FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. 166441. October 8, 2014.]

NORBERTO CRUZ y BARTOLOME , petitioner, vs . PEOPLE OF THE

PHILIPPINES , respondent.

DECISION

BERSAMIN , J : p

The intent of the offender to lie with the female de nes the distinction between
attempted rape and acts of lasciviousness. The felony of attempted rape requires such
intent; the felony of acts of lasciviousness does not. Only the direct overt acts of the
offender establish the intent to lie with the female. However, merely climbing on top of a
naked female does not constitute attempted rape without proof of his erectile penis being
in a position to penetrate the female's vagina.
The Case
This appeal examines the decision promulgated on July 26, 2004, 1 whereby the
Court of Appeals (CA) a rmed the conviction for attempted rape of the petitioner by the
Regional Trial Court, Branch 34, in Balaoan, La Union (RTC), and imposing on him the
indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of four (4) years and two (2) months of prision
correccional, as minimum, to ten (10) years of prision mayor, as maximum, and ordering
him to pay moral damages of P20,000.00 to AAA, 2 the victim.
Antecedents
The petitioner was charged in the RTC with attempted rape and acts of
lasciviousness involving different victims. At arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to the
respective informations, to wit:
Criminal Case No. 2388
Attempted Rape
That on or about the 21st day of December 1993, at about 2:00 o'clock in
the morning, along the Bangar-Luna Road, Barangay Central West No. 2,
Municipality of Bangar, Province of La Union, Philippines and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, said accused, did then and there willfully,
unlawfully and feloniously and by means of force and intimidation commenced
the commission of rape directly by overt acts, to wit: While private complainant
AAA, an unmarried woman, fteen (15) years old, was sleeping inside the tent
along Bangar-Luna Road, the said accused remove her panty and underwear and
lay on top of said AAA embracing and touching her vagina and breast with intent
of having carnal knowledge of her by means of force, and if the accused did not
accomplish his purpose that is to have carnal knowledge of the said AAA it was
not because of his voluntary desistance but because the said offended party
succeeded in resisting the criminal attempt of said accused to the damage and
prejudice of said offended party.
ADSIaT

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 CONTRARY TO LAW. 3

Criminal Case No. 2389

Acts of Lasciviousness
That on or about the 21st day of December 1993, at about 3:00 o'clock in
the morning, along the Bangar-Luna Road, Barangay Central West No. 2,
Municipality of Bangar, Province of La Union, Philippines and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused with lewd design,
did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously touch the vagina of [BBB] 4
against the latter's will and with no other purpose but to satisfy his lascivious
desire to the damage and prejudice of said offended party.

CONTRARY TO LAW. 5 DHSEcI

Version of the Prosecution

The CA summarized the version of the Prosecution as follows: 6
. . . [Petitioner] Norberto Bartolome and [his wife] Belinda Cruz were
engaged in the selling of plastic wares and glass wares in different municipalities
around the country. On December 20, 1993, Norberto and Belinda employed AAA
and BBB to help them in selling their wares in Bangar, La Union which was then
celebrating its esta. From Libsong East, Lingayen, Pangasinan to Bangar, La
Union, AAA and BBB boarded a passenger jeepney owned by Norberto. The young
girls were accompanied by Norberto, Belinda, Ruben Rodriguez (driver) and a
sales boy by the name of "Jess".
Upon reaching Bangar, La Union, at around 8:00 in the evening of
December 20, 1993, they parked in front of Maroon enterprises. They brought out
all the goods and wares for display. Two tents were xed in order that they will
have a place to sleep. Belinda and the driver proceeded to Manila in order to get
more goods to be sold.

On December 21, 1993, at around 1:00 o'clock in the morning, AAA and
BBB went to sleep. Less than an hour later, AAA was awakened when she felt that
somebody was on top of her. Norberto was mashing her breast and touching her
private part. AAA realized that she was divested of her clothing and that she was
totally naked. Norberto ordered her not to scream or she'll be killed. AAA tried to
push Norberto away and pleaded to have pity on her but her pleas fell on deaf
ears. She fought back and kicked Norberto twice. TCDHaE

Norberto was not able to pursue his lustful desires. Norberto offered her
money and told her not to tell the incident to her mother otherwise, she will be
killed. AAA went out of the tent to seek help from Jess (the house boy) but she
failed to wake him up.

