G.R. No. 183087 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. IGNACIO ISANG Y LAGAY.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, ACCUSED Ignacio Isang, is hereby ACQUITTED in Criminal Case No. 99-CR-3628 for insufficiency of evidence against him but declared guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Rape under Criminal Case No. 99-CR-3629. Pursuant to Art. 266-B par. No. 1 of Republic Act No. 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, with the minority of the victim and her relationship to the accused, both alleged in the information and duly proven during trial, accused, IGNACIO ISANG, is hereby meted the extreme penalty of DEATH. Further, the accused is ordered to pay the victim the sum of Seventy Five Thousand (P75,000.000) Pesos, Philippine currency as civil indemnity; the amount of Fifty Thousand (P50,000.00) Pesos as Moral damages; and Twenty Five Thousand (P25,000.00) Pesos as Exemplary Damages. [3] According to the RTC, the prosecution failed to adduce evidence to establish the crime in Criminal Case No. 99-CR-3628 beyond reasonable doubt, allegedly committed sometime in June 1996, since the private complainant testified that she could no longer remember the exact date, time and manner she was raped by her father. In Criminal Case No. 99-CR-3629, however, where the subject matter was the rape which allegedly occurred on 5 September 1999, the private complainant was able to narrate in a straightforward, positive and convincing manner how she was forced by her father to lie down and to remove her pants and panty, and how he forcibly inserted his penis into her vagina in the sala of their house. Since the penalty imposed was death, the case was elevated to this Court on automatic appeal. However, pursuant to People v. Mateo , [4] this case was forwarded to the Court of Appeals for intermediate review and disposition, where the case was docketed as CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 01528. On 30 May 2007, the Court of Appeals affirmed with modification the Decision of the RTC, to wit: WHEREFORE, the appealed Decision dated September 24, 2004 finding accused-appellant Ignacio Isang y Lagay guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of qualified rape is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION in that the penalty of death meted on the accused-appellant is reduced to reclusion perpetua pursuant to Republic Act No. 9346 without eligibility for parole, and the award of moral damages is hereby increased to P75,000.00. Let the entire records of this case be elevated to the Supreme Court for its review. [5] The Court of Appeals agreed with the RTC that AAA was clear and straightforward in narrating her traumatic experience. The Court of Appeals added that AAA remained unshaken even during cross-examination. However, in view of Republic Act No. 9346, [6] it modified the sentence of Isang, imposing on him instead the penalty of reclusion perpetua . The Court of Appeals forwarded the records of the case to this Court for review. Isang, through counsel, argues that the trial court failed to scrutinize the testimony of AAA with great caution. He highlights the following part of t