Illegal Possession of Different Drugs

Absent any clear interpretation as to the application of the penalties in cases such as the present one, this Court shall construe it in favor of the petitioner for the subject provision is penal in nature. It is a well-known rule of legal hermeneutics that penal or criminal laws are strictly construed against the state and liberally in favor of the accused. Thus, an accused may only be convicted of a single offense of possession of dangerous drugs if he or she was caught in possession of different kinds of dangerous drugs in a single occasion. If convicted, the higher penalty shall be imposed, which is still lighter if the accused is convicted of two (2) offenses having two (2) separate penalties. This interpretation is more in keeping with the intention of the legislators as well as more favorable to the accused (David v. People, G.R. No. 181861. October 17, 2011).

Rape with Homicide

Considering that the prosecution in this case was able to prove both the rape of AAA and the killing of Jennifer both perpetrated by appellant, he is liable for rape with homicide under the above provision. There is no doubt that appellant killed Jennifer to prevent her from aiding AAA or calling for help once she is able to run away, and also to silence her completely so she may not witness the rape of AAA, the original intent of appellant. His carnal desire having been satiated, appellant purposely covered AAA’s body with grass, as he did earlier with Jennifer’s body, so that it may not be easily noticed or seen by passersby. Appellant indeed thought that the savage blows he had inflicted on AAA were enough to cause her death as with Jennifer. But AAA survived and appellant’s barbaric deeds were soon enough discovered.

The facts established showed that the constitutive elements of rape with homicide were consummated, and it is immaterial that the person killed in this case is someone other than the woman victim of the rape. An analogy may be drawn from our rulings in cases of robbery with homicide, where the component acts of homicide, physical injuries and other offenses have been committed by reason or on the occasion of robbery (People v. Laog, G.R. No. 178321, October 5, 2011).