The Pangasinan Regional Trial Court (RTC) has convicted a man for raping a six-year-old girl.
In a decision made public Tuesday, Pangasinan RTC Branch 68 found Angelo Cabansag guilty of statutory rape and was sentenced to up to 17 years of imprisonment and to pay the victim a total of P90,000 in damages.
The incident occurred in 2013. The victim was playing in front of Cabansag’s house with two other children when she was called by Cabansag and brought inside his room where the incident occurred.
The victim, who lived across the street from Cabansag, was unaware of Cabansag’s actions due to her young age but told the incident to her mother.
The victim and her mother reported the incident to the police, and the victim was brought to a doctor for medical examination, affirming her story.
Cabansag, a tricycle driver, denied the victim’s story and narrated how he was at church and transporting passengers on the day of the incident.
He said he went home late and did not know if the victim went to his house.
The court said the victim’s revelation and her voluntary submission to medical examination “cannot be easily dismissed as a mere concoction.”
“At her very young age, this court finds it very inconceivable why and how [the victim] would invent the instant story of sexual assault if such was not perpetrated upon her person,” the court said.
“Denial is inherently a weak defense which cannot outweigh positive testimony,” the court said with regards to Cabansag’s defense. Jaehwa Bernardo, INQUIRER.net trainee/RAM
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