imposition of the penalty of death, the imposable penalty for qualified rape under
Article 266-B of the RPC.
With respect to the award of damages, the Court affirms the modifications made by
the CA as to the amounts awarded in Criminal Case No. 09-1119, in consonance
with this Court's ruling in People v. Jugueta,[52] that AAA is entitled to P100,000.00
as civil indemnity, P100,000.00 as moral damages, and P100,000.00 as exemplary
damages for the crime of qualified rape.
As for Criminal Case Nos. 09-1118 and 09-1121, the Court agrees with the CA that
the accused-appellant is guilty in both instances.
To sustain a conviction under Section 5(b), Article III of RA No. 7610, the
prosecution must establish the following elements: (1) the accused commits the act
of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct; (2) the said act is performed with a
child exploited in prostitution or subjected to sexual abuse; and (3) the child,
whether male or female, is below 18 years of age.
In the present cases, the above elements were duly established by the prosecution.
On two separate occasions, the accused-appellant was found to have subjected his
17-year old daughter, AAA, to sexual abuse and committed lascivious conduct
against her, using his moral ascendancy or influence, in lieu of force or intimidation.
On November 3, 2009, he was accused of sliding his hands under AAA's shirt and
touching her breasts while they were inside their house when the other members of
their family were sleeping. This reprehensible act was again repeated on November
5, 2009 when the accused-appellant touched AAA's vagina and would have
proceeded to have carnal knowledge of her had not his other daughter awakened
and called him out.
However, there is a need to modify the nomenclature of the offenses and the
damages imposed, in light of this Court's ruling in People v. Caoili,[53] to wit:
Conversely, when the victim, at the time the offense was committed is aged twelve
(12) years or over but under eighteen (18), or is eighteen (18) or older but unable
to fully take care of herself/himself or protect himself/herself from abuse, neglect,
cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or
condition, the nomenclature of the offense should be Lascivious Conduct under
Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610, since the law no longer refers to Article 336 of the
RPC, and the perpetrator is prosecuted solely under R.A. No. 7610.
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