The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed a Court of Appeals (CA) decision that reduced to life sentence the death penalty imposed by the trial court on a tricycle driver for the rape-slay of a young girl in Balayan, Batangas 10 years ago.

In a decision written by Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., the SC said the CA was correct in reducing the penalty because death penalty had been removed in the statute books.

Leodegario A. Bascugin vacillated from his plea of guilty to not guilty and finally to not guilty when arraigned by the Balayan regional trial court (RTC).

While there was no witness to the commission of the crime, the RTC found Bascugin guilty of the rape-slay charges on account of his own confession and on circumstantial evidence. He appealed his case to the CA which sustained the trial court’s findings with modification on the penalty.

Ten hours after the victim was last seen aboard Bascugin’s tricycle, her naked body with 13 stab wounds was found by the police in a canal along the national road. The police recovered a pair of maong pants and two undergarments belonging to the victim.

The body of the victim was found near a waiting shed where a witness testified that he saw Bascugin’s tricycle parked on the night of June 4, 1999. The same witness said he heard a girl shout as he passed by the area but ignored it because he was afraid.

In a sugarcane plantation nearby, the girl’s relatives found tricycle marks in the mudded portion of the sugarcane plantation where the victim’s hairclip was also recovered.

Bascugin offered a different story in explaining to authorities why he had a wound on his tongue. But before changing his plea to “not guilty,” Bascugin admitted that his tongue was bitten by the victim whom he raped.

Medico-legal findings confirmed Bascugin’s admissions since the bloodstains in his brief, undershirt, t-shirt and pants matched the blood type of the victim. Also, the bucal swab taken from Bascugin and the vaginal smear sample from the victim showed that he raped the girl before killing her.