Case Digest: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES v. WILLY MARDO GANOY y MAMAYABAY 593 SCRA 624 (2009)

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES v. WILLY MARDO GANOY y MAMAYABAY 593 SCRA 624 (2009)

Failure to overcome the prosecution’s evidence amounts to guilt beyond reasonable doubt. AAA, 17 years old was working as a waitress at a videoke bar. At around 1:30 a.m., AAA boarded a tricycle on her way to his brother‘s residence. Appellant Willy Mardo Ganoy accompanied her, but upon reaching the house they found that her brother was not there. AAA and Ganoy thereupon boarded another tricycle to look for her brother at the Home Centrum. On approaching a dimly lighted area, Ganoy suddenly grabbed AAA and dragged her to a nearby vacant lot. When she tried to run, Ganoy twisted her hands and arms and pulled her down. Her head hit a stone which made her dizzy. Ganoy held her neck, pulled a knife and poked it at the side of her body and threatened to stab her. After having sexual intercourse with her against her will, he brought her to a deserted bodega and held her until daybreak. Two witnesses testified for Ganoy. One alleged that, AAA went to the warehouse asking money from him. Another witness also testified that AAA was Ganoy‘s girlfriend, and that AAA delivered a child by another man. Ganoy claimed that he left the videoke bar at 2:00 a.m. and proceeded to the warehouse. Ganoy also claimed that AAA followed him because she wanted to apologize for their quarrel. He further claimed that he impregnated AAA but she had the child aborted, hence, she needed money to pay for the hospital bills. Ganoy did not give her money, however, so AAA left. The trial court found Ganoy guilty of rape. The Supreme Court to which appellant appealed referred the case to the Court of Appeals by Resolution. By decision, the appellate court affirmed the trial court‘s decision with modification.

 
ISSUE:

Whether or not Ganoy is guilty of rape

HELD:

The evaluation of the credibility of witnesses in rape cases is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge whose conclusion deserves much weight and respect because he/she has the direct opportunity to observe them on the stand and ascertain if they are telling the truth or not. In brushing aside the defense of Ganoy, the appellate court held that settled is the rule that allegations are not synonymous to proofs. In the same breath, the Ganoy‘s claim that on the occasion of the alleged rape, [AAA] was asking money from him to defray the hospitalization bill she incurred a day before due to an abortion, is simply preposterous. It would be the height of absurdity, if the same was true, that [AAA] would be able to report for work and served as a waitress until early morning of that day, if she underwent abortion. Besides, based on the medico-legal findings, there was neither evidence nor report of any unusual abrasions on [AAA]‘s internal sexual organs that would prove any recent abortion. On the contrary, the fact that she was raped is conclusively buttressed by the presence of spermatozoa in her vagina. AAA‘s credibility gains light from the fact that she lost no time to immediately report the commission of the rape to police authorities. The presence of spermatozoa in complainant‘s vagina as reflected in the above-quoted Medico-Legal Report of her examination on the same day she claimed to have been raped all the more fortifies the case for AAA. In fine, the Court finds that appellant failed to overcome the prosecution evidence showing his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.