Garcia, Kristine Mae Camille P.

People Vs Salarza, Jr.

G.R. No. 117682
Plaintiff-appellee: People of the Philippines
Accused-appellant: Silvino Salarza, Jr.
Facts: That on May 1, 1994, accused-appellant Silvino Salarza, Jr. allegedly
raped Zareen Smith, a 30-year old British television and stage actress in the
cottage they were staying in at around 2 oclock in the morning.
Zareen went to the Philippines for a vacation and met Enrico de Jesus in Port
Barton in Palawan and they ended up developing mutual feelings resulting to
intense passion and relationship to the point that they would have sex almost
every day. Soon after, Enrico introduced Zareen to his friends including Silvino
Salarza, Jr.
On the evening of April 30, the group decided to go to Coco Grove Restaurant
where they drank. Zareen, who preferred to drink wine, ended up not drinking as
it was not available. At around eleven oclock, they returned to Marys Cottage
and continued their drink. This time, Zareen opted to drink a bottle of beer
instead after which she decided to retire for the night as she was tired and
sleepy.
According to the prosecution , at two oclock in the morning, Zareen woke up to
the feeling of someone taking off her undergarment which was followed by
someone spreading her lags apart to give access to penetrations. Zareen, who
claimed at that time that she was still half-asleep believed that it was her
boyfriend Enrico and allowed him to proceed only to find out afterwards that it
was Silvino Salarza, Jr. who in fact had carnal knowledge with her. Aggrieved,
she went to the bathroom to clean herself and became hysterical. Thereafter,
Nenita Maraon, Enricos aunt, went to check on them as she heard shouting
and though that Enrico was forcing his way on Zareen but was surprised when
she saw Enrico and his other friends coming their way. When they saw Silvino
emerge from the room, Enrico punched him while the others reported the issue to
the police.
However, according to accused-appellant, it was Zareen who was flirting with him
and seduced him. Appellant claims that on the night of the events, he was drunk
on the beach and ended up getting sand all over him. He then decided to go to a
public restroom to shower but met Zareen on the way who insisted that he take
his shower on her cottage given that it was a lot closer than the public restroom.
Silvino was apprehensive at first but gave in given the distance. Upon finishing
his shower however, he found plaintiff-appellee on her bed and asking him to
make love to her to which Silvino felt uncomfortable as he did not want to betray

his friend, Enrico. When Zareens advances did not work on him, she became
exasperated and went to the bathroom to clean herself. Silvino then heard Nenita
Maraon inquiring if everything was ok to which he responded that it was him
and not Enrico who was in the room. On his way out, he met Enrico who
proceeded to beat him up with the help of his friends but managed to escape and
report the incident to the police.
ISSUE: Is Silvino Salarza Jr. guilty of Rape?
RULING: No. The court ruled that accused-appellant was not guilty of the crime
of rape and was acquitted. Art 335 of the RPC, as amended by Sec 11, RA 7659,
provides the grounds in committing rape in which it be committed under any of
the following circumstances: (a) by using force or intimidation; (b) when the
woman is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; and (c) when the woman
is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented. Given the facts provided, the
court did not find them substantiating the information.
The complaining witness did not meet any of the circumstances that would
constitute rape. First of all, she was clearly not below 12 years old and not
demented. Second, the court finds that there was no use of force or intimidation
on the part of the accused as Zareen was aware of what was happening and
allowed him to have sex with her. Her claim that she did not resist because she
thought he was her boyfriend was not persuasive. The evidence show that this
mistake was subjective and relied upon Zareens passive assumption and
negligence to confirm if the person who touched her was indeed her boyfriend;
Silvino did nothing to mislead her into thinking that he was Enrico and. Third,
Zareen was not deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious. Her claim that she
was half-asleep when she felt someone pulling off her underwear did not have
merit as she was aware of what was happening even before Silvino could
penetrate her. Zareen was able to clearly describe what was happening hence
her contention did not stand as she was neither deprived of reason nor
unconscious at the time of the alleged rape. Given the above reasons, the court
could not find compelling reasons against the rape charges to Silvino Salarza, Jr.
hence he was acquitted of the crime charged against him.
SEPARATE OPINIONS: Dissenting opinions were provided by Justice Regelado
and Justice Davide, Jr. to this case in which they uphold the ruling of the Trial
court with slight modification of the penalty imposed by lowering it from Death to
Reclusion Perpetua instead. Regalado and Davide Jr. were both of the opinion
that the case at bar is rape and that Salarza is guilty of having committed it. They
stressed out that the state of half-asleep cannot be completely by passed or
recognized as a state of full consciousness and that Zareen, at that time, allowed
Salarza to penetrate her as she thought he was her boyfriend and that this is a
legitimate act of good faith on her end.