G.R. No. 169642 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ENRIQUE CEBALLOS JR. y CABRALES. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly convicted appellant of rape in all the charges except that in Criminal Case No. C-55119 where it convicted appellant only of acts of lasciviousness. The decretal portion of the trial courts decision reads: WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, this Court hereby finds accused Enrique Ceballos GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt for Acts of Lasciviousness in Criminal Case No. C-55119, hereby sentencing him to suffer imprisonment of four (4) years, two (2) months and one (1) day to six (6) years of prision correc[c]ional and for Criminal Cases Nos. C-55120, C-55121, C-55122, C-55123 and C-57126, the Court finds the accused GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt, for five (5) counts of consummated rape, hereby sentences Enrique Ceballos to five (5) death by lethal injection. He is further adjudged to indemnify [AAA] in the amount of [ P ]50,000.00 as moral damages and [ P ]50,000 as exemplary damages for count[s] of four (4) consummated rape. Further, Enrique Ceballos is adjudged to indemnify [BBB] [ P ]50,000.00 as moral damage[s] and [ P ]50,000.00 as exemplary damage[s][.] The City Jail Warden of Caloocan City is hereby ordered to bring the accused to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, to serve his sentence. Let the entire record of th[ese] case[s] be forwarded to the Supreme Court for automatic review as mandated by law. [49] (Italics supplied) The records of the cases were forwarded to this Court for automatic review where they were docketed as G.R. Nos. 155493-155498. Per this Courts ruling in People v. Mateo , [50] however, the cases were referred to the Court of Appeals for appropriate action and disposition. [51] By the assailed Decision [52] of July 20, 2005, the appellate court affirmed with modification the decision of the trial court. It modified the duration of the penalty imposed in Criminal Case No. C-55119, for acts of lasciviousness, the amount of moral damages awarded in each rape case which it increased to P 75,000 from P 50,000, and the amount of exemplary damages in each rape case which it reduced to P 25,000 from P 50,000. Additionally, the appellate court awarded the amount of P 75,000 in each rape case as civil indemnity. In modifying the penalty for acts of lasciviousness, the appellate court explained: The penalty for acts of lasciviousness is prision correccional . There being no aggravating or mitigating circumstance alleged and proven in this case , the penalty prescribed shall be imposed in its medium period, i.e., from 2 years, 4 months and 1 day to 4 years and 2 months. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, said penalty shall constitute the maximum term, while the minimum shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed by the Revised Penal Code for the offense, i.e., arresto mayor or 1 month and 1 day to 6 months. Appellant should, therefore, be sentenced to suffer the penalty of 6 months of arresto mayor , as minimum, to 4 years and 2 months of prision correccional , as maximu