G.R. No. 196051 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES -, VS. JADE CUAYCONG Y REMONQUILLO, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, there being proof beyond reasonable doubt that herein accused, JADE CUAYCONG y REMONQUILLO, has committed two (2) counts of Rape with the private complainant who at that time was under 12 years of age, defined and penalized under Article 266-A, paragraph 1, in relation to Article 266-B, 6th paragraph (5) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8353, the Court pronounced him GUILTY and accordingly, sentenced him to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA, for each case. Accused is likewise ordered to pay private complainant [AAA], for each count of rape, Php75,000.00 as civil indemnity; Php75,000.00 as moral damages and Php25,000.00 as exemplary damages. Cost against the accused. [8] Appellant then submitted his case for review to the Court of Appeals. However, the appellate court denied his appeal and affirmed with modifications the ruling of the trial court. We quote the dispositive portion of the assailed November 25, 2010 Decision of the Court of Appeals here: WHEREFORE , in the light of the foregoing, we DENY the instant appeal. The Joint Decision appealed from is AFFIRMED with the modifications that the award of exemplary damages in Criminal Case No. 02-0575 is increased to P30,000.00, the penalty of reclusion perpetua and the other monetary awards are maintained; and that in Criminal Case No. 02-0576, the appellant is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of acts of lasciviousness for which he is sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of six (6) months of arresto mayor , as minimum, to four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional , as maximum and that he is ordered to pay AAA P20,000.00 as civil indemnity, P30,000.00 as moral damages and P15,000.00 as exemplary damages. [9] The Court of Appeals affirmed appellants conviction of the felony of statutory rape in Criminal Case No. 02-0575. However, it did not uphold the conviction in Criminal Case No. 02-0576 because, while the Information alleged rape by carnal knowledge, the prosecution was able to prove rape by sexual assault since the rape incident at issue involved penile penetration of the victims anus. Citing the seminal case of People v. Abulon , [10] the Court of Appeals modified the conviction of appellant from a charge of statutory rape to a charge of acts of lasciviousness. Having lost in both the trial and appellate courts, appellant comes to us for a final appeal relying on the same assignment of error in his Appellants Brief, to wit: THE COURT A QUO GRAVELY ERRED IN FINDING THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT OF THE CRIMES CHARGED. [11] Appellant argues that the credibility of the victim in this case is very much suspect considering the following purportedly inconsistent facets of her testimony: (1) the description of how the victim was supposedly raped; (2) the total number of instances of rape committed against her by appellant; (3) the uncertainty of whether or not the victim