April 2016 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 208066, April 12, 2016 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOHN GLEN WILE, EFREN BUENAFE, JR., MARK ROBERT LARIOSA AND JAYPEE PINEDA, Accused-Appellants.
FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 208066, April 12, 2016
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOHN GLEN WILE, EFREN BUENAFE, JR., MARK ROBERT LARIOSA AND JAYPEE PINEDA, Accused-Appellants.
D E C I S I O N
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.:
Before Us on appeal is the Decision1 dated February 25, 2013 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR.-H.C. No. 00912, which affirmed with modification the Decision2 dated January 24, 2007 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Silay City, Branch 69 in Criminal Case Nos. 5931-69 to 5938-69, finding accused-appellants John Glen Wile (John),3 Mark Robert Lariosa (Mark),4 Jaypee Pineda (Jaypee), and Efren Buenafe, Jr. (Efren)5 guilty beyond reasonable doubt of several counts of rape as defined in Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8353, otherwise known as the Anti-Rape Law of 1997.
In eight (8) Informations, all dated December 2, 2005, accused-appellants were charged before the RTC with the rapes of minors AAA and BBB,6 as follows:
1)