Prevalent criminal incidents
This case is quite relevant nowadays as it is similar to the many incidents happening in our streets now involving drivers of public utility vehicles committing various sexual crimes against their women passengers. This is the case of Jenny.
Jenny is a product support representative of call center firm working on a 10 p.m.-7 a.m. shift. Since her residence is quite far from her place of work and considering her working hours, her aunt would usually bring her to the toll gate of the expressway passing their town, and from there, she would ride either an SUV express van or a bus bound for her office.
One evening at around 8 p.m. Jenny boarded a passenger van at the toll gate. She sat at the front passenger seat which was the only vacant seat as there were already nine passengers on board. When they reached Quezon City, the passengers alighted one by one until Jenny was the only passenger left since she has not reached her place of destination yet. To pay for her fare amounting to P30 she handed to the driver Nonong a P100 peso bill. Nonong thus told her that he would change first the P100.00 bill and made a few turns until they reached a dark and lonely alley. Jenny felt uneasy, so she told Nonong that she would alight. But then she heard the cocking of a gun by Nonong who poked it at her chest and drove her to a motel. Nonong then parked the van inside the motel parking garage with a room at the second floor, dragged Jenny inside then pushed her on the bed. Jenny tried to run and reached for the door, but Nonong pushed her back to the bed. She was stripped of her pants and panty, and thereafter, Nonong took of his shorts and under wear. Despite Jenny’s plea, Nonong forced himself to her and had sex with her. Afterwards, with the gun in his hand, Nonong threatened to kill her if she would report the matter to the police and dropped her off. Jenny then boarded a taxi and proceeded to where she narrated to her supervisor and officemates what happened to her.
Her officemates then accompanied her to the nearest police station at around 12:20 a.m. of the following day where she reported her ordeal to the Police Officer on duty. The Police Officer then sought the assistance of four other fellow policemen and immediately conducted follow up operations which led to the arrest of Nonong at a bus terminal in Cubao, QC. Recovered from him was the gun he used with five ammunitions. They brought Nonong and the van used to the police station. After the medical examination of Jenny and necessary investigation of the case, Nonong was accused of kidnapping with rape and illegal possession of firearms.
For his defense, Nonong claimed that what happened to him and Jenny was a consensual sex. He said that prior to the incident he had a conversation with Jenny who told him that: she works for a computer company; that she sends her siblings to school; that her father is in a drug rehabilitation center; and that she needs money at that time. In return Nonong thus offered her P4,000 and some signature clothes. When Jenny did not make any attempt to alight from the van, Nonong thus brought her to the motel believing that she agreed to have a sexual congress with him.
But the trial court found Jenny’s candid and straightforward testimony narrating how Nonong raped her as more honest and credible. She even cried while testifying. It did not believe Nonong’s claim that she was a small time prostitute, considering that she was a college graduate who was already working at the time of the incident and the fact that she immediately reported the rape incident despite threat to her life. Thus it sentenced Nonong to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua for
kidnapping with rape and imprisonment of six months and one day to two years for illegal possession of firearms.
On appeal to the Court of Appeals ( CA), the RTC decision was affirmed except that instead of kidnapping with rape it found Nonong guilty of rape qualified by the use of deadly weapon. The CA also reduced the penalty for illegal possession of firearms to 30 days to four months imprisonment. The CA upheld the RTC’s assessment of Jenny’s credibility because of its unique position to observe the deportment of witnesses while testifying.
The Supreme Court likewise affirmed the decision of the CA sentencing Nonong to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua for the crime of qualified rape. It however set the conviction for illegal possession of firearms since the use of the firearm here only aggravated the offense of rape and not a separate crime.
The SC found no reason to disagree with the findings of the RTC as affirmed by the CA that Jenny was raped by Nonong. According to the SC, the essential element of rape is the absence of the victim’s consent to the sexual congress. In this case, Nonong’s act of holding a gun and threatening Jenny with the same showed force or at least intimidation which was sufficient for her to submit to his bestial desire for fear of her life. It did not accept Nonong’s contention that Jenny had several opportunities to ask for help or escape. According to the SC, the workings of a human mind when placed under stress are unpredictable. In a given situation, some may shout, others may faint and still others may be frozen into silence. Consequently, the failure of Jenny to run away or shout for help at the very first opportunity cannot be construed as consent to the sexual intercourse. The truthfulness of Jenny’s charge for rape was further bolstered by her conduct immediately thereafter when she went right away to her office and narrated her ordeal to her officemates and went to the police station to report the incident and submit to medical examination (Sison vs. People, G.R. 187229, February 22, 2012).
Email: attyjosesison@ gmail. com