G.R. No. 122339 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. LOVEN DAGANTA ALIAS “LOBEN,”. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing considerations, the Court finds the accused Loven Daganta alias "Loben" guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape as defined and penalized under Article 335, Sec. 3 of the Revised Penal Code, and hereby sentences him to suffer imprisonment of RECLUSION PERPETUA, and to indemnify the victim Melissa Wood the amount of P50,000 as moral damages." [5] In view of the penalty imposed, this appeal was lodged directly with this Court. [6] The Facts According to the Prosecution The trial court summarized the prosecution's version of the facts as follows: "The evidence for the prosecution consisted of the testimonies of the victim Melissa E. Wood, her mother Emerita Wood, her sister Lilibeth Wood and the [m]unicipal [h]ealth [o]fficer of Subic, Zambales, Dr. Rogelio N. Pizarro. "From the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, it appeared that sometime on May 26, 1992, at about one o' clock in the afternoon, the minor Melissa Wood, a girl of nine years old having been born on January 12, 1983 (Exhibit "A") was on her way to her grandmother when she was called by the accused Loven Daganta, a neighbor whose house was just adjacent to the residence of the said minor. The latter obliged and [went] with the accused inside his room. Once inside the room, the accused kissed Melissa Wood on the [cheek], then on her lips and then sprayed insect repellant in her face, as a result of which Melissa Wood lost consciousness. When she woke up, she found accused Loven Daganta sitting outside the room. She was told not to inform anybody of what happened. Melissa Wood found her shirt and short pants and her panties [crumpled]. She felt something painful in the lower portion of her umbilicus, and when she urinated at their house, she felt pain in her private parts. That same afternoon, she informed her elder sister Lilibeth Wood that she felt pain when she urinated and that the accused Loven Daganta kissed her and raped her. The following day, Lilibeth Wood informed their mother, Emerita Wood of what happened to Melissa and the latter was shocked. They went near the fence and standing on the platform for the plants, called on the accused Loven Daganta and uttered the words "Putang-ina mo, Loven, bakit mo nagawa iyon sa aking anak." The accused Loven Daganta apologized to Emerita Wood, saying that he was sorry and promising not to repeat the same. On the same day, accompanied by her sister Editha Vergara, she took Melissa Wood to the Subic Municipal Health Officer, Dr. Rogelio Pizarro, who examined Melissa Wood. After examination. Dr. Rogelio Pizarro issued a medical certificate (Exhibit "D"), with the following findings: "Contusion, Hematoma (R) & (L) shoulder; hymenal laceration at five o' clock indicating that as a result [of] the entry of hard object inside the private part of Melissa Wood, the hymenal laceration was caused at five o' clock. The laceration as testified to by Dr. Rogelio Pizarro was an indication that consider