Thirty minutes later, when AAA returned to their tent, she saw Norberto
touching the private parts of BBB. AAA saw her companion awake but her hands
were shaking. When she finally entered the tent, Norberto left and went outside.

Later that day, AAA and BBB narrated to Jess the incident that took place
that early morning. Later still, while they were on their way to fetch water, AAA and
BBB asked the people around where they can nd the municipal building. An old
woman pointed to them the place.

In the evening of December 21, 1993, AAA and BBB went straight to the
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 municipal hall where they met a policeman by the name of "Sabas". They told
Sabas the sexual advances made to them by Norberto. Norberto was summoned
to the police station where he personally confronted his accusers. When
Norberto's wife, Belinda, arrived at the police station, an argument ensued
between them.

On December 22, 1993, at around 2:20 o'clock in the morning, the police
investigator ordered the complainants to return at 6:00 o'clock in the morning.
Norberto and Belinda were still able to bring AAA and BBB home with them and
worked for them until December 30, 1994, after which they were sent back to
Lingayen, Pangasinan.
On January 10, 1994, AAA and BBB went back to La Union and executed
their respective sworn statements against Norberto.

Version of the Defense

The petitioner denied the criminal acts imputed to him. His version was presented in
the assailed decision of the CA, 7 as follows:
In a bid to exculpate himself, accused-appellant presents a totally different
version of the story. The accused maintains that it was not possible for him to
commit the crimes hurled against him. On the date of the alleged incident, there
were many people around who were preparing for the "simbang gabi".
Considering the location of the tents, which were near the road and the municipal
hall, he could not possibly do the dastardly acts out in the open, not to mention
the fact that once AAA and BBB would scream, the policemen in the municipal
hall could hear them. He believes that the reason why the complainants led
these cases against him was solely for the purpose of extorting money from him.

Judgment of the RTC

After the joint trial of the two criminal cases, the RTC rendered its judgment on April
6, 2000 nding the petitioner guilty beyond reasonable doubt of attempted rape in
Criminal Case No. 2388 and acts of lasciviousness in Criminal Case No. 2389, 8 to wit:
WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing, the Court hereby renders
judgment declaring the accused NORBERTO CRUZ Y BARTOLOME guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of the crimes of ATTEMPTED RAPE and ACTS OF
LASCIVIOUSNESS as de ned and penalized in Article 335 in relation with (sic)
Article 6, par. 3 and Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code respectively.
With respect to the crime of ATTEMPTED RAPE, the Court hereby
sentences the accused to suffer an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment from
FOUR (4) YEARS and TWO (2) MONTHS PRISION CORRECCIONAL as Minimum to
TEN (10) YEARS PRISION MAYOR as Maximum and the accessory penalties
provided for by law and to pay the victim AAA the amount of P20,000.00 as moral
damages.
With regard to the crime of ACTS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS, the Court hereby
sentences the accused to suffer an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment from
FOUR (4) MONTHS ARRESTO MAYOR as Minimum to FOUR (4) YEARS and TWO
(2) MONTHS PRISION CORRECCIONAL as Maximum and the accessory penalties
provided for by law, and to pay the victim BBB the amount of P10,000.00 as
moral damages. cDCaHA

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 The preventive imprisonment suffered by the accused by reason of the two
cases is counted in his favor.

SO ORDERED. 9

Decision of the CA
On appeal, the petitioner contended that the RTC gravely erred in convicting him of
attempted rape despite the dubious credibility of AAA, and of acts of lasciviousness
despite the fact that BBB did not testify.
On July 26, 2004, the CA promulgated its decision a rming the conviction of the
petitioner for attempted rape in Criminal Case No. 2388, but acquitting him of the acts of
lasciviousness charged in Criminal Case No. 2389 due to the insu ciency of the evidence,
10 holding thusly:

In sum, the arguments of the accused-appellant are too puerile and

inconsequential as to dent, even slightly, the overall integrity and probative value
of the prosecution's evidence insofar as AAA is concerned.

