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G.R. No. 138033 - February 22, 2006 RENATO BALEROS, JR., Petitioner, People of The Philippines, Respondent
G.R. No. 138033 - February 22, 2006 RENATO BALEROS, JR., Petitioner, People of The Philippines, Respondent
138033 | February 22, 2006 …the opportunity presented itself when she was able to grab hold of
his sex organ which she then squeezed.
RENATO BALEROS, JR., Petitioner,
vs. The man let her go and MALOU went straight to the bedroom door
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent. and roused Marvilou. xxx. Over the intercom, MALOU told S/G Ferolin
that: "may pumasok sa kuarto ko pinagtangkaan ako" (Ibid., p. 8).
DECISION Who it was she did not, however, know. The only thing she had made
out during their struggle was the feel of her attacker’s clothes and
weight. His upper garment was of cotton material while that at the
GARCIA, J.:
lower portion felt smooth and satin-like (Ibid, p. 17). He … was
wearing a t-shirt and shorts … Original Records, p. 355).
In this petition for review on certiorari, petitioner Renato Baleros, Jr.
assails and seeks the reversal of the January 13, 1999 decision 1 of the
To Room 310 of the Building where her classmates Christian Alcala,
Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR No. 17271 as reiterated in its
Bernard Baptista, Lutgardo Acosta and Rommel Montes were staying,
March 31, 1999 resolution 2 denying petitioner’s motion for
MALOU then proceeded to seek help. xxx.
reconsideration.
It was then when MALOU saw her bed … topsy-turvy. Her nightdress
The assailed decision affirmed an earlier decision of the Regional Trial
was stained with blue … (TSN, July 5, 1993, pp. 13-14). Aside from the
Court (RTC) of Manila, Branch 2, in Criminal Case No. 91-101642
window with grills which she had originally left opened, another
finding petitioner Renato Baleros, Jr. y David (CHITO) guilty of
window inside her bedroom was now open. Her attacker had fled
attempted rape.3
from her room going through the left bedroom window (Ibid, Answers
to Question number 5; Id), the one without iron grills which leads to
The accusatory portion of the information 4 dated December 17, 1991 Room 306 of the Building (TSN, July 5, 1993, p.6).
charging petitioner with attempted rape reads as follow:
xxx xxx xxx
That about 1:50 in the morning or sometime thereafter of 13
December 1991 in Manila and within the jurisdiction of this
Further, MALOU testified that her relation with CHITO, who was her
Honorable Court, the above-named accused, by forcefully covering
classmate …, was friendly until a week prior to the attack. CHITO
the face of Martina Lourdes T. Albano with a piece of cloth soaked in
confided his feelings for her, telling her: "Gusto kita, mahal kita" (TSN,
chemical with dizzying effects, did then and there willfully, unlawfully
July 5, 1993, p. 22) and she rejected him. …. (TSN, July 5, 1993, p. 22).
and feloniously commenced the commission of rape by lying on top
of her with the intention to have carnal knowledge with her but was
unable to perform all the acts of execution by reason of some cause Meanwhile, according to S/G Ferolin, while he was on duty, CHITO
or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance, said acts arrived at the Building at 1:30 in the early morning of December 13,
being committed against her will and consent to her damage and 1991, wearing a white t-shirt with “‘…a marking on the front of the T-
prejudice. shirt T M and a Greek letter (sic) ΣΦ’ and below the quoted letters the
word ‘1946’ ‘UST Medicine and Surgery’” (TSN, October 9, 1992, p. 9)
and black shorts with the brand name “Adidas” (TSN, October 16,
Upon arraignment on February 5, 1992, petitioner, assisted by
1992, p.7) and requested permission to go up to Room 306. This Unit
counsel, pleaded "Not Guilty."5 Thereafter, trial on the merits ensued.
was being leased by Ansbert Co and at that time when CHITO was
asking permission to enter, only Joseph Bernard Africa was in the
To prove its case, the prosecution presented thirteen (13) witnesses. room.
Among them were private complainant Martina Lourdes Albano
(Malou), and her classmates, Joseph Bernard Africa, Rommel Montes,
He asked CHITO to produce the required written authorization and
Renato Alagadan and Christian Alcala. Their testimonies, as narrated
when CHITO could not, S/G Ferolin initially refused [but later,
in some detail in the decision of the CA, established the following
relented] …. S/G Ferolin made the following entry in the security
facts:
guard’s logbook …:
CHITO did just that. He followed after Joseph to Unit 310, carrying his 1) One (1) small white plastic bag marked ‘UNIMART’ with the
gray bag. xxx. None was in Room 310 so Joseph went to their yet following:
another classmate, Renato Alagadan at Room 401 to see if the others
were there. xxx. xxx xxx xxx
People from the CIS came by before 8 o’clock that same morning …. Exh ‘C’ – One (1) night dress colored salmon pink.
They likewise invited CHITO and Joseph to go with them to Camp
Crame where the two (2) were questioned ….
2) One (1) small white pl astic bag marked ‘JONAS’ with the following:
That CHITO left his bag inside Room 310 in the morning of December
Exhs. ‘C’ and ‘D’ contain chloroform, a volatile poison."6 (Words in
13, 1991, was what consisted mainly of Renato R. Alagadan’s
bracket added)
testimony.
