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THIRD DIVISION [G.R. No. 126954. December 14, 1999] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FERNANDO CALANG MACOSTA, Alias “DODONG.” accused-appellant. D E C I S I O N GONZAGA-REYES, J.: This is an appeal from the decision[1], dated August 20, 1996, of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 32, of Surigao City, finding accused-appellant Fernando “Dodong” Calang Macosta (MACOSTA) guilty of rape and sentencing him to reclusion perpetua. Accused-appellant was further ordered to indemnify the complainant, Anagen Dobluis, P50,000.00, and to pay the costs. In a Complaint[2] dated August 4, 1995, Anagen Dobluis (ANAGEN) charged MACOSTA with the crime of rape committed as follows: “That on or about June 13, 1995 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning, at the side of Magpayang River, near lake Mainit, Surigao del Norte, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused invited herein complainant to catch more shrimps and when they were at the side of the Magpayang River she was invited to disembark to see his friend beyond the uninhabited place with thick bushes, but while they crossed the said lonely place, the accused did then and there willfully, unlawfully, criminally and feloniously abuse the womanhood of the complainant by embracing, kissing, touching her private parts, and when the complainant struggled hard to extricate herself from him at the same time shouted for help, he all the more strongly held her to lay down and he took off his trouser then he took off her panty and while the complainant was in a lying position he immediately placed himself on top of her and placed his penis in her vagina but once the penis was in the mouth of her vagina she felt the pain so she pleaded for his mercy not to deflower her and she continued crying and pushed him hard with her two hands thus she was able to be free from his hold. CONTRARY TO LAW.” After a prima facie case against MACOSTA was certified and approved by Provincial Prosecutor Faustino H. Paraguya, the Complaint was filed as the Information on September 4, 1995, and docketed as Criminal Case No. 4569. MACOSTA pleaded “not guilty” to the charge.[3] Hence, trial proceeded in due course. The trial court summarized the version of the prosecution as follows: “x x x, the complainant, Anagen Dobluis, is a minor of 16, a high school student and a resident of barangay San Juan, Alegria, Surigao del Norte, where she lives with her parents, Sofronio and Apolonia Dobluis. In the morning of June 13, 1995, Anagen and her father, Sofronio Dobluis, proceeded in a paddle boat, locally known as “baroto”, to the floating house in the lake where the accused was staying. It appeared that the previous day, Anagen was tending the “sari-sari” store owned by her family when a boy named Junjun arrived and told her that Fernando Macosta was inviting her and her parents to his birthday party at the floating house in Lake Mainit. The accused also ordered on credit some bottles of soft drinks, beer and wine from the store. The drinks were delivered later to the floating house. The complainant declared that she came to know the accused sometime during the first week of June 1995 when she and some female companions went on a picnic in the lake. They saw a floating house near the shore. When they went to the floating house, they were told that the accused stayed in it to watch his fishing business. The floating house in question consisted of a big raft made of bamboo with a hut in the center. Since she already knew the accused, Anagen and Sofronio Dobluis accepted the invitation of the accused to his birthday party. Her mother was left in the house to tend their store. When they arrived at the floating house, they saw the accused and other persons. The accused offered some drinks and conversed with Anagen and her father. Later in the afternoon, Fernando Macosta invited Anagen to go with him to gather some shrimps from his traps. He asked permission from Sofronio Dobluis to bring along Anagen with him. Sofronio gave his consent since the purpose was to get shrimps for food. Anagen inquired where they were going and the accused pointed to a place in the lake. They got in a small boat with the accused paddling at one end and the complainant at the other end. When they reached the designated place about 300 meters away from the raft, the accused continued to paddle to another place further along the Magpayang river. Anagen protested that the place was lonely and they could no longer see the floating house because of some trees. The accused told her not to worry as there were houses beyond the trees. He told her that he wanted to see a female acquaintance living nearby. The accused landed the boat on the shore and brought the girl to a grassy place. Suddenly he grabbed the startled girl and embraced her tightly. Anagen struggled and succeeded in freeing herself. She ran away and shouted for help but nobody came as the place was not inhabited. The accused ran after the girl and he was able to catch her. He again embraced and kissed Anagen and held her waist and neck. Then the accused totally undressed Anagen by removing her pants and shirt as well as her panties even as the girl struggled and resisted him. After removing his shirt, Fernando Macosta placed himself on top of the crying girl and inserted his