Under Article 51 of the Revised Penal Code, the penalty for an attempted
felony is the "penalty lower by two (2) degrees" prescribed by law for the
consummated felony. In this case, the penalty for rape if it had been
consummated would have been reclusion perpetua pursuant to Article 335 of the
Revised Penalty Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659. The penalty two
degrees lower than reclusion perpetua is prision mayor.
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the maximum term of the
penalty shall be the medium period of prision mayor in the absence of any
mitigating or aggravating circumstance and the minimum shall be within the
range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed for the offense which in this
case is prision correccional in any of its periods.

We also nd that the trial court correctly assessed the amount of

P20,000.00 by way of moral damages against the accused-appellant. In a rape
case, moral damages may be awarded without the need of proof or pleading
since it is assumed that the private complainant suffered moral injuries, more so,
when the victim is aged 13 to 19.

Insofar as the crime of acts of lasciviousness committed against BBB, the

accused argues that there is not enough evidence to support such accusation.
BBB did not testify and neither her sworn statement was formally offered in
evidence to support the charge for acts of lasciviousness. cSaADC

In this case, the evidence adduced by the prosecution is insu cient to

substantiate the charge of acts of lasciviousness against the accused-appellant.
The basis of the complaint for acts of lasciviousness is the sworn statement of
BBB to the effect that the accused-appellant likewise molested her by mashing
her breast and touching her private part. However, she was not presented to
testify. While AAA claims that she personally saw the accused touching the
private parts of BBB, there was no testimony to the effect that such lascivious
acts were without the consent or against the will of BBB. 11

Issues
In this appeal, the petitioner posits that the CA's decision was not in accord with law
or with jurisprudence, particularly:
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 I.
In giving credence to the incredulous and unbelievable testimony of the
alleged victim; and

II.
In convicting the accused notwithstanding the failure of the prosecution to
prove the guilt of the petitioner beyond reasonable doubt.

Anent the rst issue, the petitioner assails the behavior and credibility of AAA. He
argues that AAA still continued working for him and his wife until December 30, 1994
despite the alleged attempted rape in the early morning of December 21, 1994, thereby
belying his commission of the crime against her; that he could not have undressed her
without rousing her if she had gone to sleep only an hour before, because her bra was
locked at her back; that her testimony about his having been on top of her for nearly an
hour while they struggled was also inconceivable unless she either consented to his act
and yielded to his lust, or the incident did not happen at all, being the product only of her
fertile imagination; that the record does not indicate if he himself was also naked, or that
his penis was poised to penetrate her; and that she and her mother demanded from him
P80,000.00 as settlement, under threat that she would file a case against him. 12
On the second issue, the petitioner assails the glaring inconsistencies in the
testimony of AAA that cast doubt on her veracity.
Ruling of the Court
The appeal is partly meritorious. AcDHCS

In an appeal under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, 1 3 the Court reviews only questions
of law. No review of the ndings of fact by the CA is involved. As a consequence of this
rule, the Court accords the highest respect for the factual ndings of the trial court, its
assessment of the credibility of witnesses and the probative weight of their testimonies
and the conclusions drawn from its factual ndings, particularly when they are a rmed by
the CA. Judicial experience has shown, indeed, that the trial courts are in the best position
to decide issues of credibility of witnesses, having themselves heard and seen the
witnesses and observed rsthand their demeanor and deportment and the manner of
testifying under exacting examination. As such, the contentions of the petitioner on the
credibility of AAA as a witness for the State cannot be entertained. He thereby raises
questions of fact that are outside the scope of this appeal. Moreover, he thereby proposes
to have the Court, which is not a trier of facts, review the entire evidence adduced by the
Prosecution and the Defense.
Conformably with this limitation, our review focuses only on determining the
question of law of whether or not the petitioner's climbing on top of the undressed AAA
such that they faced each other, with him mashing her breasts and touching her genitalia
with his hands, constituted attempted rape, the crime for which the RTC and the CA
convicted and punished him. Based on the information, supra, he committed such acts
"with intent of having carnal knowledge of her by means of force, and if the accused did
not accomplish his purpose that is to have carnal knowledge of the said AAA it was not
because of his voluntary desistance but because the said offended party succeeded in
resisting the criminal attempt of said accused to the damage and prejudice of said
offended party."

