Attempted Rape
o Christian knew right away that it belonged to
FACTS:
Martina Lourdes Albano (Malou), a medical
student of the University of Sto. Tomas, stayed
at Room 307 with her maid Marvilou.
December 12 10:30 pm: Malou slept. Her
maid Marvilou slept on a folding bed right in front
of her bedroom door.
December 13, 1991 1:00 am: Chito left the
fraternity party with Robert Chan and Alberto
wearing a barong tagalog, with t-shirt inside,
with short pants with stripes lent by Perla Duran
and leather shoes.
December 13, 1991 1:30 am: Chito arrived at
the Building wearing a white t-shirt with fraternity
symbols and black shorts with the brand name
Adidas from a party. He requested permission
from S/G Ferolin to go up to Room 306 leased
by Ansbert Co but at that time only Joseph
Bernard Africa was there. Although Chito could
not produce the required written authorization,
he let him in because he will be a tenant in the
coming summer break. Joseph was awaken by
Chitos knock so he glanced the alarm clock and
let him. He saw him wearing dark-colored
shorts and white T-shirt.
December 13, 1991 1:50 am: Renato
Baleros, Jr. y David (Chito) forcefully covered
the face of Martina Lourdes T. Albano with a
piece of cloth soaked in chemical with dizzying
effects. This awakened Malou. She struggled
but could not move because she was tightly held
and pinned down on the bed. She kicked him
and got her right hand free to squeeze his sex
organ causing him to let her go. She went for
the bedroom door and woke up Marvilou. She
also intercommed S/G Ferolin saying: "may
pumasok sa kuarto ko pinagtangkaan
ako". Malou proceed to Room 310 where her
classmates Christian Alcala, Bernard Baptista,
Lutgardo Acosta and Rommel Montes were
staying and seeked help. She saw her bed in a
mess and noticed that her nightdress was
stained with blue. Aside from the window with
grills which she had originally left opened,
another window inside her bedroom which leads
to Room 306 was now open.
December 13, 1991 3:30 pm: Christian and
his roommates, Bernard and Lutgardo were
asked by the CIS people to look for anything not
belonging to them in their Unit when Rommel
Montes went inside and found a grey bag.
Chito. It contained white t-shirt with fraternity
symbol, a Black Adidas short pants, a
handkerchief , 3 white T-shirts, an underwear
and socks.
Chito pleaded NOT Guilty
13 witnesses including Malou and her
classmates, Joseph Bernard Africa, Rommel
Montes, Renato Alagadan and Christian Alcala
o Malou: Chito was her classmate whom he
rejected a week before
o Chito: He only slept and at about 6 to 6:30,
Joseph told him that something had happened
and asked him to follow him to Room 310
carrying his gray bag and since no one was
there they went to Room 401 where Renato
Alagadan was. He left his grey bag at Room 306
the day before.
handkerchief and Malous night dress both
contained chloroform, a volatile poison which
causes first degree burn exactly like what Malou
sustained on that part of her face where the
chemical-soaked cloth had been pressed
RTC: guilty of attempted rape
CA: Affirmed
ISSUE: W/N Chito is guilty of attempted rape
HELD: NO. REVERSED and SET ASIDE.
ACQUITTING Renato D. Baleros, Jr. of the
charge for attempted rape. GUILTY of light
coercion and is accordingly sentenced to 30
days of arresto menor and to pay a fine of
P200.00, with the accessory penalties thereof
and to pay the costs.
Under Article 335 of the Revised Penal
Code, rape is committed by a man who has
carnal knowledge or intercourse with 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 (3) When the woman is under twelve years
of age or is demented.
Under Article 6, in relation to the
aforementioned article of the same code, rape is
attempted when the offender commences the
commission of rape directly by overt acts and
does not perform all the acts of execution which
should produce the crime of rape by reason of
some cause or accident other than his own
spontaneous desistance.
o whether or not the act of the petitioner, i.e.,
the pressing of a chemical-soaked cloth while on
top of Malou, constitutes an overt act of rape.
o Overt or external act has been defined 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 voluntary
desistance of the perpetrator, will logically and
necessarily ripen into a concrete offense
Chito was fully clothed and that there was no
attempt on his part to undress Malou, let alone
touch her private part
Verily, while the series of acts committed by
the petitioner do not determine attempted rape,
they constitute unjust vexation punishable as
light coercion under the second paragraph of
Article 287 of the Revised Penal Code.
o As it were, unjust vexation exists even
without the element of restraint or compulsion
for the reason that this term is broad enough to
include any human conduct which, although not
productive of some physical or material harm,
would unjustly annoy or irritate an innocent
person
o That Malou, after the incident in question,
cried while relating to her classmates what she
perceived to be a sexual attack and the fact that
she filed a case for attempted rape proved
beyond cavil that she was disturbed, if not
distressed