PEOPLE V BLANCAFLOR

G.R. No. 130586 | January 29, 2004 | J. Austria-Martinez

Facts: 

On the early morning of the last week of July, 1995, the mother of fourteen-year-old Mylene Rueda, who was a fish vendor and about to leave their home at dawn, woke her up and asked her to transfer from the floor where she (Mylene) was sleeping, to the bed where her four-year old brother slept. Mylene then transferred and slept on the bed. At around 3:30 or 4:00 that same morning, she was again roused from sleep when she felt her stepfather Francisco Blancaflor on top of her, with his penis already at the entrance of her vagina. She could not do anything as her hands were pinned against appellant’s chest and he was threatening to kill all of them with a gun that was then just beside him.

It took her three weeks before Mylene finally gathered the courage to tell her mother about the incident. Mylene’s mother and appellant quarreled about the matter, but soon after, the two were in talking terms again and the matter was resolved with a mere promise from appellant that he will not do it again. Appellant, however, went on touching Mylene’s private parts whenever he had a chance but Mylene no longer reported the incidents to her mother as she was afraid.

Thus, it was only when Mylene finally told her high school class adviser Mrs. Adelaida Corla about her traumatic experience that she was eventually assisted in reporting the crime to the NBI and the case was filed in court. Custody over Mylene was also turned over to the DSWD.

Appellant claims that Mylene is merely fabricating the charge against him out of vindictiveness because he tried to discipline her for her bad conduct.

The Albay RTC found appellant Francisco Blancaflor guilty of rape beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced him to suffer death penalty with damages, hence the automatic review of judgement in th case at bar.

Issue: 
W/N the testimonies of the complainant is worthy of belief

Held: 
Yes. Appellant posits that the uncorroborated testimony of complainant is weak and cannot be considered more convincing and rational than the defense presented by him because it took the latter fourteen months before she reported the alleged incident, that no evidence was made as to her resistance, and that the charge was only brought about by appellant’s efforts to discipline her.

At the outset, we emphasize the settled rule that the testimony of a rape victim of tender or immature age deserves full credit. At the time Mylene testified, she was a mere fifteen-year old girl. Furthermore, reading from the record, her testimony is clear, straightforward and bereft of material or significant inconsistencies. Hence, the trial court correctly found Mylene’s testimony to be deserving of full faith and credit.

Additionally, physical resistance need not be proved in rape when intimidation is exercised upon the victim and she submits herself, against her will, to the rapist’s advances because of fear for her life and personal safety. It suffices that the intimidation produces fear in the mind of the victim that if she did not submit to the bestial demands of the accused, something worse would befall her at the time she was being molested.

The force or violence necessary in rape is a relative term that depends not only on the age, size, and strength of the persons involved but also on their relationship to each other. In a rape committed by a father against his own daughter, the former’s parental authority and moral ascendancy over the latter substitutes for violence or intimidation who, expectedly, would just cower in fear and resign to the father’s wicked deeds.

The argument on the delay of fourteen months in reporting and filing the case is without merit because the appellant exercised moral ascendancy over the underage complainant and that, after the latter failed to get the support of her mother after she reported the incident, she can hardly be expected to know how to go about reporting the crime to authorities without the help of an adult.

The SC likewise finds it truly inconceivable for a girl of such tender years to be able to concoct a story, provide details of a rape and ascribe such wickedness to her “stepfather” just because she resents being disciplined by him, since by thus charging him, she would also expose herself to extreme humiliation, even stigma. Mylene’s credible testimony is unshaken by appellant’s weak claim that she was motivated by ill-will in accusing him of rape.

The credibility of complainant Mylene having been firmly established, the trial court did not err in finding appellant guilty of rape beyond reasonable doubt. However, for failure of the prosecution to properly allege in the Information the qualifying circumstance that the victim is under eighteen years of age and that the offender is a common-law-spouse of the parent of the victim, the special qualifying circumstance of minority and relationship could not be taken into consideration and appellant could only be found guilty of simple rape which is punishable by reclusion perpetua. Thus, the trial court erred in imposing the penalty of death on appellant. Judgement affirmed with modification.