G.R. No. 134764 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. BENJAMIN FABIA ALIAS “BENTONG,”.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, finding BENJAMIN FABIA GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape, under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Republic Act 7659, the Court sentences Benjamin Fabia to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA; ordering him to pay Janet Ocumen the sum of P50,000.00 as moral damages and P20,000.00 for exemplary damages and other accessory penalties. [4] In view of the penalty involved, the appeal was filed directly with this Court. [5] The Facts According to the Prosecution In the Peoples Brief, [6] the Office of the Solicitor General presents the prosecutions version of the facts as follows: Seven-year old Janet Ocumen [was] a Grade I student at the Bolaoen East Elementary School in Sison, Pangasinan (TSN, April 20, 1998, pp. 3-4). On September 22, 1997, after her school dismissal at 5:00 p.m., Janet stopped by the house of her friends, brothers Mario and Bryan Olpindo, to play with them and watch television (TSN, April 13, 1998, pp. 4-5). About an hour later, Janet announced that it was time for her to leave ( Ibid. , p. 5). Accompanied by Mario and Bryan, Janet then headed for home ( Ibid. ). On their way, they met appellant, Janets step-grandfather, who was also known as Bentong ( Ibid ., pp. 5-6). With a trace of alcohol in his breath, appellant told Mario and Bryan that he would be the one to bring Janet home (Ibid., pp. 6-7). Thus, Mario and Bryan bade Janet goodbye and went back home (Ibid., p. 7). Appellant, however, did not immediately bring Janet home (TSN, April 30, 1998, p. 3). Instead, he brought her to a dike, where he forced her to lie down, and then removed her shorts ( Ibid .). Unmindful of the pain he would cause, appellant inserted his penis, then his finger, into Janets vagina ( Ibid ., p. 4). Apparently satisfied, appellant hurriedly stood up and warned Janet not to tell anybody what he had done (TSN, May 14, 1998, p. 2). He then brought Janet home (Ibid.). Upon Janets arrival at home, Rosela, her mother, [then] proceeded to change her daughters clothes ( Ibid. , p. 10). Rosela noticed that Janets uniform was wet and her shorts were missing (Ibid., pp. 10-12). Asked about this, Janet revealed to her mother that her Lolo Bentong made her lie on the dike, undressed her, and then sexually abused her ( Ibid. , pp. 9, 11). She then accompanied her mother to the back of their house, where a little while earlier, just before entering their house, she had left her shorts ( Ibid .) Rosela got her daughters shorts which, like the latters uniform, was wet and soiled ( Ibid .). After recovering from the shock caused by Janets revelation, Rosela informed her husband Domingo about what appellant, his stepfather, had done to their daughter (Ibid, p. 14). With grief and anger in their hearts, Domingo and Rosela reported the matter to the barangay captain, and then filed a complaint against appellant before the police authorities at the Municipal Hall in Sison, Pangasinan (Ibid., pp. 14-15).