G.R. No.

L-40330 November 20, 1978

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, 

vs.
AMADO DANIEL alias "AMADO ATO", accused-appellant.

MUÑOZ PALMA, J:

FACTS: 13-year old Margarita Paleng accuses Amado

Daniel of rape alleged to have been committed as follows:
That on or about the 20th day of September, 1965, in the City of
Baguio, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable
Court, the herein accused, armed with a sharp instrument and by
means of force and intimidation, did then and there willfully,
unlawfully and feloniously have carnal knowledge of the
undersignedcomplaint, against her will, and in her own room
situated at No. 25 Interior, Pinsao, Guisad, Baguio City.

That in the commission of the crime, the aggravating circumstance

that it was committed in the dwelling of the offended party, the
latter not having given provocation for it, is present.

During trial, the rape was proven but it was also proven that
Margarita was a mere boarder in the place where the crime
was committed.

ISSUE: Can the aggravating circumstance of dwelling be

considered even if the victim is only a boarder in the place
where the crime was committed.

HELD: Yes. The crime committed by the accused is rape

with the use of a deadly weapon with the aggravating
circumstance of having been committed in the dwelling of
the offended party. Although Margarita was merely renting a
bedspace in a boarding house, her room constituted for all
intents and purposes a "dwelling" as the term is used in
Article 14(3), Revised Penal Code. It is not necessary, under
the law, that the victim owns the place where he lives or
dwells. Be he a lessee, a boarder, or a bed-spacer, the place
is his home the sanctity of which the law seeks to protect
and uphold.