treated Cristy like a real daughter. They cared for her, supported her schooling and provided
her food, clothing and other needs. Cristy loved him and his wife and had been like a good
daughter to them.
When the accused was assigned at Villamor Air Base in Pasay, Cristy stayed with the accused’s
wife at Clark Air Base. In 1996, when the accused was transferred to the Visayas Command, the
accused’s family, along with Cristy, moved to Cebu. The accused stayed in the Bachelor Officers
Quarters in Camp Lapu-Lapu, Cebu while Cristy resided with the accused’s wife at the Junior
Officers Quarters at Mactan Air Base, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu, an hour’s drive from where the accused
was staying. He rarely went home to Mactan Air Base because of his hectic schedule.
In June 1999, the accused was re-assigned to Manila. The accused, his wife Felicitas and Cristy
transferred to San Pedro, Laguna and stayed with Felicitas’ sister, Elizabeth Balisi. From there,
they transferred to the Airmen’s Village on July 16, 1999.
On November 12, 1999, the alleged date of the rape, the accused was with his elder son, Jessel,
at Mahada Alpha, Barangay Mayapa, Calamba, Laguna. He left Villamor Air Base at 2:00 p.m.
and arrived at Mahada Alpha at 5:00 p.m. At past 5:00 p.m., he met his son Jessel outside the
factory of Yukusha, Philippines where the latter worked. He informed Jessel that his younger
brother Jonnel called up to ask about his petition papers for Canada. After they talked, Jessel
borrowed the accused’s car and had a joy ride with his co-workers while the accused proceeded
to the house Jessel rented. The accused talked with Alma Saberola, the daughter of Jessel’s
landlord. When Jessel arrived at about 7:30 p.m., he told the accused that the car’s headlights
were not functioning. The accused checked the headlights and tried to fix them in vain. So, he
decided to spend the night in Jessel’s place as it was difficult to drive in the dark. He left
Calamba the following morning at 7:00 a.m.
Cristy repeatedly stole money from the accused and his wife, but asked for forgiveness. At first,
the accused forgave her, but the last straw came on November 13, 1999 when he came home
from Calamba. He found out that the one thousand pesos in the pocket of his pants hanging on
the wall was missing. When Cristy arrived, he confronted her about it. The accused and his wife
severely scolded her and even threatened her with a hammer to reform her, but she did not say
a word and just went out of the room. The accused followed her and she returned five hundred
pesos as she had already spent the other five hundred. Later that day, he brought Cristy to
Calamba to tell Jessel that he was fed up with her, then the two went back home to Villamor Air
Base. He decided to stop financing her schooling and to return her to her parents. At 8:00 p.m.,
the accused went to his office and spent the night there. The following day, the accused found
out that Cristy ran away from home. He asked her whereabouts from her relatives and
classmates and learned that Cristy did not go to school nor was she with her Aunt Dolores or
her father. He did not report the matter to the barangay and police authorities, nor did he
make it known at the Villamor Air Base. He suggests that she ran away because of his decision
to stop supporting her schooling.
The accused claims that Cristy filed charges of rape against him upon instigation of her mother,
Gertrudes Tullawan, and a certain Silverio Escobar to extort his P500,000.00 retirement
benefits. Escobar, an NBI agent who was his wife’s kababayan, called him up one time and told
him that a complaint was filed against him, then asked for P500,000.00. The accused did not
give Escobar the money as his conscience was clear. Besides, he did not have any money. The
following day, the accused received a subpoena. It was then that he learned that Cristy,
accompanied by her mother, filed a complaint against him.
It appears that Cristy filed another complaint for rape against the accused and the case is
pending at the Regional Trial Court of Cebu.
12
The son of the accused, Jessel Llanto, corroborated his father’s testimony that he was with him
on November 12, 1999. His father visited him in Calamba, Laguna to ask if the petition papers
for Canada had already been sent by his aunt, his father’s sister. They met at about 5:30 at the
factory where Jessel worked. They then proceeded to Jessel’s place at about 6:00 p.m. and
there talked about the petition papers. Alma Saberola and the other children of Jessel’s
landlord and some of Jessel’s friends were there. After about an hour, Jessel borrowed the
accused’s car and with a friend named Jonathan and another companion, went to a friend’s
place at Palo Alto, Calamba, Laguna. On their way home, they passed a very big hump, but they
were not able to slow down, causing the front of the car to jerk and destroy the headlights.
When they reached home, Jessel told his father that the headlights were not working. As it was
dangerous to drive in the dark, his father decided to spend the night there and left the
following morning for Villamor Air Base. Later that day, at around 6:00 p.m., his father returned
to Calamba with Cristy and told Jessel that he would return Cristy to her parents as he was fed
up with her stealing. Jessel treated Cristy like his younger sister and begged his father to give
her another chance.
13
Alma Saberola, Jessel’s landlady and sister of Jessel’s co-worker, corroborated the accused’s
testimony. She met the accused when he visited Jessel in her house on November 12, 1999. The
accused arrived in her house at about 5:30 p.m. while Jessel was out for a joy ride using the
accused’s car. When Jessel brought the car home, its headlights no longer functioned. The
accused thus decided to spend the night at Jessel’s place and left at about 7:00 a.m. the
following day.
14
Felicitas Balisi, wife of the accused, testified for the defense. She is the older sister of Raul,
Cristy’s father. She has two children with the accused. In 1993, when Cristy was only seven
years old, she started living with her and her family. Felicitas was not particularly delighted with
Cristy as she was hard-headed and not nice. She repeatedly stole money from them from the
time she started living with them. She and her husband brought Cristy with them wherever he
was assigned, first at Clark Air Base, then at Mactan Air Base in Cebu City. In June 1999,
Felicitas’ family stayed with her sister, Elizabeth Balisi, in San Pedro, Laguna as the accused was
assigned at Villamor Air Base in Pasay. The following month, Cristy no longer lived with Felicitas’
family. Felicitas rented a house for Cristy and her mother, Gertrudes Tullawan. They were later
joined by Cristy’s brother, Teodoro, who used to live with Felicitas’ sister, Dolores Balisi, as the
latter supported his studies.
In November 1999, the accused confided to her that he had a problem with a certain Silverio
Escobar who was asking for half a million pesos from him. Escobar was a neighbor of the Balisis
in Ogak, Norte, Tuguegarao and he used to play with Felicitas in the Balisi residence in their
childhood days. Escobar also asked money from Felicitas in October 1999 when she was in
Tuguegarao. He threatened her that if she did not give the amount, he would kill her husband.
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