Ortega vs. People of the PhilippinesG.R. No. 151085August 20, 2008

Facts: According to AAA, she was raped one night in the sala of Ortegas home, then in the comfort room the next days. A few months after, AAA alleged that she was raped by Ortega inside the room of her siblings which was witnessed by BBB (sibling of AAA).

Ortega was 13 years old when he was alleged to have committed the crime of rape against AAA who was then 6 years old. The acts of rape were committed on August 1996 and December 1996, before RA 9344 was passed into law in 2006.

According to the Solicitor General, the law should not be applied to this case because Ortega was convicted in 2001 and that he was already 25 years old at the time.

Issue 1: Was rape committed by Ortega against AAA?Held: In a prosecution for rape, the complainant's candor is the single most important factor. If the complainant's testimony meets the test of credibility, the accused can be convicted solely on that basis. The RTC, as affirmed by the CA, did not doubt AAA's credibility, and found no ill motive for her to charge petitioner of the heinous crime of rape and to positively identify him as the malefactor. Both courts also accorded respect to BBB's testimony that he saw petitioner having sexual intercourse with his younger sister. While petitioner asserts that AAA's poverty is enough motive for the imputation of the crime, we discard such assertion for no mother or father like MMM and FFF would stoop so low as to subject their daughter to the tribulations and the embarrassment of a public trial knowing that such a traumatic experience would damage their daughter's psyche and mar her life if the charge is not true. We find petitioner's claim that MMM inflicted the abrasions found by Dr. Jocson in the genitalia of AAA, in order to extort money from petitioners parents, highly incredible. Lastly, it must be noted that in most cases of rape committed against young girls like AAA who was only 6 years old then, total penetration of the victim's organ is improbable due to the small vaginal opening. Thus, it has been held that actual penetration of the victim's organ or rupture of the hymen is not required. Therefore, it is not necessary for conviction that the petitioner succeeded in having full penetration, because the slightest touching of the lips of the female organ or of the labia of the pudendum constitutes rape.

Issue 2: Should RA 9344 apply to this case?Held: Yes. The said law is explicit that A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability.

Likewise, Section 64 of the law categorically provides that cases of children 15 years old and below, at the time of the commission of the crime, shall immediately be dismissed and the child shall be referred to the appropriate local social welfare and development officer (LSWDO). What is controlling, therefore, with respect to the exemption from criminal liability of the CICL, is not the CICL's age at the time of the promulgation of judgment but the CICL's age at the time of the commission of the offense. In short, by virtue of R.A. No. 9344, the age of criminal irresponsibility has been raised from 9 to 15 years old.

So, RA 9344 is given retroactive effect because it is favorable to the accused pursuant to Article 22 of the Revised Penal Code.

Issue 3: Is Ortega exempted from civil liability?Held: While the law exempts petitioner from criminal liability for the two (2) counts of rape committed against AAA, Section 6 thereof expressly provides that there is no concomitant exemption from civil liability. Accordingly, this Court sustains the ruling ofthe RTC, duly affirmed by the CA, that petitioner and/or his parents are liable to pay AAA P100,000.00 as civil indemnity. This award is in the nature of actual or compensatory damages, and is mandatory upon a conviction for rape.

The RTC, however, erred in not separately awarding moral damages, distinct from the civil indemnity awarded to the rape victim. AAA is entitled to moral damages in the amount of P50,000.00 for each count of rape, pursuant to Article 2219 of the Civil Code, without the necessity of additional pleading or proof other than the fact of rape. Moral damages are granted in recognition of the victim's injury necessarily resulting from the odious crime of rape.