Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Welder gets life for rape of 4-year-old By Jane Cadalig
A WELDER was sentenced to forty years in prison after being convicted of rape with homicide by a local court on Tuesday and asked to pay P275,000 in actual and moral damages to the family of his victim.
Felipe Malong, a welder mechanic from Tuba, Benguet was sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua for raping and killing a four-year-old girl who lived in the same bunkhouse where he stayed in April 22, 2000.
The court found Malong guilty of the charges filed against him based on circumstantial evidence presented by the witnesses.
"The lack of direct evidence is not the sole means of establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt since circumstantial evidence can supplant it's absence," the decision by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 Presiding Judge Francis Buliyat read.
The court said that circumstances point to Malong as the one responsible for the crime is sufficient.
The positive identification of a minor witness who said he saw Malong carrying the victim's body and placing her in a stairway, the retrieval of a bloodied cotton and sachets of condoms found in the waste bin at Malong's room, a strand of pubic hair found on the victim's body that was later found to match that of Malong's, and his departure from the place right after the crime was committed.
"The actuation of (Malong) was that of flight and according to previous decisions of the Supreme Court (SC), flight may be indicative of guilt of the accused," the decision stated.
Malong was arrested in Pangasinan three months after the crime.
"It is also crucial to note that only the accused was presented to testify on his behalf and no one of those he mentioned (as witnesses) was ever presented to corroborate his testimony. The circumstances are consistent with each other, consistent with the hypothesis that the accused is guilty and at the same time inconsistent with the hypothesis that he is innocent. From all the circumstances, there is a combination of evidence which in ordinary and natural course of things leave no room for reasonable doubt," the ruling added.
Although saying she is satisfied with the decision, the victim's mother said she wished more for Manlong. "He killed my daughter, I wish him death also. But I am grateful that justice was given to my daughter," said Betty Oania after the promulgation on Tuesday.
Lawyer Mia Cawed, counsel for the victim, said the decision is due for automatic review by the Court of Appeals. She also thanked the community for helping in Malong's arrest.
"The arrest succeeded because of public cooperation. This just proves that community cooperation ensures justice," she said.
Buliyat ordered Malong to be immediately transferred to the National Bilibid Prison.
