This case has been cited 3 times or more.
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2007-01-24 |
VELASCO, JR., J. |
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| Anent the first element, there is no doubt that the offender is a man the accused-appellant Romeo Buban. On the second element, the prosecution was able to establish the fact that the appellant had sexual intercourse with AAA. AAA testified that on five (5) occasions, appellant inserted his penis into her vagina. The medico-legal officer supports this fact with his testimony and undisputed findings of multiple and deep lacerations in AAA's vagina; thus, he concluded that she was no longer a virgin. With regard to the third element, on the circumstances in which rape was committed, we have held that the element of force or intimidation is not essential in case of rape committed by a father against his own daughter, since the former's superior moral ascendancy or influence substitutes for violence and intimidation.[36] | |||||
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2000-11-20 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| The defense that Adora was the sweetheart of accused-appellant and that she always initiated the foreplay in their lovemaking could have only been concocted by a person utterly devoid of moral fiber and whose mind is saturated with lechery. As this Court had said that a father's claim that he and his daughter were living together as husband and wife is an affront to Filipino values, assault on the intelligence and offends sensibilities,[33] the same can be said of sexual relationships between in-laws. It is inconceivable that Adora with her innocence, against whom no proof of sexual perversity or loose morality had been shown, could seduce accused-appellant who was already twenty-eight (28) years old at the time of the incident[34] and who happened to be her brother-in-law. In fact, such claims of accused-appellant on the witness stand so infuriated her that she threw her bag at him and branded him a liar.[35] His self-serving declarations cannot prevail over her positive assertions.[36] Regarding the alleged "love letter" sent by "Bing," Adora refuted it by showing samples of her handwriting found on her high school spelling booklet and test papers which were hardly similar to that on the "love letter." Thus, she convincingly denied authorship of the letter. At any rate, the burden of proof was on accused-appellant to demonstrate that the handwriting was Adora's. He did not bother to do so. Having failed in this regard, the supposed "love letter" is worthless. More importantly, his name as addressee was not even distinctly stated therein; rather, the letter was addressed, "To Love." | |||||
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2000-04-27 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| It is well entrenched in our jurisprudence that delay in reporting a carnal violation committed by a father against his daughter due to threats is hardly unjustified. In this case, Rochelle was threatened by accused-appellant with death should she report the incident to anyone. Rogelio possessed a gun as an asset of the 28th Infantry Batallion.[9] Thus her delay of almost two (2) years and two (2) months does not produce a negative effect on her accusation. In the numerous cases of rape that have reached this Court, we find that it is not uncommon for young girls to conceal for some time the assaults on their honor because of the rapists' threat on their lives.[10] In many instances, rape victims simply suffer in silence for months or even years.[11] With more reason would a girl ravished by her own father keep quiet about what had befallen her. Furthermore, it is unfair to judge the action of children who have undergone traumatic experience by the norms of behavior expected of mature individuals under the same circumstances.[12] | |||||