405 Phil. 108
PER CURIAM:
"CRIM. CASE No. 8845Ivy Adame and Liezel Delica were both six years of age at the time of the alleged rape incidents; they are cousins and Liezel is a niece of the accused Juan Manalo by affinity. The family of Liezel and the accused were living in the same house in Brgy. Ilat, South, San Pascual, Batangas while the family of Ivy Adame is living in a nearby house. The rapes against the two (2) complainants happened on the same occasions.
That sometime in the period comprising between December 1, 1996 and December 4, 1996, at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said six (6) year old girl, Liezel Delica, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIM. CASE No. 8846
That sometime in the month of May 6, 1996 at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said six (6) year old girl, Liezel Delica, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIM. CASE No. 8847
That sometime in the month of June 1996, at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said six (6) year old girl, Liezel Delica, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIMINAL CASE No. 8848
That on or about the 5th day of December 1996, at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said six (6) year old girl, Liezel Delica, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIMINAL CASE No. 8849
That sometime in the month of May, 1996 at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said below seven (7) year old girl, Ivy Adame, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIMINAL CASE No. 8850
That sometime in the month of June, 1996 at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said below seven (7) year old girl, Ivy Adame, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIMINAL CASE No. 8851
That on or about the 5th day of December, 1996 at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said seven (7) year old girl, Ivy Adame, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
CRIMINAL CASE No. 8852
That sometime in the period comprising between December 01, 1996 and December 04, 1996 at Brgy. Ilat South, Municipality of San Pascual, Province of Batangas, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above named accused, by means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously lie with and have carnal knowledge of the said seven (7) year old girl, Ivy Adame, against her will and consent.
CONTRARY TO LAW."[3]
"Complainant, Liezel Adame Delica, testified that, while she and Ivy Adame, the other complainant in these cases, were playing, accused Juan Manalo, whom they call Tito Juancho, asked them to enter his room; that inside his room, the accused undressed himself and she saw his penis; that he also undressed her and Ivy; that thereafter, the accused placed himself on top of her and kissed her on her cheeks, that while still on top of her, the accused inserted his penis inside her vagina, which cause her pain; that thereafter what the accused did to her, she also saw the same things being done to her cousin, Ivy, by her Tito Juancho; that the undressing, kissing and insertion of Tito Juancho's penis into their vagina happened four (4) times to each of them; once each in the months of May and June and twice in the month of December, 1996, inside the house of their Nanay Loring at Barangay Ilat, San Pascual, Batangas, and all in the afternoon.Accused Juan Manalo denied the charges imputed to him. He admitted that he showed fondness for Liezel by giving her candies and kissing her cheeks, as he was childless; that once while undressing in his room, Liezel might have seen his penis, but he never deliberately showed it to her.[5] His wife Rosanna was presented by the defense to corroborate his testimony.
Liezel Adame Delica further declared that in all the four (4) occasions during which she and her cousin, Ivy were subjected to the beastly desires of their Tito Juanco, he always told them not to tell their parents what he had done to them or else he will spank them; that when her mother learned of what her Tito Juancho did to her, she was investigated and brought to a doctor for medical examination; and that she gave a sworn statements which she signed together with her complaint.
Complainant, Ivy Adame, in her testimony before the Court, materially corroborated the declaration of her cousin, Liezel, particularly on her seeing the penis of their Tito Juancho, being undressed, kissed on her cheeks, his penis being inserted in her vagina and feeling pain as they lay in bed inside his room with their Tito Juancho on top of them; that these acts done to them happened both once in the month of May and June, and twice in December, 1996 inside his room in the house owned by their Nanay Loring all in the afternoon. She added to these corroborating testimonies, that when their uncle told them not to tell anybody she became afraid of him as he had previously spanked them before; that at the NBI where her mother brought her, she executed a sworn statement which she signed; that she was also brought to the hospital where her vagina was examined.
Prosecution witness, Mrs. Teodora Adame, mother of complainant Ivy Adame, testified that on December 11, 1996, she overheard her daughter Ivy tell Liezel that her Tito Juancho let her hold his penis again; that confronting her daughter with what she heard; Ivy told her that when she and Liezel play in the house of Nanay Loring, the accused would call them and give them candies; that thereafter, among others, the accused would insert his penis inside her daughter's and that of Liezel's vagina; that whenever the complainants feel pain as the accused insert his penis into their vagina, the accused would withdraw it; that Ivy told her that the penis insertions happened in four separate occasions to her and to Liezel; that the parents of the accused went to her for two times, once in her place of work and another time at her residence and asked her to forgive the accused for his actuations; that later on, the accused and his wife went also to her house; that the accused admitted his actuations on the complainants and asked to be forgiven; that she and husband told him that their answer would depend on the result of the medical examination; that she had noticed Ivy after the incidents on her showing her private part to her playmates; that these cases caused her husband to be hospitalized; and that they filed these cases for what the accused did to her daughter.
