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People vs Godofredo Tizon, Jr.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GODOFREDO TIZON, JR. y LADRILLO, RANDY UBAG y DELA ROSA, ARNOLD LADRILLO y GARCIA and NESTOR CRISOSTOMO y LAGO, accused-appellants.

G.R. No. 133228-31 | 2002-07-30

D E C I S I O N
 
KAPUNAN, J.:

Accused-appellants assail the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Negros Occidental, Branch 47[1] convicting them of four counts of rape and sentencing each of them to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua.

The victim, Cynthia Barena, was 38 years old, single and, as a result of a nervous breakdown, mentally imbalanced. Her mental condition made her the butt of jokes in the neighborhood store.[2] On May 4, 1997, her body was found naked in the rice field at Hacienda Guanzon, Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City. She was dead.

Zenaida Ladrillo awoke that morning to the tragic news that her sister...