428 Phil. 508; 99 OG No. 45, 6999 (November 10, 2003)
VITUG, J.:
“That sometime on or about 01 December 1995, in Cagayan de Oro City, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court pursuant to the provisions of RA 7975, the accused, a public officer, being then the City Health Officer of Cagayan de Oro City with salary grade 26 but a high ranking official by express provision of RA 7975, committing the offense in relation to his official functions and taking advantage of his position, did there and then, willfully, unlawfully and criminally, demand, solicit, request sexual favors from Ms. Juliet Q. Yee, a young 22 year-old woman, single and fresh graduate in Bachelor of Science in Nursing who was seeking employment in the office of the accused, namely: by demanding from Ms. Yee that she should, expose her body and allow her private parts to be mashed and stimulated by the accused, which sexual favor was made as a condition for the employment of Ms. Yee in the Family Program of the Office of the accused, thus constituting sexual harassment.”[1]Upon his arraignment, petitioner pled not guilty to the offense charged; hence, trial proceeded.
“WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered, convicting the accused RICO JACUTIN Y SALCEDO of the crime of Sexual Harassment, defined and punished under R.A. No. 7877, particularly Secs. 3 and 7 of the same Act, properly known as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, and is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six (6) months and to pay a fine of Twenty Thousand (P20,000.00) Pesos, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency. Accused is further ordered to indemnify the offended party in the amount of Three Hundred Thousand (P300,000.00) Pesos, by way of moral damages; Two Hundred Thousand (P200,000.00) Pesos, by way of Exemplary damages and to pay the cost of suit.”[2]In the instant recourse, it is contended that -
“I. Petitioner cannot be convicted of the crime of sexual harassment in view of the inapplicability of Republic Act No. 7877 to the case at bar.The above contentions of petitioner are not meritorious. Section 3 of Republic Act 7877 provides:
“II. Petitioner [has been] denied x x x his constitutional right to due process of law and presumption of innocence on account of the insufficiency of the prosecution evidence to sustain his conviction.”[3]
“SEC. 3. Work, Education or Training-related Sexual Harassment Defined. – Work, education or training-related sexual harassment is committed by an employer, employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainor, or any other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or education environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for submission is accepted by the object of said Act.Petitioner was the City Health Officer of Cagayan de Oro City, a position he held when complainant, a newly graduated nurse, saw him to enlist his help in her desire to gain employment. He did try to show an interest in her plight, her father being a boyhood friend, but finding no opening suitable for her in his office, he asked her about accepting a job in a family planning research project. It all started from there; the Sandiganbayan recited the rest of the story:
“(a) In a work-related or employment environment, sexual harassment is committed when:
“(1) The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring or in the employment, re-employment or continued employment of said individual, or in granting said individual favorable compensation, terms, conditions, promotions, or privileges; or the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting, segregating or classifying the employee which in any way would discriminate, deprive or diminish employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said employee.”
“x x x. Succeeding in convincing the complainant that her physical examination would be a part of a research, accused asked complainant if she would agree that her private parts (bolts) would be seen. Accused assured her that with her cooperation in the research, she would gain knowledge from it. As complainant looked upon the accused with utmost reverence, respect, and paternal guidance, she agreed to undergo the physical examination. At this juncture, accused abruptly stopped the interview and told the complainant to go home and be back at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, December 1, 1995. Complainant returned at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, but did not proceed immediately to the office of the accused, as she dropped by a nearby church to ask divine guidance, as she was confused and at a loss on how to resolve her present predicament. At 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon, she went back to the office of the accused. And once inside, accused called up a certain Madonna, inquiring if there was a vacancy, but he was told that she would only accept a registered nurse. Complainant was about to leave the office of the accused when the latter prevailed upon her to stay because he would call one more hospital. In her presence, a call was made. But again accused told her that there was no vacancy. As all efforts to look for a job in other hospitals failed, accused renewed the offer to the complainant to be a part of the research in the Family Planning Program where there would be physical examination. Thereafter, accused motioned his two (2) secretaries to go out of the room. Upon moving closer to the complainant, accused asked her if she would agree to the offer. Complainant told him she would not agree because the research included hugging. He then assured her that he was just kidding and that a pre-schooler and high schooler have already been subjected to such examination. With assurance given, complainant changed her mind and agreed to the research, for she is now convinced that she would be of help to the research and would gain knowledge from it. At this point, accused asked her if she was a ‘tomboy’, she answered in the