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 There is an attempt, according to Article 6 of the Revised Penal Code, when the
offender commences the commission of a felony directly by overt acts, and does not
perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony by reason of some
cause or accident other than this own spontaneous desistance. In People v. Lamahang , 14
the Court, speaking through the eminent Justice Claro M. Recto, eruditely expounded on
what overt acts would constitute an attempted felony, to wit:
It is our opinion that the attempt to commit an offense which the Penal
Code punishes is that which has a logical relation to a particular, concrete
offense; that, which is the beginning of the execution of the offense by overt acts
of the perpetrator, leading directly to its realization and consummation. The
attempt to commit an indeterminate offense, inasmuch as its nature in relation to
its objective is ambiguous, is not a juridical fact from the standpoint of the Penal
Code. . . . But it is not su cient, for the purpose of imposing penal sanction, that
an act objectively performed constitute a mere beginning of execution; it is
necessary to establish its unavoidable connection, like the logical and natural
relation of the cause and its effect, with the deed which, upon its consummation,
will develop into one of the offenses de ned and punished by the Code; it is
necessary to prove that said beginning of execution, if carried to its complete
termination following its natural course, without being frustrated by external
obstacles nor by the voluntary desistance of the perpetrator, will logically and
necessarily ripen into a concrete offense. . . . .
aTEHIC

"It must be borne in mind (I Groizard, p. 99) that in offenses not

consummated, as the material damage is wanting, the nature of the action
intended (accion n) cannot exactly be ascertained, but the same must be
inferred from the nature of the acts of execution (accion medio) . Hence, the
necessity that these acts be such that by their very nature, by the facts to which
they are related, by the circumstances of the persons performing the same, and by
the things connected therewith, they must show without any doubt, that they are
aimed at the consummation of a crime. Acts susceptible of double interpretation,
that is, in favor as well as against the culprit, and which show an innocent as well
as a punishable act, must not and cannot furnish grounds by themselves for
attempted or frustrated crimes. The relation existing between the facts submitted
for appreciation and the offense of which said facts are supposed to produce
must be direct; the intention must be ascertained from the facts and therefore it is
necessary, in order to avoid regrettable instance of injustice, that the mind be able
to directly infer from them the intention of the perpetrator to cause a particular
injury. This must have been the intention of the legislator in requiring that in order
for an attempt to exist, the offender must commence the commission of the
felony directly by overt acts, that is to say, that the acts performed must be such
that, without the intent to commit an offense, they would be meaningless." 15

To ascertain whether the acts performed by the petitioner constituted attempted

rape, we have to determine the law on rape in effect on December 21, 1993, when the
petitioner committed the crime he was convicted of. That law was Article 335 of the
Revised Penal Code, which pertinently provided as follows:
Article 335. When and how rape is committed. — Rape is committed by
having carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:

1. By using force or intimidation;

2. When the woman is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; and

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 3. When the woman is under twelve years of age, even though neither of
the circumstances mentioned in the two next preceding paragraphs shall be
present. DaIAcC

