G.R. No. 132690 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. JAIME IBAY Y DUCUSIN, ACCUSED-. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, finding accused Jaime D. Ibay "GUILTY" beyond reasonable doubt [of] the crime of rape as defined and penalized under Art. 335 of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Sec. 11 of RA 7659, this Court hereby sentences him to the penalty of reclusion perpetua considering the presence of [the] mitigating circumstances of voluntary surrender without any aggravating circumstances, and to suffer the accessory penalties under Art. 41 of the Revised Penal Code. For civil liability under Art. 345 of the Revised Penal Code, he is hereby further condemned to indemnify Ra[z]el Cordero the amount of P50,000 in line with existing jurisprudence; P100,000 for moral damages and P100,000 for exemplary damages." [5] On September 16, 1997, appellant filed a Motion for Reconsideration, which was subsequently denied in the Order dated January 13, 1998. On January 27, 1998, appellant filed his Notice of Appeal. Thereafter, on October 2, 1998, this Court received his Brief. [6] On April 19, 1999, the case was deemed submitted for resolution when the Office of the Solicitor General filed, in lieu of the appellee's brief, a Manifestation and Motion, [7] praying for the reversal of the trial court's Decision. The Facts Version of the Prosecution> The trial court summarized the evidence for the prosecution as follows: [8] "A. RAZEL Cordero, 22 years old, married, resident of 46 Russia St., Betterliving Subd., Parañaque, Metro Manila, 2nd year college, identified the accused and certified: that she was married to Rolando Cordero o[n] December 29, 1995 and they rented a room located at 149 Doña Soledad Ave., Betterliving Subd., Parañaque, Metro Manila which is owned by the accused's mother, Felicidad Ibay; that on the evening of October 4, 1996 while waiting for the arrival of her husband she fell asleep on the bed and left the door unlocked; that a man entered said room whom she thought was her husband but it was the accused who held her chin, poked a knife [at] her and threatened her not to shout otherwise she would be killed; that the accused started kissing her cheek, placed his knee on her stomach to force open her legs and remove her panty together with her shorts; that she tried to struggle and pleaded to accused not to molest her but her pleas were in vain and it took about two minutes for accused to consummate his sexual desire; that after she was raped, accused kissed her breast and touched her vagina and threatened her again to tell no one what happened; that on October 8, 1996 when her husband wanted to have sex with her, she could not do it and she was constrained to reveal to her husband that she was raped by accused; that they immediately left their rented room and proceeded to her aunt and they sought the help of Atty. Nonito Cordero who assisted them in filing a complaint against the accused; on cross-examination, witness testified that she ha[d] known the accused for about nine months before the incident, being her neighbor and [