G.R. No. 143677 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. BENITO LACHICA Y LLAMAS.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, finding accused Benito Lachica y Llamas GUILTY of the commission of the felony of rape, he is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of death by lethal injection. Costs against the accused. [2] The September 30, 1998 Information [3] against appellant was worded as follows: [4] That on or about July 1, 1998, in Barangay Quezon, Municipality of Solano, Province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused taking advantage of his relationship with the victim as the uncle of the latter and taking advantage of his superior strength, with lewd designs, by means of force, did then and there wil[l]fully, unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge of private complainant SHARMAINE LACHICA, 5 years old, niece of the accused, against the victims will and consent, to her own damage and prejudice. [5] When arraigned on November 27, 1998, appellant, with the assistance of his counsel de oficio , [6] pleaded not guilty. [7] Pretrial was held, and trial ensued thereafter. Appellant was subsequently found guilty of qualified rape. The Facts Version of the Prosecution In its Brief, [8] the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) summarized the facts in the following manner: On July 1, 1998 at between 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., while Sharmaine Lachica, 5 years old, was playing near the house of the accused, he called her to go inside his house. The accused then unzipped his pants and placed his niece on his lap. Then he inserted something hard into her vagina. She felt pain but the accused placed his hand on her mouth. Later, she went down the house and approached her grandmother, Anita Lachica, the mother of the accused. Sharmaine complained to her of pain [in] her private part. The old woman and her daughter, Virginia, examined her granddaughters genital and she saw it reddish and swollen. When she asked her what happened, Sharmaine, told her that she came from her uncle, the accused, and that he made her sit on his lap while he was seated on a chair. As she thought that she encountered bad spirits, Anita offered water, and the following day she doused the private part and the entire body of Sharmaine with the water to make her well. But her vagina continued to swell so she brought the young Sharmaine to the clinic of Dr. Cadiente (Dr. Ester Cadiente-Remigio) to know what was happening to her granddaughter and to know the cause of the swelling of her vagina. Dr. Cadiente-Remigio after observing that pus was coming out of Sharmaines private part, asked for a urinalysis to be conducted and the test showed the existence of urinary tract infection (UTI). As she also noted that there was a swelling and slight hematoma on both labia and that Anita complained of discharge on Sharmaines panty, the physician advised Anita to go to Dr. Bella Gagate-Rodriguez whose clinic was just beside her office, Dr. Rodriguez being an Obstretician-Gynecologist. As Dr. Rodriguez was not around, Anita was told to