PEOPLE VS LORA

133 SCRA 366

FACTS:
Belinda Lora was the newly hired housemaid of the Yap family. She was charged for the
crime of serious illegal detention with murder of three-year-old Oliver Yap whom she
was assigned to look after. The accused gagged Oliver's mouth with stockings, placing
him with head down and feet up in a box and covering it with sacks and more boxes.
She left him in that condition inside the storeroom of the Yap residence, which resulted
to the child's death.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the accused is guilty of murder with the aggravating circumstance of
abuse of confidence or obvious ungratefulness.

HELD:
Yes. Under Article 14, Paragraph 4 of the Revised Penal Code, the three requisites for
abuse of confidence are (1) that the offended party had trusted the offender, (2) that the
offender abused such trust by committing a crime against the offended party, and (3)
that the abuse of confidence facilitated the commission of the crime.

In the case at bar, there are four aggravating circumstances, namely: (1) lack of respect
due to the tender age of the victim, (2) cruelty, for gagging the victim’s mouth with
stockings thereby causing suffocation, (3) abuse of confidence since the main duty of
the accused in the household was to take care of the minor child, and (4) obvious
ungratefulness, since the accused was living in the house of the victim and was
employed immediately as a housemaid.