G.R. No. 188978 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES -, VS. MARCIAL BAYRANTE Y BOAQUINA, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, Judgment is hereby rendered convicting the accused for TWO (2) Counts of RAPE and is sentenced to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA for each count. To pay [AAA] the amount of P50,000.00 as moral damages, the amount of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and P25,000.00 as exemplary damages for each count, or in the total amount of P250,000.00. With cost de oficio. [5] Unperturbed, appellant elevated his case to the Court of Appeals but the trial courts ruling was merely affirmed with modification by the appellate court in its Decision dated November 11, 2008. The appellate court disallowed the award of exemplary damages for the reason that the same may be awarded only when one or more aggravating circumstances exist and that no such circumstance is present in the case at bar. The dispositive portion of the appellate courts Decision reads: WHEREFORE, the assailed decision is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. The amount of Twenty[-]Five Thousand Pesos (Php25,000.00) as exemplary damages is DELETED. No costs. [6] Thus, appellant interposed this appeal before this Court. He merely adopted his Appellants Brief with the Court of Appeals and no longer filed a supplemental brief on the belief that the Appellants Brief had adequately discussed all matters that are pertinent to his defense. In the present appeal, he put forth a single assignment of error: THE TRIAL COURT GRAVELY ERRED IN CONVICTING THE ACCUSED-APPELLANT WHOSE GUILT HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT. [7] In his Brief, appellant maintains that AAA was his lover and that she voluntarily eloped with him as evidenced by the affidavit she signed before Brgy. Capt. Regis. Furthermore, appellant argues that the prosecution failed to establish the mental state of AAA which is crucial to the charge that he raped a woman who is of the legal age but otherwise deprived of reason. In other words, he asserts that the prosecution was not able to prove that AAA suffers from mental retardation. For these reasons, appellant urges this Court to exculpate him from guilt. We are not persuaded. The provision of law pertinent in this case is Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, which states that: Art. 266-A. Rape, When and How Committed. Rape is committed 1. By a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances: a. Through force, threat or intimidation; b. When the offended party is deprived of reason or is otherwise unconscious; c. By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; d. When the offended party is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present; 2. By any person who, under any of the circumstances mentioned in paragraph 1 hereof, shall commit an act of sexual assault by inserting his penis into another persons mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another person. (Emphasis supplied.) It