negative. He then instructed her to go with him but he would first play bowling, and later proceed with the research (physical examination). On the understanding of the complainant that they will proceed to the clinic where the research will be conducted, she agreed to go with the accused. But accused instructed her to proceed to Borja St. where she will just wait for him, as it was not good for people to see them riding in a car together. She walked from the office of the accused and proceeded to Borja St. as instructed. And after a while, a white car arrived. The door was opened to her and she was instructed by the accused to come inside. Inside the car, he called her attention why she was in a pensive mood. She retorted she was not. As they were seated side by side, the accused held her pulse and told her not to be scared. He informed her that he would go home for a while to put on his bowling attire. After a short while, he came back inside the car and asked her if she has taken a bath. She explained that she was not able to do so because she left the house hurriedly. Still while inside the car, accused directed her to raise her foot so he could see whether she has varicose veins on her legs. Thinking that it was part of the research, she did as instructed. He told her to raise it higher, but she protested. He then instructed her to lower her pants instead. She did lower her pants, exposing half of her legs. But then the accused pushed it forward down to her knees and grabbed her legs. He told her to raise her shirt. Feeling as if she had lost control of the situation, she raised her shirt as instructed. Shocked, she exclaimed, ‘hala ka!’ because he tried to insert his hand into her panty. Accused then held her abdomen, saying, ‘you are like my daughter, ‘Day’! (Visayan word of endearment),’ and let the back of his palm touch her forehead, indicating the traditional way of making the young respect their elders. He again told her to raise her shirt. Feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable, yet unsure whether she was entertaining malice, she raised her shirt up to her breast. He then fondled her breast. Reacting, she impulsively lower her shirt and embraced her bar while silently asking God what was happening to her and asking the courage to resist accused’s physical advances. After a short while, she asked him if there could be a right place for physical examination where there would be many doctors. He just exclaimed, ‘so you like that there are many doctors!’ Then he asked her if she has tooth decay. Thinking that he was planning to kiss her, she answered that she has lots of decayed teeth. He advised her then to have them treated. Finally, she informed him that she would not continue with the research. The accused retorted that complainant was entertaining malice and reminded her of what she earlier agreed; that she would not tell anybody about what happened. He then promised to give her P15,000.00 so that she could take the examination. She was about to open the door of the car when he suddenly grabbed her thigh, but this time, complainant instantly parried his hand with her bag.”[4]While the City Mayor had the exclusive prerogative in appointing city personnel, it should stand to reason, nevertheless, that a recommendation from petitioner in the appointment of personnel in the municipal health office could carry good weight. Indeed, petitioner himself would appear to have conveyed, by his words and actions, an impression that he could facilitate Juliet’s employment. Indeed, petitioner would not have been able to take undue liberalities on the person of Juliet had it not been for his high position in the City Health Office of Cagayan de Oro City. The findings of the Sandiganbayan were bolstered by the testimony of Vivian Yu, petitioner’s secretary between 1979 to 1994, of Iryn Lago Salcedo, Public Health Nurse II, and of Farah Dongallo y Alkuino, a city health nurse, all of whom were said to have likewise been victims of perverse behavior by petitioner.
“There are some observations which the Court would like to point out on the evidence adduced by the defense, particularly in the Minutes of the meeting of the Awards Committee, as testified to by witness Myrna Maagad on September 8, 1998.Most importantly, the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts, and the factual findings of the Sandiganbayan must be respected by, if not indeed conclusive upon, the tribunal,[6] no cogent reasons having been sufficiently shown to now hold otherwise. The assessment on the credibility of witnesses is a matter best left to the trial court because of its unique position of being able to observe that elusive and incommunicable evidence on the deportment of witnesses at the stand, an opportunity that is denied the appellate court.[7]
“First, admitted, Teresita I. Rozabal was the immediate supervisor of witness Myrna Maagad. The Notices to hold the meeting (Exh. ‘3-A’ and ‘3-B’) were signed by Teresita Rozabal. But the Minutes of the meeting, Exh. ‘5’, was signed by Myrna Maagad and not by Teresita Rozabal. The documents, Exhs. ‘3-A’ and ‘3-B’ certify that the officially designated secretary of the Awards Committee was Teresita Rozabal.
“Second, why was Myrna Maagad in possession of the attendance logbook and how was she able to personally bring the same in court when she testified on September 8, 1998, when in fact, she admitted during her testimony that she retired from the government service on December 1, 1997? Surely, Myrna Maagad could not still be the custodian of the logbook when she testified.
“And finally, in the logbook, under the sub-heading, ‘Others Present,’ the attendance of those who attended was individually handwritten by the persons concerned who wrote and signed their names. But in the case of Dr. Tiro and Dr. Rico Jacutin, their names were handwritten by clerk Sylvia Tan-Nerry, not by Dr. Tiro and Dr. Jacutin. However, Myrna Maagad testified that the logbook was passed around to attending individuals inside the conference room.”[5]