G.R. No. 134530 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ROBERTO SAMONTAÑEZ Y DELA VEGA, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the trial court ordered that the accused be re-arraigned in Tagalog, a dialect which he understood, and the said accused then pleaded guilty to the charge of rape with homicide as stated in the instant information. After being satisfied that the accused entered a voluntary and informed plea by asking some questions, the trial court required the prosecution to adduce evidence to prove the guilt of the accused and the precise degree of his culpability pursuant to Article 116, Section 3 of the 1985 Rules of Criminal Procedure. [3] The evidence of the prosecution shows that on November 26, 1995, the victim, Lolita delas Alas alias Betia, left their house in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Bunducan, Nasugbu, Batangas at around 6:00 o'clock in the morning to attend her classes at Kim Harold Computer School in Poblacion, Nasugbu, Batangas. She was expected to return home at 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. Having failed to come home on time, the victim's mother, Corazon delas Alas, decided to meet Lolita in Barangay Pantalan which was her usual route in going home from school. Upon her arrival in Barangay Pantalan however, Corazon was informed that Lolita had already passed by, and that by then she must have reached their home. Corazon returned to Sitio Ilaya but found that Lolita was not yet home. Filled with apprehension, Corazon sought the assistance of her neighbors, Renato Bauyon and Dalmacio Salao, to locate her daughter's whereabouts. At 8:00 o'clock in the evening Corazon fainted upon being informed by Bauyon and Salao that the dead body of Lolita was found in the sugar cane plantation of Perino Desacola. The body of her dead daughter was already inside the house when she regained consciousness. [4] Corazon gave her sworn statement [5] to the police on December 8, 1995 in connection with the rape-slay case of her daughter Lolita delas Alas. She knew accused-appellant Roberto Samontañez for the reason that he was a resident of Sitio Balanggutan, Barangay Bunducan, Nasugbu, Batangas. The death of her daughter was very painful to Corazon and that she spent about P40,000.00 in connection with her wake and funeral. [6] It appears that on November 26, 1995, Carlito Samontañez, who is a first cousin of both the accused-appellant and the victim, was on his way home after gathering fodder for his animals when, at a distance of twenty (20) arms length, he chanced upon Roberto at around 6:30 o'clock in the evening while the latter was coming out of the sugar cane plantation of Perino Desacola in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Bunducan, Nasugbu, Batangas. Carlito and Roberto were coming from opposite directions. However, when they came close to two (2) arms length with each other, Carlito observed that Roberto, who was naked from waist up with his T-shirt placed on his shoulder, was perspiring, somewhat surprised and looked pale ("medyo po namumutla"). Carlito greeted Roberto and asked him where he just came from, but the latter did not answer and l