon, AAA and Roxanne were quarrelling about their love making. The
latter threatened to report the incident to their employer. He tried to ease the
tension between the two but both refused to be pacified. In fact, Roxanne
threatened to stab both of them. This prompted him to flee by taking his
personal belongings and leaving their employer's premises. AAA wanted to join
him but he told her that he would just return for her.

Accused went to Bulacan and stayed there for two (2) months. He then
proceeded to Ilocos where he requested his grandfather and mother to fetch
AAA because he wanted to marry her. She, however, refused to go with the
two insisting that he personally fetch her.

Three weeks later, the accused returned to Manila together with his mother and
grandfather to fetch AAA but again they failed. Instead, their employer sought
the help of the police who invited him to the station to discuss the intended
marriage. He was given two weeks to settle this matter. AAA said that she
needed to call her parents first. In the meantime, he was allowed to go home to
Ilocos. Subsequently, he received a call from their employer, telling him that her
parents had already arrived in Manila. He could not, however, go to Manila
because he had no money for transportation.

Sometime thereafter, he received a subpoena from the Office of the Prosecutor

informing him that he had been charged with the crime of rape against AAA.
For lack of funds, he was also not able to attend the hearings at the prosecutors'
office either. Finally, after several months, he was arrested by virtue of a
warrant of arrest issued against him.

Ruling of the Regional Trial Court

In convicting the accused, the RTC reasoned out that, in its observation, AAA
never wavered in her assertion that the accused sexually molested her against
her will. According to the trial court, her narration bore the earmarks of truth
and was consistent throughout. As to his "sweetheart defense," the accused
failed to prove it by clear and convincing evidence. What he laid before the
court for its consideration was a mere self-serving claim of their relationship. It
fell short of the rule that a sweetheart defense cannot be given credence in the
absence of corroborative proof like love notes, mementos, and pictures, to
name a few. Bolstering AAA's story was the medico-legal finding that there was
a deep-healing laceration which was consistent with the charge that she had
been raped. Thus, the dispositive portion of the RTC decision reads:

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WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the Court finds the

accused EDUARDO DAHILIG Y AGARAN GUILTY beyond
reasonable doubt for the crime of Rape (Violation of Article 266-A
par. 1 in rel. to Article 266-B, 1st par. of the Revised Penal Code, as
amended by RA 8353 and in further relation to Section 5(a) of R.A.
No. 8369) and the accused is hereby sentenced to suffer
imprisonment of reclusion perpetua.

Accused EDUARDO DAHILIG Y AGARAN is hereby adjudged

to pay AAA the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS
(P50,000.00), as moral damages and FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS
(P50,000.00), as civil indemnity.

SO ORDERED. [5] [Underscoring supplied]

Ruling of the Court of Appeals

On appeal, the CA affirmed the findings of fact of the RTC but clarified that
the crime charged should have been "Child Abuse" as defined and penalized in
Sec. 5 (b) of R.A. No. 7610, otherwise known as the "Special Protection of
Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act." Its
conclusion was based on the fact that the complainant was a minor, being 16
years of age at the time of the commission of the offense and, as such, was a
child subject of sexual abuse. R.A. No. 7610 defines children as persons below
eighteen years of age or those unable to fully take care of themselves or protect
themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because
of her age. Considering that AAA was 16 years old at the time of the
commission of the crime, having been born on August 17, 1984 and the
accused had admitted having sexual intercourse with her, all the elements of
child abuse were present. Thus, the decretal portion of the CA decision reads:

WHEREFORE, the DECISION DATED JULY 19, 2005 is

MODIFIED, finding EDUARDO DAHILIG Y AGARAN guilty
of child abuse as defined and penalized by Sec. 5, (b), Republic Act
No. 7610, and, accordingly, sentencing him to suffer the
indeterminate penalty of 11 years of prision mayor, as minimum, to 17
years, 4 months and 1 day of reclusion temporal, as maximum; and to
pay to AAA P50,000.00 as moral damages and P50,000.00 as civil
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indemnity.

The total period of the preventive detention of the accused shall be

credited to him provided he has satisfied the conditions imposed in
Art. 29, Revised Penal Code, as amended.

SO ORDERED. [6] [Underscoring supplied]

In this forum, both the prosecution and the accused opted not to file any
supplemental briefs and manifested that they were adopting their arguments in
their respective briefs filed before the CA. In his Appellant's Brief, the accused
presented the following:

ASSIGNMENT OF ERRORS

THE TRIAL COURT GRAVELY ERRED IN GIVING

CREDENCE TO THE INCREDIBLE TESTIMONIES OF
THE PROSECUTION'S WITNESSES.

