PEOPLE VS ALFANTA 320 SCRA 357

Facts: The victim, Nita Fernandez, was asleep in the residence of a friend when at around 12 midnight, a man she had not seen before suddenly entered the house, boxed her jaw and covered her mouth with his had. He was pointing a bolo at her and threatened to kill her if she will resist. Thereafter, she was taken and brought to a vacant house where the stranger succeeded in having carnal knowledge of her. After the first intercourse, she was ordered to lie face down while the man sodomized her. Not satisfied, the accused then inserted his finger inside her. Thereafter, the man lay down beside her and again threatened to kill her. After a while, Nita noticed that the man was asleep, she then stabbed the man with the knife and hacked him with the bolo when the former broke. She was able to escape and go to the authorities, who apprehended the man later on identified as the accused.


Issue: Whether the crime of rape should be aggravated by nighttime. Whether there was ignominy when the accused forced the victim to engage in anal sex.


Held: The law defines night as being from sunset to sunrise. By and itself, nighttime would not be an aggravating circumstance unless it is specially sought by the offender or taken advantage of by him, or it facilitated the commission of the crime by insuring the offender’s immunity from capture. In the present case, the accused abducted the victim, brought her to an abandoned, unlit house and then unleashed his carnal desire on her, assured of the stillness of a sleeping world.

With respect to ignominy, Art 14 par 17 of the RPC considers to be aggravating any means employed or circumstance that adds disgrace and obloquy to the material injury caused by the crime. The case of People vs Saylan is applicable. In this case wherein the accused entered the victim from behind, the offender claimed that there was no ignominy because the studies of experts have shown that the position is not novel and has been resorted to by couples in the act of copulation. This may well be true if the sexual act is performed by consenting partners but not otherwise.