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Positive Vs Negative Evidence
Positive Vs Negative Evidence
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Evidence is negative when the witness states that he did not see or know
the occurrence of a fact, and positive when the witness affirms that a fact
did or did not occur (2 Moore an Facts, p 1338).
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1993/jan1993/gr_95329_1993.html
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https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2006/dec2006/
gr_164575_2006.html#fnt21
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An evidence is negative when the witness states that he did not see or
know the occurrence.
In this case, what Santiago declared in the RTC is that he did not hear
anything, but such testimony does not negate the positive assertion of
AAA that she was raped. Thus, "[b]etween the positive assertions of the
[victim] and the negative averments of the [appellant], the former
indisputably deserve more credence and are entitled to greater evidentiary
weight. Furthermore, we agree with both the RTC and the CA that lust is
no respecter of time and precinct and known to happen in most unlikely
places. Indeed, rape can either happen in populated area or in the privacy
of a room.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2012/jun2012/
gr_193665_2012.html#fnt12
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Even in the case of Pajenado, this Court categorically ruled that although
the prosecution has the burden of proving a negative averment which is
an essential element of a crime, the prosecution, in view of the difficulty of
proving a negative allegation, "need only establish a prima facie case from
the best evidence obtainable."
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1994/feb1994/gr_107623_1994.html
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"Negative testimony" is made clear as testimony that a fact did not exist,
that a thing was not done, that one did not hear––is admissible and, in the
absence of opposing testimony, is usually regarded as of sufficient
probative force to sustain a verdict. It is however, a long recognized
general rule of evidence that all other things being equal, positive
evidence is stronger than negative evidence.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2006/dec2006/
gr_164575_2006.html#fnt23