II

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN CONVICTING THE

ACCUSED-APPELLANT OF RAPE WHEN THE LATTER'S
GUILT WAS NOT PROVEN BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT. [7]

In advocacy of his position, the accused argues that the testimony of AAA was
beclouded with inconsistencies and implausibility. He goes on to say that it was
highly improbable for their co-worker, Roxanne, not to have been awakened
despite AAA's shouts. He further argues that if the sex was not consensual, he
would not have bothered removing her clothes considering that during the
alleged time of commission, as recounted by AAA, she was shouting and
struggling. With respect to the medico-legal's finding on forcible intercourse, it
was not conclusive because he precisely admitted having consensual sex with
her.
The accused insists that he and AAA were sweethearts and the sexual congress
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that took place between them on the evening of December 17, 2000 was but
the result of their love for one another. Roxanne's threat to stab him with a
knife and to report the love making that transpired the previous night, was
actually the result of jealousy since she was his ex-girlfriend. This forced him to
leave his employer's house. He further averred that the filing of the case was
but an afterthought by AAA on her mistaken belief that he had abandoned her.

The Court finds no merit in the appeal.

Well-settled the rule that the assessment of the credibility of witnesses and their
testimonies is best undertaken by a trial court, whose findings are binding and
conclusive on appellate courts. [8] Matters affecting credibility are best left to
the trial court because of its unique opportunity to observe the elusive and
incommunicable evidence of that witness' deportment on the stand while
testifying, an opportunity denied to the appellate courts which usually rely on
the cold pages of the silent records of the case. [9]

In this case, the trial court observed that AAA never wavered in her assertion
that she was molested by the accused. It even further wrote that "her narrations
palpably bear the earmarks of truth and are in accord with the material points
involved." [10]

There is no dispute that the accused had sexual intercourse with AAA, a fact
which he clearly acknowledged. Contrary to his claim, however, the act was not
consensual as proven by the convincing testimony of AAA who replied as
follows:

Q: Let's start from the beginning Miss witness. You said that you went down to
the floor from the bed?
A: Yes, ma'am.
Q: Was there anybody in the floor when you went down?
A: None.
Q: When you went down and there was no person there in the floor, what did
you do?
A: I continued sleeping on the floor.
Q: Were you awakened by anything while you were sleeping on the floor?
A: Yes ma'am.
Q: What awakened you?
A: I felt that somebody was lying beside me on the floor.
Q: What was this person doing, if any?
A: "Pinaghihipuan po ako."
xxx xxx xxx

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Q: What did you do when you were awakened when you felt that somebody was
touching your breast, your face, and your legs?
A: I struggled. [11]
xxx xxx xxx
Q: When you were undressed, what did the accused do?
A: He kissed me on the face and on my lips.
Q: And while he was doing that, what were you doing?
A: I was resisting him ma'am.
Q: What happened after that?
A: He inserted his penis in my vagina.
Q: While he was inserting his organ in your vagina, what were you doing?
A: I was pleading to him and begging him not continue.
Q: What was the position of your hands at that time
A: When he was inserting his organ to my vagina, he was holding my both hands
very tightly. [12]

Moreover, the accused argues that AAA should not be believed because her
narration of facts was inconsistent and highly improbable. The points he has
raised, however, have no controlling significance and do not seriously affect the
findings of the courts below.

The fact that Roxanne was not awakened by the cries for help of AAA does not
negate her categorical and consistent assertion that the accused forcibly defiled
her. It is not unnatural that some persons are simply deep sleepers who cannot
easily be awakened even by loud noises.

The sweetheart defense proffered by the accused likewise deserves scant

consideration. For the said theory to prosper, the existence of the supposed
relationship must be proven by convincing substantial evidence. Failure to
adduce such evidence renders his claim to be self-serving and of no probative
value. For the satisfaction of the Court, there should be a corroboration by
their common friends or, if none, a substantiation by tokens of such a
relationship such as love letters, gifts, pictures and the like. [13]

Clearly, the accused sexually abused AAA.

The question now is what crime has been committed? Is it Rape (Violation of
Article 266-A par. 1 in relation to Article 266-B, 1st par. of the Revised Penal
Code, as amended by R.A. No. 8353), or is it Child Abuse, defined and
penalized by Sec. 5, (b), R.A. No. 7610?

