367 Phil. 68
PER CURIAM:
That on or about the 6th day of February 1995, in the Municipality of Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines and within and jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, by means of force and intimidation did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, have carnal knowledge of the complainant Agapita Tria's daughter named Aimzyl Tria, who is a minor, 5 years old, against her will.At the arraignment, accused-appellant pleaded not guilty. Thence, trial ensued where the prosecution adduced the following evidence as summarized in the decision of the trial court, thusly:
CONTRARY TO LAW.
(Record, p. 2.)
On February 6, 1995, the victim, Aimzyl Tria a five-year old girl, was left alone in her home at 5146 P. Dandan Street, La Huerta, Parañaque, Metro Manila, watching cartoons on the television set. While she was televiewing, the accused arrived. The accused told the victim to go up to the master's bedroom of the house located upstairs wherein two (2) beds were placed therein. The accused made her lie down on the soft bed, and thereafter, removed her clothes. She was then wearing a "sando" and shorts while the accused was in t-shirt and shorts. After undressing her, the accused inserted his middle and index fingers into her private part and put out his tongue to wet the same ("nilawayan"). He did this act to the victim twice. She began to move she felt so much pain. However, all her efforts to move away were in vain due to the superior strength of the accused. At this juncture, the accused placed again his tongue on the private part of the victim. Thereafter, the accused inserted his penis into her private part twice. She saw something like sputum ("parang sipon") which came out of his penis.In order to verify what really happened to her child, the mother brought her the following day to Dr. Priscilla Buenavista's clinic in Baclaran, Parañaque for examination. The physician examined the victim and took a vaginal smear specimen which was then sent to Medici Diagnostic Clinilab, Inc. for analysis. That same day, Dr. Buenavista was informed about the results of the gram staining analysis of the vaginal smear specimen, which she herself had, thereafter, an opportunity to personally look at under the microscope. The victim was found positive for both intracellular and extracellular gram negative diplococci and the presence of sperm cells was likewise noted (Exhibit "C"). Dr. Buenavista eventually decided to refer the patient and her mother to the National Bureau of Investigation for the proper handling of the case and to the Philippine General Hospital, or The Research Institute for Topical Medicine for the treatment of the disease (tsn, August 14, 1995, p. 10).
The victim then tried again to move away due to the extreme pain that she felt. However, the accused held her tender legs to bring her closer to him. She did not shout because he told her to keep quite so that the people will not hear her. She became afraid as they were the only ones left in the house. Her father was then in Bicol for a vacation. The accused then told her not to tell anyone after raping her.
There was another instance wherein the victim was again raped by the accused. This happened while she was taking a bath inside the bathroom located at the ground floor of their house in Parañaque. She was then alone in the house when suddenly the accused entered the bathroom where she was taking a bath. The accused removed his shorts, and thereafter, told her to sit on his lap facing him. The victim was naked since she was not yet through taking a bath. He again inserted his penis into her vagina twice, and she, like in the previous occasion, felt so much pain. She again observed something like sputum ("parang sipon") coming out of the penis of the accused.x x x
The mother of the victim, Agapita Tria, noticed some mucus on the underwear of her daughter on February 7, 1995 ("Napansin ko ang mga panty ng anak ko na may uhog"). She asked her daughter about it but the latter did not answer and appeared to be so afraid. She did not press her daughter to talk, although her refusal to talk was apparent, and instead, she just continued observing her.
On February 8, 1995, the victim's mother again saw the mucus on the underwear of her daughter which she noticed on February 7, 1995. She again noticed the mucus on the panties of her daughter on the succeeding days. These series of unusual phenomena made her impatient so much so that she emphatically asked her daughter as to what happened to her, and told her not to be afraid, and tell her mother the truth if there was somebody who had done something to her private part.
Finally, the victim told her mother that "inano daw siya ni Kuya Nat niya." The victim used the word "inano" since at that time, she did not know yet the word "rape". When her mother asked her what she meant by "inano", she answered that "iano ng kamay ni Kuya Nat ang pepe niya", and that he placed his tongue into her private part before he inserted his penis into it.
