through her Final Medico-Legal Report that AAA was 20 to 22 weeks pregnant.7 It was
at this moment that AAA revealed to BBB that Tuando raped her.8 BBB brought AAA to
her employer's house and let her stay there until she gave birth on 3 September 2006.9
On 7 October 2006, AAA was again raped by Tuando when she went back to their
house to visit her brothers. She decided to spend the night inside the house upon
learning that Tuando was not around during that time. However, late in the evening,
she was awakened when she felt that Tuando was on top of her and started kissing her.
Tuando covered her mouth and raped her again, this time with a knife poked at her.10
The next day, AAA told BBB that she was raped again by Tuando. Prompted by the
abuse on her daughter, BBB filed a complaint before the barangay officials, who in turn,
invited Tuando to their office for questioning. Thereafter, AAA and BBB proceeded to
the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Office to report the rape and executed their
respective sworn statements about the crime.11 The barangay officials transferred
Tuando to the NBI for investigation.12
Tuando denied raping AAA. He testified that sometime in the year 2005, he and AAA
had a relationship like a husband and wife but only started to be sexually intimate in
January 2006. Their relationship was kept secret because during that time, he and BBB
were still in a common-law relationship. On June 2006, BBB came to know of his
relationship with AAA when she noticed that the latter was getting very close to him.
Turning her anger on her daughter, she scolded and brought AAA to her (BBB)
employer's house.13
Tuando told the court that he knew that it was AAA's brother CCC who filed the case
against him out of revenge when he scolded him.14
At the end of his testimony, Tuando insisted that he never forced AAA to submit to
sexual intercourse; that it was consensual and that it was committed out of love.
Finally, he found nothing wrong in his relationship with AAA despite her minority and
the fact that she is the daughter of his common-law spouse.15
On 26 August 2010, after the trial, the RTC found that the prosecution was able to
prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. It found credible AAA's
narration that she was raped by the accused sometime in January 2006. It emphasized
that the victim testified in a straightforward, candid and natural manner in her
recollection of her harrowing ordeal in the hands of the accused.
On the other hand, the trial court rejected the sweetheart defense advanced by the
accused as the reason for his sexual congress of AAA. It anchored its denial on the fact
that the accused failed to present any affirmative evidence to substantiate his claim
such as mementos, love letters, notes or any picture proving that he and the victim
were indeed sweethearts.
Convinced that Tuando raped AAA, the court found the accused guilty:
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