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People vs. Evangelista Digest
People vs. Evangelista Digest
FACT: On November 1, 1991 at Negros Occidental, eleven-year-old Analiza Paraat was sexually
abused by Roger Evangelista. Around midnight, accused forcibly grabbed Analiza from behind, covered
her mouth and dragged her to the sugar cane field along the road. At the point of a knife, she was told to
undress and accused proceeded to kiss her all over and lick her vagina. Afterwards, he told her to
masturbate him. He tried to penetrate her but was unable to do so as her genitalia was small. He
nevertheless insisted on inserting his finger. He attempted penetration for the second time but again
failed to consummate the act. The victim was only permitted to leave at around 5 in the morning and she
had no choice but to sleep with him throughout the night.
The accused plead that if he has to be convicted it should only be for acts of lasciviousness in
view of the victim's admission that only the finger of the accused pierced her genitalia.
HELD: Art. 6 of the Revised Penal Code states that a felony is consummated when all the
elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are present. Although the accused failed to
have carnal knowledge with the victim, the crime is nonetheless considered consummated. In People Vs.
De la Pea, the Supreme Court stated that by the natural situs of the vaginal surface, to touch them with
the male organ is to attain some degree of penetration. In the case at bar, penetration is what the
accused was trying to achieve, only it could not be done because of the size of the victims genitalia.
Furthermore, as was held in People vs. Orita, perfect penetration is not essential for the
consummation of rape. Penile invasion necessarily entails contact with the labia and even the briefest of
the contact under circumstances of force, intimidation or unconsciousness, even without rupture of the
hymen, is already rape in our jurisprudence.
G. R. No. 121627 November 17, 1997
DECISION
BELLOSILLO, J.:
Credibility of the complainant is the linchpin in a rape case concerning as it generally does only the
dramatis personae in an atmosphere of isolation and secrecy. The burden of proof then rests on her
shoulders. Thus, in this case, the main defense of accused-appellant is the alleged inability of the eleven-
year old victim to identify him. The defense makes much of the testimony of the victim on cross-
examination to bolster his theory that the offended could not possibly point him because the crime
happened in the late hour of the night and her identification of him was made only with the prompting
of the police investigators. [1]
Analiza Paraat recounted that on 1 November 1991 a community dance was held at the dance hall of
Sitio Dubdub, Libacao, Negros Occidental. She, her mother Virginia and sister Marriage sold beer at their
store near the dance hall. The accused, whom she later came to know as Roger Evangelista, was one of
their customers. At midnight, a fight took place at the dance hall so Analiza was sent home by her
mother. Their house was only 40-50 meters from the dance hall. However, she was not able to reach
home because a man forcibly grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth with his hand and dragged
her to the sugarcane field along the road about 10 meters from where she was accosted. At the point of
a knife, she was told to undress. She had to remove her clothes including her underwear. Then the man
kissed her all over and licked her vagina. Afterwards, he told her to masturbate him. He tried to
penetrate her but was unable to do so as her genitalia was small. He nevertheless insisted on inserting
his finger. He tried to stick his penis into her petite fourchette for the second time but again failed to
consummate the act. This time, she told him that her parents might already be looking for her but he
told her to wait. She had no choice but to sleep with him, apparently exhausted. They woke up at around
5:00 o'clock in the morning. When they went out of the sugarcane field, the accused told her to take a
different route from his.
On her way home, she met her mother who asked her where she came from. She could not answer. She
proceeded home instead and met her sister Margie and told the latter what happened. As she was
narrating her misfortune, the accused appeared from the sugarcane field. When she saw him, she
reflexively pointed him to Margie as the man who raped her. Upon seeing the accused and recognizing
him to be Roger Evangelista, a co-worker of her husband in Hacienda Garazon, Margie told her husband
to go after Roger but the latter ran back to the canefield. Soon after, however, the accused was
apprehended by the police. She [Analiza] was accompanied by her mother to the Himamaylan Hospital
for physical examination.cralaw
The accused insists in this appeal that complaining witness Analiza failed to identify him with sufficiency
as to put him behind bars. He claims that she testified that she did not know her defiler at the time she
was abused. But extant on record is the meaning of her answer to the questions propounded to her.