xxx xxx xxx

The basic element of rape then and now is carnal knowledge of a female. Carnal
knowledge is de ned simply as "the act of a man having sexual bodily connections with a
wo man," 16 which explains why the slightest penetration of the female genitalia
consummates the rape. In other words, rape is consummated once the penis capable of
consummating the sexual act touches the external genitalia of the female. 17 In People v.
Campuhan, 18 the Court has de ned the extent of "touching" by the penis in rape in the
following terms:
[T ]ou ch in g when applied to rape cases does not simply mean
mere epidermal contact, stroking or grazing of organs, a slight brush or
a scrape of the penis on the external layer of the victim's vagina, or the
mons pubis , as in this case. There must be su cient and convincing
proof that the penis indeed touched the labias or slid into the female
organ, and not merely stroked the external surface thereof, for an
accused to be convicted of consummated rape. As the labias , which are
required to be "touched" by the penis, are by their natural situs or
location beneath the mons pubis or the vaginal surface, to touch them
with the penis is to attain some degree of penetration beneath the
surface, hence, the conclusion that touching the labia majora or the
labia minora of the pudendum constitutes consummated rape.
The pudendum or vulva is the collective term for the female genital organs
that are visible in the perineal area, e.g., mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora,
the hymen, the clitoris, the vaginal ori ce, etc. The mons pubis is the rounded
eminence that becomes hairy after puberty, and is instantly visible within the
surface. The next layer is the labia majora or the outer lips of the female organ
composed of the outer convex surface and the inner surface. The skin of the outer
convex surface is covered with hair follicles and is pigmented, while the inner
surface is a thin skin which does not have any hair but has many sebaceous
glands. Directly beneath the labia majora is the labia minora. Jurisprudence
dictates that the labia majora must be entered for rape to be consummated, and
not merely for the penis to stroke the surface of the female organ. . . . Thus, a
grazing of the surface of the female organ or touching the mons pubis
of the pudendum is not su cient to constitute consummated rape.
Absent any showing of the slightest penetration of the female organ,
i.e. , touching of either labia of the pudendum by the penis, there can be
no consummated rape; at most, it can only be attempted rape, if not
acts of lasciviousness . [Bold emphasis supplied] aITDAE

It is noteworthy that in People v. Orita , 19 the Court clari ed that the ruling in People
v. Eriñia 20 whereby the offender was declared guilty of frustrated rape because of lack of
conclusive evidence of penetration of the genital organ of the offended party, was a stray
decision for not having been reiterated in subsequent cases. As the evolving case law on
rape stands, therefore, rape in its frustrated stage is a physical impossibility, considering
that the requisites of a frustrated felony under Article 6 of the Revised Penal Code are that:
(1) the offender has performed all the acts of execution which would produce the felony;
and (2) that the felony is not produced due to causes independent of the perpetrator's will.
Obviously, the offender attains his purpose from the moment he has carnal knowledge of
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 his victim, because from that moment all the essential elements of the offense have been
accomplished, leaving nothing more to be done by him. 21
Nonetheless, rape admits of an attempted stage. In this connection, the character of
the overt acts for purposes of the attempted stage has been explained in People v. Lizada :
22

An overt or external act is de ned as some physical activity or deed,

indicating the intention to commit a particular crime, more than a mere planning
or preparation, which if carried out to its complete termination following its
natural course, without being frustrated by external obstacles nor by the
spontaneous desistance of the perpetrator, will logically and necessarily ripen into
a concrete offense. T h e raison d'etre for the law requiring a direct overt
act is that, in a majority of cases, the conduct of the accused
consisting merely of acts of preparation has never ceased to be
equivocal; and this is necessarily so, irrespective of his declared intent.
It is that quality of being equivocal that must be lacking before the act
becomes one which may be said to be a commencement of the
commission of the crime, or an overt act or before any fragment of the
crime itself has been committed, and this is so for the reason that so
long as the equivocal quality remains, no one can say with certainty
what the intent of the accused is . It is necessary that the overt act should
have been the ultimate step towards the consummation of the design. It is
su cient if it was the " rst or some subsequent step in a direct movement
towards the commission of the offense after the preparations are made." The act
done need not constitute the last proximate one for completion. It is necessary,
however, that the attempt must have a causal relation to the intended
crime. In the words of Viada, the overt acts must have an immediate
and necessary relation to the offense . (Bold emphasis supplied) HISAET

