Jalosjos’ conviction affirmed

Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos can now be expelled from the House of Representatives and his name stricken off the chamber’s rolls.

The Supreme Court denied yesterday the motion for reconsideration of Jalosjos and affirmed with finality his 1997 conviction for rape.

"The Court sees no reason to disturb its finding of Jalosjos’ guilt," read an excerpt from the high tribunal’s three-page en banc resolution. "In view of all the foregoing, the instant motion for reconsideration (filed by Jalosjos) is denied with finality."

Makati Judge Roberto Diokno had sentenced Jalosjos to two life terms in 1997 for the June 1996 statutory rape of an 11-year-old girl.

In upholding the conviction of Jalosjos, the 15-member Supreme Court voted unanimously.

Under the law, Jalosjos, who is on his third and last term as congressman, can be expelled from the House after his conviction has become final.

In a 46-page decision on Nov. 14 last year upholding the conviction of Jalosjos, the Supreme Court through Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago said the "main culprit" in the rape case was none other than Jalosjos.

"For all we know, Jalosjos may have found a distinct and complete sexual gratification in such kind of libidinous stunts and maneuvers," read the tribunal’s decision. "Jalosjos may have reached that point where he would rather have sex with a girl of tender age, who could even pass as his granddaughter."

The Supreme Court also affirmed the conviction of Jalosjos on six counts of acts of lasciviousness that Jalosjos was accused of committing on the victim at the Ritz Towers in Makati in June 1996.

"Topped with the thrusting motions by Jalosjos, the resulting pain by the victim in her sex organ was no doubt a consequence of consummated rape," read the court’s decision.

"There need not be full and complete penetration of the victim’s vagina for rape to be consummated. We ruled that rape is consummated by the slightest penetration of the female organ, i.e., touching of either labia of the pudendum by the penis."

Santiago said the "very essence" of statutory rape is carnal knowledge of a woman below 12 years old, whom the law presumes not to have a will of her own.

"The law does not consider any kind of consent given by her (child sex worker) as voluntary," read the tribunal’s decision.

"The same goes for children exploited in prostitution defined in the Anti-Abuse Law (RA 7610). Their consent or provocation in the sexual intercourse of lascivious conduct occasioned by their prostitution is not mitigating. Thus, Jalosjos’s contention that consent or provocation can mitigate his criminal liability is misplaced."

The Supreme Court also ordered Jalosjos to pay the victim, who is now 16 years old, a total of P700,000 in damages.

In December 1996, before Diokno could issue a warrant for his arrest, Jalosjos fled and hid in an island off Bagac, Bataan until agents of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Security Group tracked him down.