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his friend, Enrico. When Zareens advances did not work on him, she became
exasperated and went to the bathroom to clean herself. Silvino then heard Nenita
Maraon inquiring if everything was ok to which he responded that it was him
and not Enrico who was in the room. On his way out, he met Enrico who
proceeded to beat him up with the help of his friends but managed to escape and
report the incident to the police.
ISSUE: Is Silvino Salarza Jr. guilty of Rape?
RULING: No. The court ruled that accused-appellant was not guilty of the crime
of rape and was acquitted. Art 335 of the RPC, as amended by Sec 11, RA 7659,
provides the grounds in committing rape in which it be committed under any of
the following circumstances: (a) by using force or intimidation; (b) when the
woman is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; and (c) when the woman
is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented. Given the facts provided, the
court did not find them substantiating the information.
The complaining witness did not meet any of the circumstances that would
constitute rape. First of all, she was clearly not below 12 years old and not
demented. Second, the court finds that there was no use of force or intimidation
on the part of the accused as Zareen was aware of what was happening and
allowed him to have sex with her. Her claim that she did not resist because she
thought he was her boyfriend was not persuasive. The evidence show that this
mistake was subjective and relied upon Zareens passive assumption and
negligence to confirm if the person who touched her was indeed her boyfriend;
Silvino did nothing to mislead her into thinking that he was Enrico and. Third,
Zareen was not deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious. Her claim that she
was half-asleep when she felt someone pulling off her underwear did not have
merit as she was aware of what was happening even before Silvino could
penetrate her. Zareen was able to clearly describe what was happening hence
her contention did not stand as she was neither deprived of reason nor
unconscious at the time of the alleged rape. Given the above reasons, the court
could not find compelling reasons against the rape charges to Silvino Salarza, Jr.
hence he was acquitted of the crime charged against him.
SEPARATE OPINIONS: Dissenting opinions were provided by Justice Regelado
and Justice Davide, Jr. to this case in which they uphold the ruling of the Trial
court with slight modification of the penalty imposed by lowering it from Death to
Reclusion Perpetua instead. Regalado and Davide Jr. were both of the opinion
that the case at bar is rape and that Salarza is guilty of having committed it. They
stressed out that the state of half-asleep cannot be completely by passed or
recognized as a state of full consciousness and that Zareen, at that time, allowed
Salarza to penetrate her as she thought he was her boyfriend and that this is a
legitimate act of good faith on her end.