In attempted rape, therefore, the concrete felony is rape, but the offender does
not perform all the acts of execution of having carnal knowledge. If the slightest
penetration of the female genitalia consummates rape, and rape in its attempted stage
requires the commencement of the commission of the felony directly by overt acts
without the offender performing all the acts of execution that should produce the
felony, the only means by which the overt acts performed by the accused can be shown
to have a causal relation to rape as the intended crime is to make a clear showing of his
intent to lie with the female. Accepting that intent, being a mental act, is beyond the
sphere of criminal law, 23 that showing must be through his overt acts directly
connected with rape. He cannot be held liable for attempted rape without such overt
acts demonstrating the intent to lie with the female. In short, the State, to establish
attempted rape, must show that his overt acts, should his criminal intent be carried to
its complete termination without being thwarted by extraneous matters, would ripen
into rape, 24 for, as succinctly put in People v. Dominguez, Jr. : 25 "The gauge in
determining whether the crime of attempted rape had been committed is the
commencement of the act of sexual intercourse, i.e., penetration of the penis into the
vagina, before the interruption."
The petitioner climbed on top of the naked victim, and was already touching her
genitalia with his hands and mashing her breasts when she freed herself from his clutches
and effectively ended his designs on her. Yet, inferring from such circumstances that rape,
and no other, was his intended felony would be highly unwarranted. This was so, despite
his lust for and lewd designs towards her being fully manifest. Such circumstances
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 remained equivocal, or "susceptible of double interpretation," as Justice Recto put in
People v. Lamahang, supra, such that it was not permissible to directly infer from them the
intention to cause rape as the particular injury. Verily, his felony would not exclusively be
rape had he been allowed by her to continue, and to have sexual congress with her, for
some other felony like simple seduction (if he should employ deceit to have her yield to
him) 26 could also be ultimate felony.
We clarify that the direct overt acts of the petitioner that would have produced
attempted rape did not include equivocal preparatory acts. The former would have related
to his acts directly connected to rape as the intended crime, but the latter, whether external
or internal, had no connection with rape as the intended crime. Perforce, his perpetration of
the preparatory acts would not render him guilty of an attempt to commit such felony. 27
His preparatory acts could include his putting up of the separate tents, with one being for
the use of AAA and BBB, and the other for himself and his assistant, and his allowing his
wife to leave for Manila earlier that evening to buy more wares. Such acts, being equivocal,
had no direct connection to rape. As a rule, preparatory acts are not punishable under the
Revised Penal Code for as long as they remained equivocal or of uncertain signi cance,
because by their equivocality no one could determine with certainty what the perpetrator's
intent really was. 28 HICSTa

