Decision
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G.R. No. 234841
To achieve uniformity in designating the proper offense, moreover,
the Court, in People v. Caoili, 21 prescribed the following guidelines in
designating or charging the proper offense in case lascivious conduct is
committed under Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610, and in determining the
imposable penalty: (1) The age of the victim is taken into consideration in
designating or charging the offense, and in determining the imposable
penalty; (2) If the victim is under twelve (12) years of age, the nomenclature
of the crime should be "Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the RPC
in relation to Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610." Pursuant to the second proviso
in Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7 610, the imposable penalty is reclusion
temporal in its medium period; and (3) If the victim is exactly twelve (12)
years of age, or more than twelve (12) but below eighteen (18) years of age,
or is eighteen (18) years old or older, but is unable to fully take care of
herself/himself or protect herself/himself from abuse, neglect, cruelty,
exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or
condition, the crime should be designated as "Lascivious Conduct under
Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 7610," and the imposable penalty is reclusion
temporal in its medium period to reclusion perpetua. 22
In our recent pronouncement, People v. Salvador Tulagan, 23 the Court
further held that based on the Caoili24 guidelines, it is only when the victim
of the lascivious conduct is eighteen (18) years old and above that such
crime would be designated as "Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of
the RPC" with the imposable penalty of prision correccional. Thus,
considering the development of the crime of sexual assault from a mere
"crime against chastity" in the form of acts of lasciviousness to a "crime
against persons" akin to rape, as well as the rulings in Dimakuta25 and
Caoili, 26 it was ruled that on the one hand, if the acts constituting sexual
assault are committed against a victim under twelve (12) years of age or is
demented, the nomenclature of the offense should now be "Sexual Assault
under paragraph 2, Article 266-A of the RPC, in relation to Section 5(b) of
R.A. No. 7610," and no longer "Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of
the RPC, in relation to Section 5(b) of R.A. No. 761 0," because sexual
assault as a form of acts of lasciviousness is no longer covered by Article
336, but by Article 266-A(2) of the RPC, as amended by R.A. No. 8353.
Nevertheless, the imposable penalty is still reclusion temporal in its medium
period, and not prision mayor.
However, before an accused can be held criminally liable for
lascivious conduct under Section 5(b ), Article III of R.A. No. 7610, the
Court held in Quimvel v. People27 that the requisites of acts of lasciviousness
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
G.R. Nos. 196342 and 196848, August 8, 2017, 835 SCRA 107.
Id. at 153-154.
G.R. No. 227363, March 21, 2019.
Supra note 21.
Supra note 18.
Supra note 21.
G.R. No. 214497, April 18, 2017, 823 SCRA 192.