SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 219889, January 29, 2018 ]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS.
EDWIN DAGSA Y BANTAS @ "WING WING," ACCUSEDAPPELLANT.
DECISION
PERALTA, J.:
Before the Court is an ordinary appeal filed by accused-appellant Edwin Dagsa y
Bantas @ "Wing Wing" assailing the Decision[1] of the Court of Appeals (CA),
promulgated on August 29, 2014, in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 06087, which affirmed,
with modification, the September 21, 2012 Judgment[2] of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) of La Trinidad, Benguet, Branch 9, in Criminal Case No. 04-CR-5629, finding
accused-appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape.
The antecedents are as follows:
On October 11, 2004, the victim, AAA, a young girl who was then four (4) years
old, was walking home with two of her classmates after having been dismissed from
their class in Kapangan, Benguet. While they were on their way home, herein
accused-appellant, who is the cousin of AAA's father, blocked their path and told
AAA's classmates to go ahead as he would be giving AAA a candy. AAA's classmates
left her and, after walking a little farther, they looked back and saw accusedappellant remove AAA's panty and proceeded to fondle her vagina. Thereafter,
when AAA arrived home, her mother, BBB, noticed that the victim immediately
removed her panty, saying that she no longer wanted to use it. The following day,
while BBB was giving AAA a bath, the latter refused that her vagina be washed
claiming that it was painful. Upon her mother's inquiry, AAA replied that accusedappellant played with her vagina and inserted his penis in it. BBB immediately went
to talk to AAA's classmates about the incident whereby the said classmates relayed
to her what they saw. They then proceeded to the police station to report the
incident. AAA's classmates gave their statements, but AAA was not able to give
hers as she was too shy. A criminal complaint for rape was eventually filed against
accused-appellant. In an Information dated November 25, 2004, the Provincial
Prosecutor of Benguet charged accused-appellant with the crime of rape as defined
under Article 266-A, paragraph 1(d) and penalized under Article 266-B, paragraph