This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2004-05-28 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| To the Court's mind, the actuation of Helen bolsters her charge of rape. Her willingness, as well as courage, to face interrogation and medical examination could be a mute but eloquent proof of the truth of her claim.[43] Certainly, she would not have implicated a person, who was allegedly her lover, as the perpetrator of an abominable crime and thereby lay open their illicit relationship to public shame and ridicule, not to mention the ire of her husband were it not the truth.[44] | |||||
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2004-05-27 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| Evidently, as the text of the decision indicates, the amount of P50,000 was intended as indemnification to the private complainant. In accordance with current case law, we award Rizalyn civil indemnity in the amount of P50,000 for each count of rape,[77] or a total of P200,000 for all four counts. Civil indemnity is automatically granted once the fact of rape had been established. We also deem it proper to award the complainant moral damages in the amount of P50,000 for each count of rape. Moral damages are automatically granted to the victim in rape cases without need for further proof other than the commission of the crime.[78] The fact that the victim suffered the trauma of mental, physical and psychological sufferings which constitute the bases for moral damages is too obvious to still require the recital thereof at the trial by the victim, since the Court itself even assumes and acknowledges such agony on her part as a gauge of her credibility. Accordingly, for the appellant's conviction in the four criminal cases filed against him by the complainant, the latter is entitled to moral damages in the amount of P200,000. | |||||