circumstances or to have the courage and intelligence to disregard the threat.54
(Emphasis supplied)
It is not hard to imagine 11-year-old AAA being intimidated and cowed into silence and
submission by her neighbor, a full grown adult male old enough to be her parent,55 with
threat of humiliation, should she not give in to his dastardly desires. She is still a child
not capable of fully understanding or knowing the import of her actions. Verily, in
almost all cases of sexual abuse, the credibility of the victim's testimony is crucial in
view of the intrinsic nature of the crime where only the persons involved can testify as
to its occurrence. Hence, the Court accords a high degree of respect to the assessment
of the trial court which is in the best position to observe the declarations and demeanor
of the witnesses, and evaluate their credibility, even more so when the same is
affirmed by the CA,56 as in this case.
Accordingly, the Court finds the prosecution to have sufficiently established Fianza's
guilt beyond reasonable doubt for Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the RPC in
relation to Section 5 (b), Article III of RA 7610. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence
Law, and absent any mitigating or aggravating circumstances, he is hereby sentenced
to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for an indeterminate period of 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.57 However, in line with recent jurisprudence, the Court modifies
the awards of civil indemnity and moral damages, and hereby orders Fianza to pay the
amounts of P15,000.00 as fine, P20,000.00 as civil indemnity, and P15,000.00 as moral
damages, for each count, plus legal interest thereon at the rate of six percent (6%) per
annum from the finality of this judgment until full payment.58
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The Decision dated November 24, 2014 and the
Resolution dated May 29, 2015 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 35293 are
hereby SET ASIDE and a new one is entered finding petitioner Christopher Fianza
a.k.a. "Topel" (Fianza) GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of two (2) counts of Acts of
Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 5 (b),
Article III of Republic Act No. 7610. Fianza is sentenced to suffer the penalty of
imprisonment of 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)