THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. FERNANDO PINEDA, LEONOR BENEDICTO, AND NICASIO SANTIAGO, DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS.

Fernando Pineda, Nicasio Santiago, Nicanor Ayroso, and Leonor Benedicto were
accused in the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija of abduction with rape,
the information reading as follows:

“That on or about the 11th day of February, 1931, in the municipality of
Aliaga, Province of Nueva Ecija, Philippine Islands, and within the jurisdiction
of this court, the above-named accused, Fernando Pineda, Nicasio Santiago,
Nicanor Ayroso, and Leonor Benedicto, conspiring together and mutually aiding
one another, and by means of force, violence, and intimidation, did then and
there and with lewd designs and lasciviousness, voluntarily, maliciously,
illegally, and criminally take Maria Lourdes Dasig against her will from the
house of her parents, a virgin over 12 years and under 18, and said accused,
once in possession of the mentioned Maria Lourdes Dasig, by means of force,
violence, and intimidation did then and there voluntarily, maliciously,
illegally, and criminally kiss said Maria Lourdes Dasig, touch her nipples, drag
her down, put themselves successively on top of her, lift her skirt, and
introduce their sexual organs successively into her genital organ against her
will, the mentioned accused having had several sexual intercourses with said
Maria Lourdes Dasig.”

Upon motion of the fiscal, the defendant Nicanor Ayroso was excluded from the
information so that he might be utilized as state witness and the case with
respect to him was dismissed.

Upon arraignment, defendants Fernando Pineda, Nicasio Santiago, and Leonor
Benedicto pleaded not guilty.

The evidence adduced at the trial shows that while the offended party, Maria
Lourdes Dasig, was urinating on the evening of February 11, 1931, at the rear
porch of her father’s house, situated in the barrio of Santiago, within the
municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, the accused Fernando Pineda and Leonor
Benedicto. went up to the house, grasped her by the arms and brought her down by
force. Upon reaching the ground, w;th the assistance of the accused Nicanor
Santiago, Maria was conducted to a place called San Carlos in the same
municipality where she was forcibly thrown to the ground by the three accused
who successively raped her, despite her resistance. After the commission of the
act, Nicasio and Leonor left Fernando, and he took Maria by force and
intimidation to the house of Gregorio Paderes in Manaraog, Rizal, Nueva Ecija,
where they stayed for fourteen days, during which time Fernando often had carnal
knowledge of her through threats of death and against her will.

Fernando admitted having taken Maria from her house but claimed that it was
done through her insistent request by reason of the fact that she wag on her way
to motherhood. The other two accused, Nicasio Santiago and Leonor Benedicto,
denied having anything to do with the crime.

Upon trial the court below found the defendants guilty as charged, with the
aggravating circumstance of nocturnity, and sentenced each of them to suffer
twenty year’s of reclusion temporal, with the accessory penalties provided by
law, to indemnify the offended party in the sum of P500, and the said defendants
to pay their proportionate parts of the costs. From that judgment the accused
appealed.

Under the circumstances of the case, we cannot believe that the offended
party would consent to leave her home with a married man of the caliber of
Fernando Pineda. With the exception of his clearly false testimony, there is
nothing in the record to indicate that the offended party has ever had any
inclination to follow any of the defendants.

After the examination of the evidence, there can be no doubt that Nicasio
Santiago and Leonor Benedicto together with Fernando Pineda really abducted, and
successively raped, Maria Lourdes Dasig by force and intimidation.

The accused are guilty of the complex crime of forcible abduction with rape
(article 342 of the Revised Penal Code), and the penalty is reclusion
temporal. There being present the aggravating circumstances of nocturnity
and superior strength, which although not alleged in the information, may be
appreciated (U. S. vs. Campo, 23 Phil., 368), without any mitigating
circumstances to offset the effects of such aggravating circumstances, the
penalty will be meted out in its maximum degree.

The judgment of the court below is hereby modified to the effect that the
appellants shall jointly and severally endow the offended party in the sum of
P500. With this modification, the judgment of the court below is affirmed in all
other respects. With costs against the appellants jointly and severally. So
ordered.

Avanceña, C. J., Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Villamor, Romualdez,
Villa-Real, and Imperial, JJ., concur.