If the acts of the petitioner did not constitute attempted rape, did they constitute
acts of lasciviousness?
It is obvious that the fundamental difference between attempted rape and acts of
lasciviousness is the offender's intent to lie with the female. In rape, intent to lie with the
female is indispensable, but this element is not required in acts of lasciviousness. 29
Attempted rape is committed, therefore, when the "touching" of the vagina by the penis is
coupled with the intent to penetrate. The intent to penetrate is manifest only through the
showing of the penis capable of consummating the sexual act touching the external
genitalia of the female. 30 Without such showing, only the felony of acts of lasciviousness
is committed. 31
Based on Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code, the felony of acts of lasciviousness
is consummated when the following essential elements concur, namely: (a) the offender
commits any act of lasciviousness or lewdness upon another person of either sex; and (b)
the act of lasciviousness or lewdness is committed either (i) by using force or intimidation;
or (ii) when the offended party is deprived of reason or is otherwise unconscious; or (iii)
when the offended party is under 12 years of age. 32 In that regard, lewd is de ned as
obscene, lustful, indecent, lecherous; it signifies that form of immorality that has relation to
moral impurity; or that which is carried on a wanton manner. 33
The information charged that the petitioner "remove[d] her panty and underwear and
la[id] on top of said AAA embracing and touching her vagina and breast." With such
allegation of the information being competently and satisfactorily proven beyond a
reasonable doubt, he was guilty only of acts of lasciviousness, not attempted rape. His
embracing her and touching her vagina and breasts did not directly manifest his intent to
lie with her. The lack of evidence showing his erectile penis being in the position to
penetrate her when he was on top of her deterred any inference about his intent to lie with
her. At most, his acts reflected lewdness and lust for her.
The intent to commit rape should not easily be inferred against the petitioner, even
from his own declaration of it, if any, unless he committed overt acts directly leading to
rape. A good illustration of this can be seen in People v. Bugarin, 34 where the accused was
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 charged with attempted rape through an information alleging that he, by means of force
and intimidation, "did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously commence the
commission of the crime of Rape directly by overt acts, by then and there kissing the
nipples and the vagina of the undersigned [complainant], a minor, and about to lay on top
of her, all against her will, however, [he] did not perform all the acts of execution which
would have produced the crime of Rape by reason of some causes other than his own
spontaneous desistance, that is, undersigned complainant push[ed] him away." The
accused was held liable only for acts of lasciviousness because the intent to commit rape
"is not apparent from the act described," and the intent to have sexual intercourse with her
was not inferable from the act of licking her genitalia. The Court also pointed out that the
"act imputed to him cannot be considered a preparatory act to sexual intercourse." 35
Pursuant to Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code, the petitioner, being guilty of acts
of lasciviousness, is punished with prision correccional. In the absence of modifying
circumstances, prision correccional is imposed in its medium period, which ranges from
two (2) years, four (4) months and one day to four (4) years and two (2) months. Applying
the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the minimum of the penalty should come from arresto
mayor, the penalty next lower than prision correccional which ranges from one (1) month
to six (6) months. Accordingly, the Court xes the indeterminate sentence of three (3)
months of arresto mayor, as the minimum, to two (2) years, four (4) months and one day
of prision correccional, as the maximum.
In acts of lasciviousness, the victim suffers moral injuries because the offender
violates her chastity by his lewdness. "Moral damages include physical suffering, mental
anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock,
social humiliation, and similar injury. Though incapable of pecuniary computation, moral
damages may be recovered if they are the proximate result of the defendant's wrongful act
for omission." 36 Indeed, Article 2219, (3), of the Civil Code expressly recognizes the right
of the victim in acts of lasciviousness to recover moral damages. 3 7 Towards that end, the
Court, upon its appreciation of the record, decrees that P30,000.00 is a reasonable award
of moral damages. 38 In addition, AAA was entitled to recover civil indemnity of
P20,000.00. 39 DAHaTc

Under Article 2211 of the Civil Code, the courts are vested with the discretion to
impose interest as a part of the damages in crimes and quasi-delicts. In that regard, the
moral damages of P20,000.00 shall earn interest of 6% per annum reckoned from the
finality of this decision until full payment. 4 0
WHEREFORE , the Court FINDS and PRONOUNCES petitioner NORBERTO CRUZ
y BARTOLOME guilty of ACTS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS , and, ACCORDINGLY,
PENALIZES him with the indeterminate sentence of three (3) months of arresto mayor, as
the minimum, to two (2) years, four (4) months and one day of prision correccional, as the
maximum; O RD E RS him to pay moral damages of P30,000.00 and civil indemnity of
P20,000.00 to the complainant, with interest of 6% per annum on such awards reckoned
from the nality of this decision until full payment; and DIRECTS him to pay the costs of
suit.
SO ORDERED .
Sereno, C.J., Leonardo-de Castro, Perez and Perlas-Bernabe, JJ., concur.

Footnotes
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 1. Rollo, pp. 38-49; penned by Associate Justice Eliezer R. Delos Santos (deceased), and
concurred in by Associate Justice Delilah Vidallon-Magtolis (retired) and Associate
Justice Arturo D. Brion (now a Member of the Court).
2. The real name of the offended party is withheld pursuant to Republic Act No. 7610 (Special
Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act);
Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004) ;
and A.M. No. 04-10-11-SC effective November 15, 2004 (Rule on Violence Against
Women and Their Children). See also People v. Cabalquinto, G.R. No. 167693, September
19, 2006, 502 SCRA 419, 421-423.
3. Rollo, p. 51.
4. The real name of the offended party is also withheld for the reason stated in note 2.
5. Rollo, pp. 51-52.

