Feeling aggrieved, Colorado appealed from the RTC’s decision to the CA, reiterating in his appeal
the defenses of denial and alibi. He further sought his acquittal by arguing that the hymenal
lacerations discovered by AAA’s examining doctor, and considered by the trial court in determining
his culpability, could have been caused not by him, but by the sexual aggressions committed by their
brother DDD or their brother-in-law unto AAA.
The Ruling of the CA
The CA affirmed Colorado’s conviction, but modified his civil liability. The decretal portion of its
Decision dated August 19, 2011 reads:
WHEREFORE, the appealed Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Burgos, Pangasinan (Branch
70), dated 19 June 2008, is AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that, in addition to the civil
indemnity of Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00), appellant is ordered to pay the victim
moral damages of Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00) instead of Fifty Thousand Pesos
(P50,000.00), and to pay exemplary damages of Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000.00).
SO ORDERED.9
Hence, this appeal. Both Colorado and the Office of the Solicitor General, as counsel for plaintiffappellee People of the Philippines, dispensed with the filing with the Court of supplemental briefs,
and adopted instead their respective briefs with the CA.
This Court’s Ruling
The appeal lacks merit.
Colorado was charged with the crime of rape, qualified by the victim’s minority and her relationship
to her ravisher, as defined and penalized under Article 266-A, in relation to Article 266-B, of the
Revised Penal Code (RPC), as follows:
Art. 266-A. Rape; When and How Committed. – Rape is committed:
1) By a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:
a. Through force, threat or intimidation;
b. When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious;
c. By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; and
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.
xxxx
Art. 266-B. Penalties. – x x x.
xxxx