penis into her vagina. Because of the shock and sudden pain that she felt in her vagina, Anagen pushed back her assailant. She cried and pleaded for mercy and asked the accused to let her go. The accused merely replied: “Later as I am not yet satisfied with you.” He remained on top of the complainant and placed his penis between her thighs. He continued to kiss and embrace the girl. After some time, Anagen Dobluis again pleaded to be allowed to go home. This time the accused released her. She put on her clothes and walked back to the boat followed by the accused. She estimated the time to be past four o’clock in the afternoon as the sun was already in the west. Upon reaching the floating house, Anagen saw that her father was very drunk including the other guests. She decided not to tell her father about the incident as she was afraid he would start a fight. Instead she asked him that they will go home. After much urging from her, he agreed and they finally went home. When they reached their house, Anagen fell asleep as she felt so tired and confused after what happened to her. The following morning upon waking up, Anagen told her mother what the accused did to her. Her mother cried and they decided to file charges for rape against Fernando Macosta. x x x .”[4] On the other hand, the trial court summarized the version of the defense as follows: “On June 13, 1995, the complainant, Anagen Dobluis, arrived at the floating house with her father and a boy named Loloy. They brought with them the bottles of softdrinks, beer and Tanduay ordered on credit from the Dobluis store. The accused claimed that he had met Anagen about three times already. The first time was during a picnic at the lake shore where he and the girl fell in love. At the floating house, they ate “Kinilaw”, drank rum and enjoyed themselves. Fernando Macosta declared that it was not a birthday party as his birth date is September 10. The occasion was purely for their enjoyment. Later, the accused asked Anagen’s father to bring her with him to get some shrimps from his trap locally known as “bantak”. The father agreed and Anagen and Macosta rode on a paddleboat with her at the prow while the accused paddled at the rear of the boat. They conversed and told stories to each other on the way to the trap. They were able to gather only a few shrimps so they decided to return to the floating house. The accused claimed that they left the floating house at about one o’clock in the afternoon and returned to it at about three o’clock. By way of rebuttal, Fernando Macosta maintained that nothing untoward happened between him and Anagen Dobluis during the entire boat trip. Among other things, he denied that he embraced and kissed the complainant or that he forcibly undressed and raped her at the lakeshore as she claimed. She was even laughing on the way back to the floating house and invited him to visit her at her house. When they reached the floating house, Anagen’s father and the others were still drinking and making merry as there were some drinks left. After a while they told the accused they were going home. So he brought Anagen, her father, two women, a man and a boy back to the shore in the pumpboat owned by his employer, Arnolfo Mayordo.”[5] The trial court found MACOSTA guilty as charged and sentenced him as follows: “Wherefore, premises considered, the Court finds the accused, Fernando Macosta Calang, alias Dodong, guilty beyond reasonable doubt as a principal in the crime of rape by means of force and intimidation under Article 335, of the Revised Penal Code, and there being no modifying circumstance to consider, hereby sentences him to reclusion perpetua and its accessory penalties; and to pay the costs. The accused is ordered to indemnify the victim, Anagen Dobluis, in the amount of P50,000.00. SO ORDERED.”[6] In convicting MACOSTA, the trial court relied primarily on the testimony of ANAGEN. The trial court assessed ANAGEN’s testimony as follows: “In the case at bench, the charge of rape is based on the sole testimony of the complainant in the absence of any eye-witness to the commission of the crime itself. Nevertheless, the Court was impressed by the apparent candidness and sincerity in the testimony of Anagen Dobluis, a comely high school student of barely sixteen. From her demeanor and deportment while testifying in court, it is indeed difficult to believe that she would tell a story of rape in a public trial and allow her private parts to be examined unless she was solely motivated to bring the culprit before the bar of justice.”[7] In this appeal, MACOSTA faults the trial court for finding him guilty of the crime of rape and for giving weight and credence to the testimony of ANAGEN. According to MACOSTA, the following circumstances render the testimony of ANAGEN that she was raped incredible: 1) ANAGEN went with MACOSTA unchaperoned to gather shrimps at the lake from 1:00 to about 4:00 in the afternoon; 2) ANAGEN uttered “this place is very lonely” to MACOSTA when they reached the shore of the lake; 3) the father of ANAGEN attended the birthday party of MACOSTA despite the former’s claim that he did not know the latter; 4) ANAGEN’s mother sold the drinks to MACOSTA on credit even if the former supposedly did not know him.[8] MACOSTA then attempts to impress upon this Court that the aforementioned circumstances show that ANAGEN and MACOSTA were sweethearts. |
