G.R. No. 134526 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. PATRICK A. COLISAO, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, JUDGMENT of CONVICTION beyond reasonable doubt is hereby rendered against accused PATRICK COLISAO for the crime of SIMPLE RAPE defined and penalized under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to R.A. 7659, the Court sentences Patrick Colisao to suffer the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua and to pay Maylene Tabin the amount of P50,000.00 as moral damages. xxx xxx xxx On December 17, 1997, an Information [2] dated December 15, 1997 was filed against appellant Patrick A. Colisao. The information reads: That on or about December 3, 1997, in the evening at barangay Bantog, municipality of Asingan, province of Pangasinan and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did, then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously [sic] have sexual intercourse with Maylene C. Tabin, a minor 13 years old, against her will and without her consent, to her damage and prejudice. CONTRARY to Art. 335, Revised Penal Code, as amended by R.A. 7659. On arraignment, appellant, assisted by counsel, entered a plea of "not guilty." During trial, the prosecution presented and offered the testimonies of Maylene and her father, Melecio; Dr. Noemi Taganas; and SPO4 Benjamin Velasco Mariano. On the other hand, the defense presented four (4) witnesses, namely: the appellant himself; his aunt Rebecca Almanza; his mother Gloria; and his niece Marivic Almanza. The evidence of the prosecution discloses the following facts: At about 6:30 in the evening of December 3, 1997, Maylene Tabin, then 13-years old and the second of the ten (10) children of Melecio and Helen Casiano Tabin, went to the house of their neighbor Mario Almanza to watch television, together with her two (2) sisters and one brother. That night, appellant was also a visitor at Almanza's house, Almanza being the former's uncle. Appellant was there to seek the assistance of his uncle in writing a billet-doux to a paramour named Naty. [3] Appellant, it turned out, was already married and the father of a four-year old son, although he and his wife separated after the latter ran off with another man. [4] At approximately 8:00 p.m., Maylene stepped out of Almanza's house to answer the call of nature. Upon finishing, as she stood up to adjust her clothes, she was seized from behind by appellant. He clapped a hand over her mouth, and with the other, grabbed hold of her two (2) hands. He dragged her toward a nearby river, and after removing her shorts and underwear and his shorts, he succeeded in ravishing her. Maylene who stood only 5'4", [5] proved no match for her 5'9" tall, 65 kilogram [6] assailant, and was unable to shout for help as appellant threatened to kill her. She categorically stated that appellant was able to insert his organ into her vagina. In the meantime, Maylene's siblings had gone home without her. Her father Melecio was alarmed, [7] particularly so when Marivic Almanza, Mario Almanza's daughter who had accompanied the T