G.R. No. 138987 - Separate Opinion



Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila G.R. No. 138987 February 6, 2002 PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, accused-appellant. CONCURRING AND DISSENTING BELLOSILLO, J.: To the extent that the ponencia spares the accused from the death penalty as the relationship of the victim to the accused is not alleged in the Information, I fully concur. However, conformably with my Separate Opinion in People v. Bali-balita, 1 I cannot agree that the victim’s minority of sixteen (16) years is not duly alleged in the Information. Specifically, the Information states – The undersigned, in behalf of MARY ANN B. RODRIGUEZ, who is a minor, 16 years of age, accuses RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, whose maternal surname, date and place of birth cannot be ascertained, of the crime of RAPE (Art. 335, RPC) committed as follows: That on or about the 13th day of June, 1997, in the City of Iloilo, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this court, said accused, by means of violence and intimidation, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge of MARY ANN RODRIGUEZ against her will. CONTRARY TO LAW. The ponencia posits that since the age of the victim was only alleged in the caption or preamble it merely serves as a description of the victim and does not form part of the narration of the acts or omissions which constitute the offense. As I have previously opined in my Separate Opinion in People v. Bali-balita, I maintain the view that such reasoning is flawed. The preamble or caption is an integral part of the Information, thus any circumstance stated therein (i.e. minority, relationship) should be considered as an allegation of such fact. It must be remembered that the essence of the Information is to safeguard the constitutional right of the accused to be informed of the criminal charges against him. Since the preamble or caption, in the case at bar, states that the complainant is "MARY ANN B. RODRIGUEZ, who is a minor, 16 years of age," then it adequately informed the accused that a minor is charging him of the acts contained in the succeeding paragraph. Section 6, rule 110 of the Rules on Criminal procedure states that – Sec. 6. Sufficiency of complaint or information. – A complaint or information is sufficient if it states the name of the accused; the designation of the offense by the statute; the acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense; the name of the offended party; the approximate time of the commission of the offense; and the place wherein the offense was committed. When the offense is committed by more than one person, all of them shall be included in the complaint or information. Nowhere in Sec. 6 is it mandated that material allegations should be stated in the body and not in the preamble or caption of the Information. Instead the aforementioned section states that as long as the pertinent and significant allegations are enumerated in the Information then it would be deemed sufficient in form and substance. The location of each allegation within the Information is immaterial as all the parts thereof comprise one whole document, the purpose of which is to inform the accused of the criminal charge against him. It is therefore my firm conviction that minority was properly alleged in the Information even if it only appeared in the preamble or caption. Nonetheless, I repeat, I concur with the Majority Opinion that the accused should only be sentenced to reclusion perpetua in view of the failure of the prosecution to allege relationship of the accused to his victim in the Information. Indeed, nowhere is that relationship ever mentioned in the Information. Footnotes 1 G.R. No. 134266, 15 September 2000, 340 SCRA 450. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation