prosecution witnesses should be accorded great weight, given that the said
testimonies corroborated each other on material points.
It is worthy to point out that both the RTC and the CA held that Eulalio was guilty of
statutory rape and acts of lasciviousness. We likewise note that Eulalio did not
present any defense which could otherwise convince Us of his innocence. We
therefore see no reason to depart from the rulings of the RTC and the CA as
regards the accused-appellant's guilt.
As for the penalties, the RTC, which the CA affirmed, correctly imposed reclusion
perpetua in Criminal Case No. 31438-MN for the felony of statutory rape under
Article 266-13 of the RPC.[41]
The damages awarded by the appellate court in Criminal Case No. 31438-MN,
however, must be modified. As explained in the case of People v. Roy,[42] "when the
circumstances surrounding the crime call for the imposition of reclusion perpetua
only, there being no ordinary aggravating circumstance, the proper amount of civil
indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages should be [PhP] 75,000.00
each."[43] Moreover, the monetary awards should be subject to the interest rate of
6% per annum from the finality of the Decision until fully paid.[44]
With regard to the penalty and monetary awards in Criminal Case No. 31439-MN
for the crime of acts of lasciviousness, since the elements of Article 336 of the RPC
as well as that of lascivious conduct under RA No. 7610 (given that the victim was
below 12 years old) were clearly proven in this case, the imposable penalty is
reclusion temporal in its medium period.[45] Furthermore,
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law (ISL), and in the absence of mitigating or
aggravating circumstances, the minimum term shall be taken from the penalty next
lower to reclusion temporal medium, which is reclusion temporal minimum, which
ranges from twelve (12) years and one (1) day to fourteen (14) years and eight (8)
months. The maximum term shall be taken from the medium period of the
imposable penalty, i.e., reclusion temporal in its medium period, which ranges from
fifteen (15) years, six (6) months and twenty (20) days to sixteen (16) years, five
(5) months and nine (9) days.[46]
Accordingly, the prison term is modified to twelve (12) years and one (1) day of
reclusion temporal in its minimum period as minimum, to fifteen (15) years, six (6)
months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal in its medium period as
maximum.[47]
Furthermore, the award of civil indemnity, as well as moral and exemplary
damages in favor of the offended party, should be increased to PhP 50,000.00 each