For its part, the defense presented, as its main witness, the petitioner
xxx xxx xxx.
himself. He denied committing the crime imputed to him or making
at any time amorous advances on Malou. Unfolding a different At 6 o’clock in the morning of December 13, 1991, CHITO woke up ….
version of the incident, the defense sought to establish the following, He was already in his school uniform when, around 6:30 A.M, Joseph
as culled from the same decision of the appellate court: came to the room not yet dressed up. He asked the latter why this
was so and, without elaborating on it, Joseph told him that something
In December of 1991, CHITO was a medical student of … (UST). With had happened and to just go to Room 310 which CHITO did.
Robert Chan and Alberto Leonardo, he was likewise a member of the
Tau Sigma Phi Fraternity …. MALOU, …, was known to him being also At Room 310, CHITO was told by Rommel Montes that somebody,
a medical student at the UST at the time. whom MALOU was not able to identify, went to the room of MALOU
and tried to rape her (TSN, April 25, 1994, p. 36). xxx.
From Room 306 of the Celestial Marie Building …, CHITO, wearing the
prescribed barong tagalog over dark pants and leather shoes, arrived Joseph told him that the security guard was not letting anybody out
at their Fraternity house located at … Dos Castillas, Sampaloc, Manila of the Building …. When two (2) CIS men came to the unit asking for
at about 7 o’clock in the evening of December 12, 1991. He was Renato Baleros, CHITO presented himself. Congressman Rodolfo B.
included in the entourage of some fifty (50) fraternity members Albano, father of MALOU, then asked him for the key to Room 306….
scheduled for a Christmas gathering at the house of their senior
fraternity brother, Dr. Jose Duran, at No. 3 John Street, North xxx xxx xxx
Greenhills, San Juan. xxx.
The CIS men looked inside the bedroom and on the windows. Joseph
The party was conducted at the garden beside [the] swimming pool was told to dress up and the two (2) of them, CHITO and Joseph, were
…. Soon after, … the four (4) presidential nominees of the Fraternity, brought to Camp Crame.
CHITO included, were being dunked one by one into the pool. xxx.
When they arrived at Camp Crame …, Col. Managuelod asked Joseph
xxx CHITO had anticipated his turn … and was thus wearing his t-shirt inside his room and talked to him for 30 minutes. xxx. No one
and long pants when he was dunked. Perla Duran, …, offered each … interviewed CHITO to ask his side.
dry clothes to change into and CHITO put on the white t-shirt with the
Fraternity’s symbol and a pair of black shorts with stripes. xxx .
xxx xxx xxx
Otherwise stated, the basic issue in this case turns on the question on
WHEREFORE, under cool reflection and prescinding from the
whether or not the CA erred in affirming the ruling of the RTC finding
foregoing, the Court finds the accused Renato D. Baleros, Jr., alias
petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of attempted
"Chito", guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of attempted
rape.
rape as principal and as charged in the information and hereby
sentences him to suffer an imprisonment ranging from FOUR (4)
YEARS, TWO (2) MONTHS AND ONE (1) DAY of Prision Correctional, as After a careful review of the facts and evidence on record in the light
Minimum to TEN (10) YEARS of Prision Mayor as Maximum, with all of applicable jurisprudence, the Court is disposed to rule for
the accessory penalties provided by law, and for the accused to pay petitioner’s acquittal, but not necessarily because there is no direct
the offended party Martina Lourdes T. Albano, the sum of P50,000.00 evidence pointing to him as the intruder holding a chemical-soaked
by way of Moral and exemplary damages, plus reasonable Attorney’s cloth who pinned Malou down on the bed in the early morning of
fees of P30,000.00, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of December 13, 1991.
insolvency, and to pay the costs.
Positive identification pertains essentially to proof of identity and not
SO ORDERED. per se to that of being an eyewitness to the very act of commission of
the crime. There are two types of positive identification. A witness
may identify a suspect or accused as the offender as an eyewitness to
Aggrieved, petitioner went to the CA whereat his appellate recourse
the very act of the commission of the crime. This constitutes direct
was docketed as CA-G.R. CR No. 17271.
evidence. There may, however, be instances where, although a
witness may not have actually witnessed the very act of commission
As stated at the threshold hereof, the CA, in its assailed Decision of a crime, he may still be able to positively identify a suspect or
dated January 13, 1999, affirmed the trial court’s judgment of accused as the perpetrator of a crime as when, for instance, the latter
conviction, to wit: is the person or one of the persons last seen with the victim
immediately before and right after the commission of the crime. This
WHEREFORE, finding no basis in fact and in law to deviate from the is the second type of positive identification, which forms part of
findings of the court a quo, the decision appealed from is hereby circumstantial evidence.13 In the absence of direct evidence, the
AFFIRMED in toto. Costs against appellant. prosecution may resort to adducing circumstantial evidence to
discharge its burden. Crimes are usually committed in secret and
SO ORDERED.11 under condition where concealment is highly probable. If direct
evidence is insisted under all circumstances, the prosecution of
vicious felons who committed heinous crimes in secret or secluded
Petitioner moved for reconsideration, but his motion was denied by
places will be hard, if not well-nigh impossible, to prove.14
the CA in its equally assailed resolution of March 31, 1999. 12
The penalty for coercion falling under the second paragraph of Article
287 of the Revised Penal Code is arresto menor or a fine ranging from
₱5.00 to ₱200.00 or both.