G.R. No. 138471 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. MANUEL PRUNA Y RAMIREZ OR ERMAN PRUNA Y RAMIREZ, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the trial was suspended, and PRUNA was sent to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), Mandaluyong City. On 28 June 1996, the trial court received a telegram [6] from the NCMH stating that PRUNA was in fair condition. The NCMH later submitted to the trial court a report [7] on the psychiatric evaluation of PRUNA with a recommendation to put him back to jail for the resumption of court proceedings. The report also stated that PRUNA narrated that while he and his friends were under the bridge sniffing rugby and drinking alcohol, they saw a 3-year-old girl defecating in the river bank; that they called her; and, upon the order of his friends he placed her on his lap and attempted to caress her sensitive parts. Said report was not, however, offered in evidence by the prosecution or the defense. The prosecution presented five witnesses, whose testimonies can be summed up as follows: Jacqueline Gonzales , the mother of AAA, testified that on 3 January 1995, at 9:30 a.m., she was fetching water from the artesian well located ten meters away from her house, while AAA was defecating at the back of the house of their neighbor Gloria Tolentino. Jacqueline then carried her pail of water and went back to her house. Since AAA was not home yet, Jacqueline headed toward the place where the former was moving her bowel. She looked for AAA but did not find her. It was when Jacqueline was already returning to her house that she saw AAA from behind -- red-faced, crying, and appeared to be very frightened. When asked where she came from, AAA answered that she was brought by a certain Boy to the grassy area at the back of Glorias house where she was sexually molested (or kinantot in the Tagalog dialect). AAA then pulled her mother and led her to the house of PRUNA, which was about eight meters away from their house. PRUNA, the only one known in their community as Boy, was not there. Jacqueline forthwith requested her mother-in-law to report the matter to the police, while Jacqueline and AAA went to the Bataan Provincial Hospital. [8] Jacqueline further declared that at the time of the alleged rape, AAA was 3 years old, but at the time Jacqueline testified on 17 October 1995, AAA was 4 years old. AAAs last birthday was on 19 April 1995. [9] AAA testified that she knew PRUNA whom he called Boy. She pointed to him inside the courtroom. According to her, PRUNA laid her down in a grassy area and inserted his penis into her vagina. When the presiding judge asked her whether she knew that it is a sin to tell a lie, she answered in the affirmative. [10] Dr. Emelita Quiroz, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the Bataan Provincial Hospital, testified that on 3 January 1995, she conducted a complete physical examination on AAA and took wet smear specimen from her vaginal wall through scraping. The specimen was sent to the laboratory for analysis by a medical technologist. Further, she requested a urinalysis for AAA. [11] The Medico-Legal Report [