FIRST DIVISION
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, G.R. No. 179051
Appellee,
Present:
PUNO, C.J.,
Chairperson,
- v e
r s u s - CARPIO,
CORONA,
AZCUNA and
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, JJ.
GILBERT
MALLARI y TAYAG,
Appellant. Promulgated:
March
28, 2008
x - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - x
R E S O
L U T I O N
CORONA, J.:
On
August 30, 1994, appellant Gilbert Mallari y Tayag was charged with forcible
abduction with rape[1]
in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Naga City, Branch 25 under the following
information:
Criminal Case No. 94-5604
That
on or about August 28, 1994, in the City of Naga, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of
this Honorable Court, [appellant], with lewd design take and carry away by the
use of a motor vehicle the herein complainant against her will while walking
alone at Barlin Street and once [appellant] was in possession of the herein
complainant, by means of force, violence and intimidations and threats and with
the use of a bladed weapon, did then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously
have sexual intercourse with the undersigned complainant against her will.
That
the commission of said offense is attended by the aggravating circumstance of
use of motor vehicle and disregard of sex and age and superior strength.
Upon arraignment, appellant pleaded
not guilty.
The prosecution essentially established that appellant forced
complainant AAA to board his vehicle and to engage in sexual intercourse with
him. AAA testified that she feared appellant because he was armed with a fan
knife. Moreover, he kept threatening to kill her and to chop up her cadaver if
she did not obey him. For these reasons, she failed to offer any resistance and
appellant succeeded in carrying out his bestial design.
For his defense, appellant asserted
that AAA voluntarily engaged in sexual intercourse with him.
In a decision dated April 28, 1997,[2]
the Regional Trial Court (RTC) found appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt
of rape:
WHEREFORE, this Court finds
[appellant] guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Rape defined and
penalized under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic
Act No. 7659 and hereby sentences [him] to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION
PERPETUA and to pay [AAA] the sum of P50,000 as moral damages and to pay
the cost of suit. Attorney’s fee is pro bono.
SO ORDERED.
The
Court of Appeals (CA), on intermediate appellate review, affirmed the findings
and ruling of the RTC with modification as to the amount of the damages. [3]
In addition to moral damages, appellant was ordered to pay civil indemnity in
the amount of P50,000.[4]
We
affirm the decision of the CA.
There
is no reason to disturb the findings of the RTC as affirmed by the CA. The
records are replete with evidence establishing appellant’s guilt beyond
reasonable doubt.
WHEREFORE,
the January 31, 2007 decision of the Court of Appeals
in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 02209 finding appellant Gilbert Mallari y Tayag guilty
of simple rape is hereby AFFIRMED. Appellant is sentenced to suffer the
penalty of reclusion perpetua. He is further ordered to pay AAA P50,000
as civil indemnity and P50,000 as moral damages.
Costs
against appellant.
SO
ORDERED.
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
Chief Justice
Chairperson
Associate Justice Associate Justice
TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO
Pursuant to Section
13, Article VIII of the Constitution, I certify that the conclusions in the
above resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned
to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
Chief Justice
[1] Docketed as Criminal Case No. 94-5604.
[2] Penned by Judge Jose T. Atienza. CA rollo, pp. 38-78.
[3] Penned by Associate Justice Myrna Dimaranan Vidal and concurred in by Associate Justices Jose L. Sabio, Jr. and Jose C. Reyes, Jr. of the Twelfth Division of the Court of Appeals. Dated January 31, 2007. Rollo, pp. 3-26.
[4] See People v. Mendoza, 440 Phil. 775, 785-786 (2002).