20

People vs. Tapales

93 SCRA 134

FACTS:
One evening, while Diana Ang and her boyfriend Eugenio Calaykay were in a
taxicab, one man armed with a knife and another, armed with a gun, approached the
taxicab and said "This is a holdup, we only need money." The accused took Eugenio's
"Rado" wrist watch, Diana's "Parker" ball pen worth P10.00 and Mexican money worth
P2.00. Eugenio shouted, "hold-up, hold- up" so he was instantly stabbed by Coranez
and shot by Tapales. Diana then grappled with Coranez for the possession of the knife
while Eugenio already wounded, squeezed himself out of the right window. Eugenio fell
in the middle of Del Pan bridge and died.
Inside the taxicab, Tapales was abusing Diana while Coranez was poking a knife at
her. Upon finding a vacant lot, the two accused took turns in raping her.

Issue:
Can rape be an aggravating circumstance in the crime of robbery?

Held:
Yes.

Ratio:
It is the uniform jurisprudence of the Supreme Court that where the crime
charged is robbery with homicide and rape, the legal definition of the crime is robbery
with homicide punishable under paragraph 1, Article 294 of the Penal Code; and the
rape committed on the occasion of that crime is considered an aggravating
circumstance. Instead of ignominy, therefore, it is the rape itself that aggravates. Rape
committed on the occasion of robbery with homicide increases the moral evil of the
crime.