THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JOSEPH PAMBID y CORNELIO, accused-appellant.
Facts:
Pambi, 23 years old, and Maricon, six years old and a Grade 1 student, were neighbors. The two incidents of rape happened sometime between April and May 1993. The first rape took place when was on her way home, Pambid pulled her and took her to his house. Pambid got a knife from the kitchen and, at knifepoint, ordered Maricon to remove her short pants, then ordered her to lie on the bed while issuing threats that he would beat her up. At first, accused-appellant inserted his forefinger into Maricon’s vagina. He then inserted his penis and commenced the sexual act, but was interrupted by the arrival of his mother who asked why the door was closed. Because of accused-appellant’s threat, Maricon never reported the incident to anyone.
The second rape happened in the house of Pambid’s aunt. Pambid saw Maricon on her way to a nearby store. As nobody was present, accused-appellant took Maricon to his aunt’s house. He ordered her to remove her clothes and to lie down on the sofa. Accused-appellant then went on top of her and inserted his penis into her vagina. Thereafter, he licked her private parts. The medical examination showed that Maricon is in non- virgin state physically. The defense evidence contained plea of insanity. The result of the psychiatric examination shows that Pambid had suffered from Insanity or Psychosis classified under Schizophrenia. He is like wise suffering from mental retardation.
Issue:
Whether or Not Pambid is exempted from criminal liability by reason of his insanity?
Held:
No. While Art. 12(1) of the Revised Penal Code provides that an imbecile or insane person is exempt from criminal liability, unless he has acted during a lucid interval, the presumption, under Art. 800 of the Civil Code, is that every man is sane. Anyone who pleads the exempting circumstance of insanity bears the burden of proving it. He must show that he was completely deprived of reason when he committed the crime charged because mere abnormality of his mental faculties does not exclude imputability.
As to the first incident of rape, it is established that Pambid closed the door upon entering his house, apparently so that he would not be seen with Maricon. Then, he got a knife from the kitchen and pointed it at the child. When he heard his mother get into the house, he stopped having intercourse with Maricon, hid the knife under the bed and told the child not to report the incident to anyone, otherwise, he would kill her. As to the second incident of rape, Pambid kept threatening Maricon as he forced himself on her while they were in the house of his aunt. By the totality of his acts, accused-appellant showed that he was fully conscious of what he was doing.