REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL PROSECUTION SERVICE
OFFICE OF THE CITY PROSECUTOR
ILOILO CITY

ANGELO CIUDADANO, NPS Docket No.:

Complainant, V1-11-INV-14G-1234

-versus- For:

PEARLLE JOYCE CALAMPINAY y CUADRA, RAPE BY

Respondent. SEXUAL ASSAULT

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RESOLUTION

This resolves the complaint of rape by sexual assault provided in

Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code as amended by R.A. No. 8353
otherwise known as “The Anti-Rape Law” against the respondent
PEARLLE JOYCE CALAMPINAY y CUADRA.

Proceedings:

This case was filed by ANGELO CIUDADANO, and was investigated

by Prosecutor Lovely De La Torre who conducted the Preliminary
Investigation.

Allegations of the Complainant:

In the Preliminary Investigation, the complainant alleged in his

affidavit that on the night of December 13, 2017, he was on his way home
from a drinking session with his friends. Realizing that it was already
late, he decided to take a jeep from Ungka Terminal to go home to his
house in Brgy. Quipot, Janiuay, Iloilo. Since he was so intoxicated from
drinking, he fell asleep at the jeep terminal. He woke up at around 10:00
PM when he realized something was wrong with his anus. He felt a
tingling pain (hapdi) and when he touched it, he felt his fingers got wet.
Upon checking, he saw that it was a blue-colored liquid which stained his
butthole and his fingers.

He looked around and tried to ask the people around as to what

happened to him. One of the persons in the terminal, a certain
Robespierre Tersol (Robespierre), a jeep dispatcher, told him that he saw
a woman seated beside him while he was asleep. In the affidavit of
Robespierre, he testified that the particular woman was reading a book
and was seen by him as the one placing a ballpen into his butt since his
pants were partially down while he was asleep. He also alleged that as
she stood to ride her jeep, she threw the ball pen away. The said witness
further testified that he knew the woman by her face since she was a
regular passenger of the terminal.

The police officers, with the assistance of Robespierre, made a

follow up investigation on evening of December 14, 2017 and were able
to confirm the identity of the woman as the respondent PEARLLE JOYCE
CALAMPINAY y CUADRA.

In support of his allegations the complainant submitted the

following documents:

a. Complaint Affidavit & Sworn Statement of Angelo Ciudadano

b. Sworn Statement of Robespierre Tersol;
c. Blotter Report of Jaro Police Station; and
d. Medical Certificate

Allegations of the Defendant:

In her counter affidavit, respondent admitted that she was on her

way home and that her usual route is always to take a jeep from Ungka
Terminal, wherein she would read a book. She remembers that on the
night of December 13, 2017 there was a man who was sleeping beside
her while she was sitting, waiting for her ride. She did not know the
person. She denies the accusation that she was inserting her ballpen in
the butt of the person beside her. She alleges that she only had her book
with her.

In support of the allegations of the respondent, the following

documents were submitted:

a. Counter-Affidavit of Respondent Pearlle Joyce Calampinay

b. Medico-Legal Certificate
Issue:

Whether or not there is probable cause to file an information for

Rape by Sexual Assault against the respondent under Article 266-A of the
Revised Penal Code as amended by R.A. No. 8353.

Discussion:

It must be stressed that Rape by sexual assault as defined by R.A.

No. 8353 consists of the following elements:

a) It is committed by any person employing the means mentioned in

paragraph 1 of Article 266-A;

b) Inserting a penis to a person’s mouth or anal orifice, or any

instrument or object, into the genital or anal orifice of another
person.

Paragraph 1 mentioned in the first elements refers to the means

employed in rape by carnal knowledge namely:

a) Through force, threat, or intimidation;

b) When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise

unconscious;

c) By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; or

d) When the offended party is under twelve years of age or is

demented even though none of the circumstances mentioned
above be present.

From the allegations, all the of elements of the crime of rape by

sexual assault are present in the case. Allegedly, a ballpen was inserted
into the butt of the complainant and that the same was done when the
complainant was asleep or that he was unconscious.

While the medico-legal certificate reveal that the lacerations in the

complainant’s anal area were likely caused by hemorrhoids, it does not
necessarily contradict the complainant’s claim and the testimony of the
eyewitness.

In a long line of cases, the courts have ruled that a medical

certificate is not indispensable in the prosecution for rape.
 In Ricalde vs. People of the Philippines1, “petitioner’s reliance on
the medico­legal’s finding of no recent trauma in XXX’s anal orifice, or any
trace of spermatozoa, lacks merit. The absence of spermatozoa in XXX’s
anal orifice does not negate the possibility of an erection and penetration.
This result does not contradict the positive testimony of XXX that the
lower courts found credible, natural, and consistent with human nature.”

This court has explained the merely corroborative character of

expert testimony and the possibility of convictions for rape based on the
victim’s credible lone testimony.2

Resolution:

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully recommended that an information

for RAPE BY SEXUAL ASSAULT against respondent PEARLLE JOYCE
CALAMPINAY y CUADRA defined and penalized under Article 266-A of
the Revised Penal Code as amended by R.A. No. 8353, be FILED with the
Regional Trial Court of the City of Iloilo which has jurisdiction of the case.

Respectfully Submitted.

Iloilo City, Philippines, February 19, 2018.

LOVELY L. DE LA TORRE
Asst. City Prosecutor
IBP No. 035269 – 3/20/2018
Roll No. 52330
MCLE Comp. No. V-0006877

1
Ricalde vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 211002, January 21, 2015
2
People v. Colorado, G.R. No. 200792, November 14, 2012, 685 SCRA 660, 673 [Per J.
Reyes, First Division], citing People v. Balonzo, 560 Phil. 244, 259–260 (2007) [Per J.
Chico-Nazario, Third Division]; See also People v. De Guzman, G.R. No. 188352,
September 1, 2010, 629 SCRA 784, 799 [Per J. Mendoza, Second Division].
APPROVED:

ABUNDIO A. BACATAN
City Prosecutor
Iloilo City Prosecution Office
IBP No. 491804 (Lifetime), Roll No. 40492
MCLE Compliance No. VI-0000341 – 7/21/2016

Copy furnished:

1. Atty. Christian Lim and Atty. Michelle Asuncion – Counsels for the
Respondent
2. Pearlle Joyce C. Calampinay – defendant
3. File