VICTIM'S TESTIMONY ALONE, IF CREDIBLE, SUFFICES TO CONVICT.
"AAA testified clearly and unequivocally to how accused-appellant raped then robbed her. While her TESTIMONY was UNCORROBORATED, this Court has ruled in a plethora of cases that "[t]he VICTIM'S TESTIMONY ALONE, IF CREDIBLE, SUFFICES TO CONVICT."44 The testimony of AAA, whom the trial court found to be a CREDIBLE WITNESS, was CLEAR AND STRAIGHTFORWARD.
Accused-appellant ADMITTED THAT HE HAD SEX WITH AAA-insisting that it was consensual- and DENIED ROBBING HER. However, these SELF-SERVING, UNSUBSTANTIATED DEFENSES OF DENIAL fail against the victim's POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION.
What further bolsters the prosecution's case is the MEDICO-LEGAL OFFICER'S CORROBORATIVE TESTIMONY. The medico-legal report showed that AAA had sustained "HEMATOMA, ABRASIONS, [and] LACERATED AND PUNCTURED WOUNDS ALL OVER HER BODY."45 These findings CORROBORATE AAA's TESTIMONY that "accused-appellant STABBED HER with a pointed weapon and inflicted FORCE AND VIOLENCE against her in order for her to submit to him."46
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, V. PIO SALEN, JR. Y SENA, ACCUSED-APPELLANT. G.R. No. 231013, January 29, 2020.