6. Supra note 1, at 39-41.

7. Supra note 1, at 41.
8. Rollo, pp. 51-58.
9. Id. at 57-58.

10. Supra note 1.

11. Id. at 47-49.
12. Id. at 19-23.

13. Section 1 of Rule 45, Rules of Court states:

Section 1. Filing of petition with Supreme Court. — A party desiring to appeal by certiorari
from a judgment, final order or resolution of the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan,
the Court of Tax Appeals, the Regional Trial Court or other courts, whenever authorized
by law, may file with the Supreme Court a verified petition for review on certiorari. The
petition may include an application for a writ of preliminary injunction or
other provisional remedies and shall raise only questions of law, which must
be distinctly set forth. The petitioner may seek the same provisional remedies
by verified motion filed in the same action or proceeding at any time during
its pendency .
14. 61 Phil. 703 (1935).

15. Id. at 705-707.

16. People v. Orita, G.R. No. 88724, April 3, 1990, 184 SCRA 105, 113, citing Black's Law
Dictionary, Fifth Edition, p. 193.

17. People v. Jalosjos, G.R. Nos. 132875-876, November 16, 2001, 369 SCRA 179, 202.
18. G.R. Nos. 129433, March 30, 2000, 329 SCRA 270, 280-282.

19. Supra note 16.

20. 50 Phil. 998 (1927).

21. Id. at 114.

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 22. G.R. No. 143468-71, January 24, 2003, 396 SCRA 62, 94-95.

23. I Feria & Gregorio, Comments on the Revised Penal Code, First Edition (1958), Central Book
Supply, Inc., Manila, p. 29., to wit:
An act is defined as any bodily movement or a process whereby an individual puts his
organism into motion. In order to produce some change or effect in the external world, it
being unnecessary that the same be actually produced as the possibility of its
production is sufficient. Mere thoughts and ideas, no matter how immoral or
heinous they may be, cannot constitute a felony because the act must be
external, and internal acts are beyond the sphere of criminal law .
24. Id. at 78-79.

25. G.R. No. 180914, November 24, 2010, 636 SCRA 134, 158.
26. Article 338 of the Revised Penal Code defines simple seduction as the seduction of a
woman who is single or a widow of good reputation, over twelve but under eighteen
years of age, committed by means of deceit.

27. People v. Lizada, supra note 22 at 95.

28. I Feria & Gregorio, supra note 23, at 78-79, which opines that equivocal preparatory acts
remain unpunished unless the Revised Penal Code penalizes them (e.g., conspiracy and
proposal to commit a felony in certain cases (Article 8, Revised Penal Code); mere
possession with intent to use of instruments or implements adaptable for the
commission of counterfeiting (Article 176, paragraph 2, Revised Penal Code); and
possession of picklocks or similar tools adapted to the commission of robbery (Article
304, Revised Penal Code).

29. People v. Mendoza, G.R. Nos. 152589 and 152758, January 31, 2005, 450 SCRA 328, 333.

30. People v. Jalosjos, supra, note 17.

31. People v. Dadulla, G.R. No. 172321, February 9, 2011, 642 SCRA 432, 443; citing People v.
Collado, G.R. Nos. 135667-70, March 1, 2001, 353 SCRA 381, 392.
32. People v. Lizada, supra note 22 at 93.
33. Id. at 94.

34. G.R. Nos. 110817-22, June 13, 1997, 273 SCRA 384, 401.

35. Id.
36. Article 2217, Civil Code.

37. Article 2219. Moral damages may be recovered in the following and analogous cases:
xxx xxx xxx

(3) Seduction, abduction, rape, or other lascivious acts;

xxx xxx xxx

38. People v. Dominguez, Jr., supra, note 25, at 164-165.

39. Id.
40. People v. Maglente, G.R. No. 201445, November 27, 2013, 711 SCRA 142, 161; People v.
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 Domingo, G.R. No. 184343, March 2, 2009, 580 SCRA 436, 459.

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