Mrs. Lolita Delica, mother of Liezel Delica, also gave evidence in these cases, she corroborated witness Teodora Adame that it was from her that she learned first what the accused did to their children; that afterwards, she confronted Liezel who narrated to her what Ivy had told her mother; that on December 12, 1996, the accused and his family went to Teodora Adame to settle these cases; that on this occasion the accused admitted the wrongful acts narrated by their children and asked forgiveness promising not to do the same things again to the complainants; that these wrongdoings by the accused were reported to the NBI; that she executed a sworn statement for these cases and her complaint because of what the accused did to her daughter.[4]
"WHEREFORE, and pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No.7659 quoted herein above, said accused is sentenced with the capital penalty of death to be carried out in the manner provided for under Article 81 of Republic Act No.7659. Further, the accused is directed to indemnify each complainants, Liezel Adame Delica and Ivy Mendoza Adame with the sum of P200,000.00 representing moral and exemplary damages and to pay the costs.The case is before us on automatic review.
SO ORDERED."[6]
The above testimony was corroborated by Ivy who testified as follows:
"Q: Can you please narrate to the Honorable Court what was (sic) the bad things done to you by your Tito Juancho? A: Yes, ma'am. Q: What was that? A: While we were playing Ate Ivy and I called (sic) by Tito Juancho to go with him to his room, ma'am. Q: After that, what happened? A: When we entered to (sic) the room he did something to us, ma'am. Q: What was that? A: He undressed us and our shorts too and then he put himself on top of us and I was the one first, ma'am. Q: What else happened? A: And then he kissed me in (sic) my cheek, ma'am. Q: What else? A: He had no short, ma'am. Q: And while he was on top of you, what else happened? A: Tito Juancho inserted his penis into my vagina, ma'am. Q: When he did that, what did you do? A: None, sir. Q: Why? A: I was just layed (sic) I did nothing, ma'am. Q: Did you feel anything when he inserted his penis to your vagina? A: Yes, ma'am. Q: What did you feel? A: It hurts, ma'am. Q: Where is your Ate Ivy? A: Ate Ivy is also laying (sic) down, ma'am. Q: Did you see what happened to your Ate Ivy?
A: Yes, ma'am. Q: What did your Tito Juancho do with your Ate Ivy? A: He also kissed Ate Ivy, ma'am. Q: After he kissed your Ate Ivy, did he do anything else to your Ate Ivy? A: Yes, ma'am. He also put himself on top of my Ate Ivy, and he was trying to insert his penis to the vagina of my Ate Ivy."[7]
The trial court believed the complainants' "clear and unequivocal versions" of the rapes that took place inside the bedroom of the accused at the house of their Nanay Loring in Barangay Ilat, San Pascual, Batangas, which versions had no "significant variations."
Q: Can you tell this Honorable Court what is that bad thing that your Tito Juancho did to you? A: Every time we played in their house he would call us and he give (sic) us candies and he would bring us in his room and he would kiss me on my lips. He would ask me to hold his penis and he would rub his penis on my vagina and he was trying (sic) to insert his penis into my vagina.Q: When you said that he tried to insert his penis into your vagina, what did you feel when he did that? A: It hurts. Q: Did you tell him anything about the pain that you are feeling? A: Yes, ma'am. Q: Now, you said that your uncle would bring you to the room. What do you mean by their room. Whose room is this?A: The room of Tito Juancho.
Q: And you said you were brought inside the room. Who are with you whenever your Tito Juancho bring (sic) you inside the room?A: Liezel, ma'am. Q: Now, do you remember how many times that your Tito Juancho brought you at his room and inserted his penis into your vagina?Atty. Exchaure: We object to that, your honor. There is no basis. Court: Reform the question. Atty. Sandoval: Q: You said your Tito Juancho brings you up to his room. Is that correct? A: Yes, ma'am. Q: When your Tito Juancho brings you up to his room does he close the door or open? Atty. Exchaure: We object, your honor. Court: Answer the question. A: He closed the door . Q: What does your Tito Juancho tell you after he closed the door? A: He told me not to tell my parents. Q: And then what does he tell you after that? A: He allowed us to leave. Q: When does your Tito Juancho allows (sic) you to leave after he tries to insert his penis into your vagina or before?A: After, ma'am. Q: Can you tell this Honorable Court what was the bad thing that your Tito Juancho did to you? A: He would allowed (sic) us to enter his room and then he would let us lied (sic) down on his bed, he would asked me to insert his penis and then he would kiss me on my lips and then he would place his body on top of me and he was trying to insert his penis on my vagina and then he rubbed his penis on my vagina then I could (sic) say 'aray'.Q: Can you feel his penis being inserted into your vagina. A: Yes, ma'am. Q: How do you know that you felt his penis into your vagina? A: Because I felt pain. Q: You said that whenever your Tito Juancho would ask you to go inside his room you would be with Liezel. Did your Tito Juancho do the same thing to Liezel?Atty. Exchaure: We object, your honor. Witness: A: Yes, ma'am."[8]
"The complainants are both only six (6) years old children and inspite of their tender ages neither one of them gave the Court impression that they lied during their testimony. They were candid and straight-forward even to the point of describing the penis of the accused. They also cried when they relieved the pain they experienced when the accused inserted his penis into their vagina."[9]We find no compelling reason to disturb the trial court's findings that the rapes took place in December, 1996, being based as they were on an assessment of the testimonial evidence from the vantage view of the presiding judge who had full opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses and calibrate their responses. The complainants' testimonies were consistent with each other and described vividly the sexual molestation .
"ART. 335. When and how rape is committed.- Rape is committed by having carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:xxx xxx xxx
3. When the woman is under twelve years of age.xxx xxx xxx
"The death penalty shall also be imposed if the crime of rape is committed with any of the following attendant circumstances:xxx xxx xxx
"4. When the victim is a religious or child below seven (7) years old.