This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2000-04-27 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| We agree with accused-appellant that the Information against him charges only one (1) rape which he allegedly committed on 8 September 1990. He cannot therefore be convicted of five (5) counts of rape committed on other dates. But his conviction for raping his daughter Rochelle on 8 September 1990 must be sustained as the trial court found the testimony of Rochelle straightforward and almost flawless to the smallest detail. Hence, we find no reason to withhold concurrence to his conviction. As the trial court observed, Rochelle was composed and consistent throughout her entire testimony in the face of intense and lengthy interrogation.[5] And a barrio lass, still in her teens, innocent and naive to the ways of the world is not likely to accuse her own father of so serious a crime as rape if it was not the plain truth, or if her motive was not purely to bring her sexual ravisher to justice.[6] The insinuation of accused-appellant that Rochelle only filed the case against him because she got mad when he scolded her for preferring her classmates over her family is hardly believable. Parental punishment is not a good reason for a daughter to falsely charge her father with rape.[7] Even when consumed with revenge, it takes a certain amount of psychological depravity for a young woman to fabricate a story which would put her own father for the most of his remaining life in jail and drag herself and the rest of her family to a lifetime of shame.[8] A review of the totality of the evidence draws us to the conclusion that no material facts that may alter accused-appellant's conviction were overlooked or misunderstood by the trial court. | |||||