Hanna Dominique H.
Besa, 1-E
People of the Philippines v. Remeias
Begino y Grajo
FACTS:
Begino was formally charged with the
crime of rape of an 8 year old girl,
pleading not guilty
The victim, AAA, testified when she was
14 years old stating that when she and
Begino were alone in the house, he was
sharpening his bolo while her mother,
BBB, was out getting talapang. He used
the opportunity to take advantage of
AAA. When he had raped her, AAA felt
pain and blood ooze out of her vagina.
After satisfying himself, Begino warned
AAA that he would kill her and BBB if
she would tell anybody about the
incident.
AAA eventually told her mother, claiming
that she had been raped 4 times since.
BBB brought her daughter to the DSWD
and the PNP. It was Dr. Barazona who
discovered lacerations on AAAs hymen
caused by penetrations of an erected
and turgid sex organ.
BBB filed charges against Begino who
denied and asserted that he treated AAA
and her siblings as his own since he
started living with her mother, further
testifying that from 6am to 6pm of the
alleged day the rape occurred, he was
at the coconut plantation of Apolinario
Malaluan husking coconuts together
with Camilo and Reynaldo, his first
cousins, who serve as witnesses.
The RTC found Begino guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of
statutory rape aggravated by the fact
that the victim is below 18 years old and
that the offender is the common law
husband of BBB. Even with his alibi, the
plantation was a 30 min. walk to his
house. It was not physically impossible
for him to have been present at the
scene of the crime. He was sentenced
to death. The CA affirmed the decision.
ISSUE: W/N the accused can be indicted
for qualified rape and penalized under par. 1
of Art. 266-B of the RPC
HELD: NO
Under Art. 266-B, par. 1 it identifies a list
of offenders to whom the death penalty
shall be imposed upon for the crime of
rape: a parent, ascendant, step-parent,
guardian, relative by consaguinity or
affinity within the 3rd degree, or the
common law spouse of the parent of the
victim.
The circumstances that qualify a crime
should be alleged and proved beyond
reasonable doubt as the crime itself.
Because Begino and BBB were not
actually married, with no proof to
support this. Begino is technically not
the stepfather of AAA as in the list of
offenders identified, although this was
stated in the Information.
The prosecutions failure to prove the
qualifying circumstance that he is her
stepfather thus bars conviction for rape
in its qualified form.
Qualifying circumstances must be
properly pleaded in the indictment. If
the same are not pleaded but proved,
they shall be considered only as
aggravating circumstances since the
latter admit of proof even if not pleaded.
It would be a denial of the right of the
accused to be informed of the
charges against him and
consequently, a denial of due
process, if he is charged with simple
rape and be convicted of its qualified
form, although the attendant
circumstance qualifying the offense and
resulting in the capital punishment was
not alleged in the indictment on which
he was arraigned.
Since the qualifying circumstance of
common law spouse was not alleged in
the Information for rape against
appellant, he could not be convicted of
rape in the qualified form as he was not
properly informed of the nature and
cause of accusation against him. In a
criminal prosecution, it is a fundamental
rule that every element of the crime
charged must be alleged in the
complaint or information.
Hanna Dominique H. Besa, 1-E