From a reading of her testimony We can deduce that although she did not know him at the time he
molested her, she recognized his face so that when asked if she knew his appearance she positively
pointed to the accused Roger Evangelista. [2] In fact, she pointed directly to him not only once but twice
as the person who raped her. [3] In People vs. Abella [4] We held:
Charlyn's identification of Abella as her attacker was sufficient although she could not tell his name at
first. She did not have to know his name to be able to point to him as the person who raped her that
night. She knew him by face. They were neighbors. In law, Charlyn was not even required to know her
attacker's name. What is important is that at the trial, she positively pointed to him as the person who
raped her.
Even the circumstance of nighttime could not be a hindrance to her discernment of the accused as her
attacker considering that they were together almost intimately for several hours until dawn when there
was already enough glow in the sky for Analiza to identify her attacker even assuming there was no
moon at the moment nor electric lights illumine the night. As We observed in People v. De Guia: [5]
The complainant admitted there was no electric light which directly illuminated the spot where she was
sexually abused, but that does not suggest that there was total darkness in the area, preventing her from
identifying her assailants. Moreover, it would not be difficult for the complainant to recognize the
accused-appellant because the rape itself lasted fifteen minutes. Such a relatively long period was
sufficient time for the complainant to get a good look at her violator. It was therefore easy for her to
recognize and positively identify the accused-appellant De Guia during the trial as the one who sexually
abused her. Even earlier, when she was narrating her sexual abuse to the cigarette vendor, she
immediately noticed the appellant and instantaneously pointed to him as the culprit. The facility by
which she identified De Guia as the one who raped her even while she was running away from the threat
of a second assault and although she was half-naked convinces the Court that she indeed recognized the
accused as the one who raped her.
Analiza's actuations immediately after she was set free by the accused were consistent with the theory,
as in De Guia, that she already knew the face of her ravisher even before he was presented to her by the
police for identification. In fact, what led to his arrest was her instinctual recognition of the accused, a
totally spontaneous declaration upon seeing him; a spur of the moment before her mind could have
any opportunity to conjure a falsehood or be influenced by any external factor or consideration. Besides,
there is nothing in the record to lead us to conclude that she had any improper motive against the
accused. The witnesses of the accused himself admitted, by way of establishing his alibi, that he never
went to Sitio Dubdub and was a complete stranger there. [6] The acts described very vividly by Analiza as
having been done to her by the accused were beyond even the wildest imagination of an 11-year old like
Analiza. Any doubt as to the veracity of her testimony is swept away by the findings of the trial court
which are generally accorded the highest respect unless the appears in the record and there are none
some fact or circumstance of weight and influence which has been overlooked or the significance of
which has been misinterpreted. [7]
As to the alternative plea of the accused that if he has to be convicted it should only be for acts of
lasciviousness in view of the victim's admission that only the finger of the accused pierced her genitalia,
we hold that the crime committed by the accused is still consummated rape. The accused apparently
considered as of no moment the following significant testimony of the complainant: [8]
Q: After fingering your vagina, was he able to insert his penis in your vagina?
A: No, sir.
A: Yes, sir.
For rape to be consummated full penetration is not necessary. [9] Penile invasion necessarily entails
contact with the labia and even the briefest of the contract under circumstances of force, intimidation or
unconsciousness, even without rupture of the hymen, is already rape in our jurisprudence. [10] Thus, as
it should be in pedophiliac cases, the court as the adjudicative branch of the State has the
incontrovertible mandate under the parens patriae doctrine [11] to protect the future that rests in the
lives of our children.
WHEREFORE, the decision of the court a quo finding accused-appellant Roger Evangelista alias "Dodong"
guilty of rape, imposing upon him a prison term of reclusion perpetua and ordering him to indemnify his
victim Analiza Paraat the amount of P100,000.00 is AFFIRMED. However, the "subsidiary imprisonment
in case of insolvency" is DELETED; it should read instead "with the accessory penalties provided by law."
Costs against accused-appellant.cralaw
SO ORDERED.cralaw