As elucidated by the RTC and the CA in their respective decisions, all the
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elements of both crimes are present in this case. The case of People v. Abay, [14]
however, is enlightening and instructional on this issue. It was stated in that case
that if the victim is 12 years or older, the offender should be charged with
either sexual abuseunder Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610 or rape under Article
266-A (except paragraph 1[d]) of the Revised Penal Code. However, the
offender cannot be accused of both crimesfor the same act because his right
against double jeopardy will be prejudiced. [15] A person cannot be subjected
twice to criminal liability for a single criminal act. [16] Specifically, Abay reads:

Under Section 5(b), Article III of RA 7610in relation to RA 8353,if

the victim of sexual abuseis below 12 years of age, the offender
should not be prosecuted for sexual abuse but for statutory rape
under Article 266-A(1)(d) of the Revised Penal Codeand penalized
withreclusion perpetua.On the other hand, if the victim is 12 years or
older, the offender should be charged with either sexual abuseunder
Section 5(b) of RA 7610 or rape under Article 266-A (except
paragraph 1[d]) of the Revised Penal Code. However, the offender
cannot be accused of both crimesfor the same act because his right
against double jeopardy will be prejudiced. A person cannot be
subjected twice to criminal liability for a single criminal act.Likewise,
rape cannot be complexed with a violation of Section 5(b) of RA
7610. Under Section 48 of the Revised Penal Code (on complex
crimes),a felony under the Revised Penal Code (such as rape) cannot
be complexed with an offense penalized by a special law.

In this case, the victim was more than 12 years old when the crime
was committed against her. The Information against appellant stated
that AAA was 13 years old at the time of the incident. Therefore,
appellant may be prosecuted either for violationofSection 5(b) ofRA
7610orrapeunderArticle 266-A (except paragraph 1[d]) of the
Revised Penal Code. While the Information may have alleged the
elements of both crimes,the prosecution's evidence only established
that appellant sexually violated the person of AAA through force and
intimidationby threatening her with a bladed instrument and forcing
her to submit to his bestial designs. Thus, rape was established.

Accordingly, the accused can indeed be charged with either Rape or Child
Abuse and be convicted therefor. Considering, however, that the information
correctly charged the accused with rape in violation of Article 266-A par. 1 in

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relation to Article 266-B, 1st par. of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by
R.A. No. 8353, and that he was convicted therefor, the CA should have merely
affirmed the conviction.

For said reason, the Court sets aside the October 29, 2008 CA decision and
reinstates the July 19, 2005 RTC Decision. In line with prevailing
jurisprudence, however, the accused should also be made to pay the victim
exemplary damages in the amount of ?30,000.00. [17]

WHEREFORE, the October 29, 2008 Decision of the Court of Appeals is

SET ASIDE and the July 19, 2005 Decision of the Regional Trial Court is
REINSTATED with MODIFICATION in that the accused is also ordered
to pay AAA the amount of ?30,000.00 as exemplary damages.

SO ORDERED.

Carpio, (Chairperson), Leonardo-De Castro,* Peralta, and Abad, JJ., concur.

* Designated as acting member of the Second Division per Special Order No.
1006 dated June 10, 2011.
[1] Rollo, pp. 3-14.

[2] CA rollo, pp. 16-25.

[3] The name of the victim, her personal circumstances and other information
which tend to establish or compromise her identity are not disclosed to protect
her privacy. Fictitious initials are used instead. (People v. Cabalquinto, G.R. No.
167693, September 19, 2006, 502 SCRA 419; People v. Gardon, G.R. No. 169872,
September 27, 2006, 503 SCRA 757).
[4] CA rollo, pp. 8-9

[5] Id. at 24-25.

[6] Rollo, p. 13.

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[7] CA rollo, p. 38.

[8] People v. Dimacuha, 467 Phil. 342, 349 (2004).

[9] People v. Del Mundo, Jr., 408 Phil. 118, 129 (2001).

[10] CA rollo, p. 22.

[11] TSN, August 27, 2002, pp. 9-10.

[12] TSN, August 12, 2003, p. 4.

[13] People v. Madsali, G.R. No. 179570, February 4, 2010, 611 SCRA 596, 609.

[14] G.R. No. 177752, February 24, 2009, 580 SCRA 235.

[15] People v. Optana, 404 Phil. 316, 351 (2001).

[16] Constitution, Art. III, Sec. 21 which provides: Section 21. No person shall
be put twice in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense. If an act is
punished by a law and an ordinance, conviction or acquittal under either shall
constitute a bar to another prosecution for the same act.
[17] People v. Antonio Otos, G.R. No. 189821, March 23, 2011; People v. Aguilar,
G.R. No. 185206, August 25, 2010, 629 SCRA 437; and People v. Macapanas, G.R.
No. 187049, May 4, 2010, 620 SCRA 54.

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