This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2002-05-29 |
PUNO, J. |
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| "What is controlling is the description of the criminal act and not, as in this case, the description of the identity of the accused. It has been held that 'the real nature of the criminal charge is determined not from the caption or the preamble of the information nor from the specification of the provision of law alleged to have been violated . . . but from the actual recital of the facts as alleged in the body of the information.' (Buhat v. Court of Appeals, 265 SCRA 701 at 716-717 [1996]) In this case (,) the information upon which the appellant was arraigned does not state in the specification of the acts constitutive of the offense that he is charged as the live-in partner of the mother of the alleged victim. This insufficiency prevents a judgment of conviction for qualified rape and thus, the death penalty cannot be imposed." (emphasis supplied) IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, we AFFIRM the decision of the trial court with the MODIFICATION that the accused is found guilty of three counts of simple rape and sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of reclusion perpetua in each of the three cases with all its accessory penalties and to pay the victim for each count of rape P75,000.00[32] as civil indemnity and P50,000.00 as moral damages, or a total amount of P375,000.00. Costs against the accused. | |||||