c. By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority;
d. When the offended party is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even
though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present;
3. That said act is performed with a child exploited in prostitution or subjected to
other sexual abuse; and
4. That the offended party is a child, whether male or female, below 18 years of
age.
Regarding the first requisite, intentional touching, either directly or through
clothing, of the genitalia of any person, with intent to abuse or gratify sexual desire
falls under the definition of "lascivious conduct"[20] under Section 2 (h) of the rules
and regulations of R.A. No. 7610. With respect to the second requisite, "force and
intimidation" is said to be subsumed under "coercion and influence" and such terms
are used almost synonymously.[21] This can be gleaned from Black's Law Dictionary
definitions of "coercion" as "compulsion; force; duress", of "influence" as
''persuasion carried over to the point of overpowering the will”, and of "force" as
"constraining power, compulsion; strength directed to an end"; as well as from
jurisprudence which defines "intimidation" as "unlawful coercion; extortion; duress;
putting in fear".[22] Anent the third requisite, a child is deemed exploited in
prostitution or subjected to other sexual abuse when the child indulges in sexual
intercourse or lascivious conduct (a) for money, profit or any other consideration;
or (b) under the coercion or any influence of any adult, syndicate or group.[23] As
for the fourth requisite, "children" refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of
age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect
themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a
physical or mental disability or condition.[24]
All the elements of acts of lasciviousness under Art. 336 of the Revised Penal Code,
in relation to Section 5(b), Art. III of R.A. No. 7610, were established by the
prosecution through the credible testimony of BBB to the effect that appellant, her
father, showed a knife and threatened to kill her should she make any noise, then
forcibly removed her shorts and panty, and inserted his finger in her vagina,
causing her to feel pain.
As the trial court aptly observed, BBB was able to describe how each of the rape
incidents was done to her by her father, and her narration of the incidents were
clear and detailed as she was able to clearly and unwaveringly narrate her ordeal in
the hands of her very own father, thus:
[PROS. ZHELLA M. MANRIQUE]