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PEOPLE Vs. Mateo Patilan

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MATEO PATILAN, defendant-appellant. The Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellee. Vicente A. Torres for defendant-appellant.

G.R. Nos. 78772-73 | 1991-05-23

D E C I S I O N


DAVIDE, JR., J.:

These cases recount the story of JOCELYN DE MESA, a girl born on 25 February 1972, who ultimately gathered enough courage to undergo public trial to obtain justice for the traumatic experiences, perhaps already indelibly etched in her memory, she suffered in the clutches of a nineteen-year old youth who sexually abused her not just once, but thrice, the first of which was when she was only twelve years, three months and two days old. However, as hereafter discussed, the Municipal Trial Court, after the preliminary investigation, dismissed one of the three complaints for rape.

The discovery of the...