(Record, pp. 499-502.)
WHEREFORE, this Court finds the accused Renato Caparangan Jose guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape defined and penalized under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act. No. 7659, and hereby sentences him to suffer the supreme penalty of DEATH.Accused-appellant, now before this Court, anchors his appeal in the lone assigned error, the catch-all argument that his guilt has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The Court hereby orders the accused to indemnify the victim, Aimzyl Tria, in the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00) as moral damages.
SO ORDERED.
(Record, p. 514-515.)
The defense utterly failed to present a certain Tessie Lampera to whom the accused allegedly confided his illicit relationship with Mrs. Tria. Neither was he able to present his alleged girlfriend to testify in his behalf. In fact, the mother of his girlfriend appeared during one of the court hearings that her daughter vehemently denies any knowledge of the case and refuses to be involved therein.Besides, in the case involving the crime of rape of a child of the very tender age of five, the Court will additionally consider the fact that no mother in her right mind would possibly stoop so low as to subject her daughter to the hardships and shame concomitant to a rape prosecution just to assuage her own hurt feelings (cf. People vs. Gecomo, 254 SCRA 82 [1996]; People vs. Cervantes, 265 SCRA 832 [1996]). It is unnatural for a parent to use her offsprings as an engine of malice, especially if it will subject a daughter to embarrassment and even stigma (People vs. Dones, 254 SCRA 696 [1996]; People vs. Alimon, 257 SCRA 658 [1996]; People vs. Balisnomo, 265 SCRA 98 [1996]). It is hard to believe that a mother would sacrifice her own daughter and present her to be the subject of a public trial if she, in fact, has not been motivated by an honest desire to have the culprit punished (People vs. Henson, 270 SCRA 634 [1997]).
(Record, p. 544.)
The death penalty shall also be imposed if the crime of rape is committed with any of the following attendant circumstances.As to the award for damages, the Court takes occasion to reiterate the distinction between civil indemnity, which for the present time has been fixed by the Court in the amount of P75,000.00 for death-sentence cases (People vs. Penis, G.R. No. 127903, July 9, 1998), and moral damages, which the Court has set in the amount of P50,000.00 for rape cases, over and above the aforementioned civil indemnity (People vs. Prades, G.R. No. 127569, July 30, 1998). As clarified in Prades, indemnity is one thing, moral damages is another, to wit:xxx
4. when the victim is a religious or a child below seven (7) years old.
The lower court, however, erred in classifying the award of P50,000.00 to the offended party as being in the character of moral damages. Jurisprudence has elucidated that the award authorized by the criminal law as civil indemnity ex delicto for the offended party, in the amount authorized by the prevailing judicial policy and aside from other proven actual damages is itself equivalent to actual or compensatory damages in civil law. For that matter, the civil liability ex delicto provided by the revised penal code, that is, restitution, reparation and indemnification, all corresponds to actual or compensatory damages in the Civil Code, since the other damages provided therein are moral, nominal, temperate or moderate, liquidated, and exemplary or corrective damages, which have altogether different concepts and fundamentals.The trial court must, therefore, be corrected for "indemnifying" the victim in the amount of P50,000.00 as moral damages.xxx
. . . The Court has also resolved that in crimes of rape, such as that under consideration, moral damages may additionally be awarded to the victim in the criminal proceeding, in such amount as the Court deems just, without need for pleading or proof of the basis thereof as has heretofore been the practice. Indeed, the convemtional requirement of allegata et probata in civil procedure and for essentially civil cases should be dispensed with in criminal prosecutions for rape with the civil aspect included therein, since no appropriate pleadings are filed wherein such allegations can be made.
Corollarily, the fact that complainant has suffered the trauma of mental, physical and psychological sufferings which constitute the bases for moral damages are too obvious to still require the recital thereof at the trial by the victim, since the Court itself even assumes and acknowledges such agony on her part as a gauge of her credibility. What exists by necessary implication as being ineludibly present in the case need not go through a testimonial charade.
(pp. 18-20)