G.R. No. 208475 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. MANUEL REBANUEL Y NADERA, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the prosecution having proved the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Rape defined in Article 266-A, paragraph l(d) and penalized in Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code, accused MANUEL REBANUEL y NADERA is CONVICTED. He is sentenced to the penalty of imprisonment of Reclusion Perpetua . He is hereby ordered to pay complainant [AAA] the sum of Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (Php75,000.00), as civil indemnity; Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (Php75,000.00), as moral damages; and Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos (Php25,000.00), as exemplary damages. Accused being meted with capital punishment, let the entire records of this case be forwarded to the Court of Appeals Visayas, Cebu City for review. [17] Appellant went to the Court of Appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in convicting him of the crime charged. DECISION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of conviction but modified the RTC decision as to the award of damages. The Court of Appeals discussed as follows: As to whether or not appellant had carnal knowledge with [AAA], to determine the innocence or guilt of the accused in rape cases, the courts are guided by three well-entrenched principles: (1) an accusation of rape can be made with facility and while the accusation is difficult to prove, it is even more difficult for the accused, though innocent, to disprove; (2) considering that in the nature of things, only two persons are usually involved in the crime of rape, the testimony of the complainant should be scrutinized with great caution; and (3) the evidence for the prosecution must stand or fall on its own merits and cannot be allowed to draw strength from the weakness of the evidence for the defense. In the case at bar, the prosecution established appellant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt . A careful perusal of [AAA's] testimony shows that indeed, on January 3, 2003, appellant followed her when she was on her way to the Beta House, and later when she went out to urinate outside, brought her to a hilly portion about three (3) meters away, covered her mouth, removed her underwear and sexually molested her against her will. She positively recognized appellant, a neighbor who resided about ten (10) [arms'] length away from their house, whose face she easily recognized by the illumination coming out from the Beta House. Her testimony was clear and straightforward and replete with material details which could not possibly be a product of the imagination of a young child of tender years who was innocent to the ways of the world. When she appeared before the trial court, she cried when she testified about the defloration that appellant did to her. Further, the trial court found [AAA's] testimony to be categorical and straightforward in positively identifying appellant as the person who raped her . It is a well-entrenched rule that in rape cases, the evaluation of the credibility of witnesses is best addressed to the sound discretio