RIZALDO L.
ORSOS, Petitioner, v. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.
The Facts
At the time material to this case, the minor victim (AAA5) was only fourteen (14) years old,
having been born on July 6, 1992, as evidenced by her Certificate of Live Birth.6 She was
then a third year high school student at Dumalag Central National High School (DCNHS) in
Dumalag, Capiz, where petitioner was then working as a teacher and Citizen's Army
Training (CAT) Commandant.7 AAA was one of petitioner's students.8
At around 9:30 in the morning of April 21, 2007, while the CAT trainees, including AAA,
were at the Sohot Spring in Dumalag for a clean-up drive, petitioner called AAA and asked
her if she had decided on becoming a CAT officer, to which she answered yes.9 Petitioner
then instructed her to go to his house at 1:00 in the afternoon of the same day for her
supposed initiation. As she did not know where petitioner's house was located, she went
back to the school at around 12:30 in the afternoon instead and waited for him to arrive.
When petitioner saw AAA, he told her to follow him to his house and keep a little distance
between them.10
Upon arrival thereat, petitioner instructed her to take a seat while he went to the bathroom
for a few minutes. AAA noticed that except for the two of them, no one else was in the
house. Thereafter, he emerged from the bathroom and asked her if she was really
determined to become a CAT officer, to which she replied yes.11 Petitioner then told her that
he had a crush on her, that he wanted her to become his mistress, and that he will give her
all her needs.12 Then, he pulled her to his lap and asked her to kiss him. Thinking it was part
of the initiation rites, AAA kissed his right cheek. Thereafter, petitioner asked her to sit on
the sofa and proceeded to kiss her on the lips, leading her to cry. Petitioner then instructed
her to lie down on the sofa, lifted her shirt and underwear, and sucked her right breast for
about two minutes.13 AAA was frightened and could not complain. Petitioner was about to
unzip her pants when she pleaded for him not to do so as she had her menstrual period
then.14 At this point, petitioner stood up and went back to the bathroom. When he re-
emerged, he told her to stop crying and not to report the incident if she truly wanted to
become a CAT officer.15 Although AAA told her friend about the incident, she decided not to
tell her family.16 Instead, she told her parents that she wanted to rest, quit school, and
spend some time with her sisters in Manila.17 After a year in Manila, she went back to
Dumalag, Capiz and enrolled in fourth year high school.18
Sometime in July 2008, several female CAT officers in DCNHS revealed that petitioner had
molested them and filed cases against him in court.19 Prompted by her mother's inquiry if
petitioner had also molested her, AAA finally disclosed the details of the incident to her and
the reason why she did not do so sooner.20
Consequently, a complaint21 charging petitioner with acts of lasciviousness, defined and
penalized under Article 336 of the RPC, as amended, in relation to Republic Act (RA) No.
7610, was filed on October 6, 2008, the accusatory portion of which reads:
"That on or about 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon of 21 April 2007, in Brgy. Poblacion,
Municipality of Dumalag, Province of Capiz, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this
Honorable Court, the above named accused, with lewd designs, did then and there willfully,
unlawfully and feloniously kiss the lips and suck the breasts of one [AAA], a female and
minor of 16 years old without her consent and against her will, and which acts of the former
likewise constitute other child abuse.
By reason of the unlawful acts of the accused, the victim is entitled for damages pursuant to
the provision of the New Civil Code.
The Issue Before the Court
Whether or not the CA erred in affirming petitioner's conviction for acts of lasciviousness
under Article 336 of the RPC, as amended.
The Court's Ruling
Acts of lasciviousness is defined and penalized under Article 336 of the RPC, which reads.
There must be a confluence of the following elements before conviction can be had for such
crime: (1) that the offender commits any act of lasciviousness or lewdness; (2) that it is
done under any of the following circumstances: (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; and (d) when the offended party is
under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even though none of the circumstances
mentioned above be present; and (3) that the offended party is another person of either
sex.45
On the other hand, RA 7610 finds application when the victims of abuse, exploitation or
discrimination are children or those "persons below 18 years of age or those over but are
unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty,
exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition."
The requisites for sexual abuse under Section 5 (b) of RA 7610 are as follows: (1) the
accused commits the act of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct; (2) the said act is
performed with a child exploited in prostitution or subjected to other sexual abuse; and (3)
that the child, whether male or female, is below 18 years of age.47 "Lascivious conduct" is
defined in Section 32, Article XIII of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA
7610, as follows:
[T]he intentional touching, either directly or through clothing, of the genitalia, anus,
groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks, or the introduction of any object into the genitalia,
anus or mouth, of any person, whether of the same or opposite sex, with an intent to
abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any
person, bestiality, masturbation, lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a
person.48 (Emphases supplied)
A meticulous perusal of the records reveals that all the elements of both acts of
lasciviousness under Article 336 of the RPC and lascivious conduct under Section 5 (b) of RA
7610 have been sufficiently established in this case. AAA's minority, as she was only 14
years old at the time of the incident, had been sufficiently established with the presentation
of her Certificate of Live Birth,49 showing that she was born on July 6, 1992. It was likewise
established that petitioner, who was then a teacher and CAT Commandant in AAA's school,
and therefore, a person who exercised moral ascendancy and influence upon her,
committed lascivious or lewd conduct against her.
