Frightened victim

A LAW EACH DAY (Keeps Trouble Away) By Jose C. Sison (The Philippine Star) |
Updated March 22, 2017 - 12:00am

Is failure to resist the sexual advances an indication that no rape has been
committed? This is the issue raised in this case of Liza.

Liza is a 16-year-old teenager and one of the three daughters of Lina and Ben.
Her other sisters who are older, namely Ana and Mina are no longer with them
as they have separate families of their own living in their own houses. On the
other hand, her mother Lina has two brothers, Bruno and Max whose house is
adjacent to them. Liza is afraid of her uncles because they used to scold her and
would sometimes kick her particularly Bruno, the younger one.

One late evening when Liza was already asleep in her room, she was suddenly
awakened by someone removing her short pants and panty. When she got up,
she found Bruno lying beside her while removing his own short pants. Thereafter
Bruno kissed Liza’s lips, touched her breast and sexually assaulted her. After
satisfying his bestial desires, Bruno slept by Liza’s side as he was quite drunk
already.

Liza then went to the comfort room and cried in silence. By early morning, she
went to the house of her elder sister Ana who found her outside the door
sobbing. Upon Ana’s prodding, Liza narrated her tragic experience and
recounted to Ana how she was raped by Bruno. Aghast, Ana went to the house
of their eldest sister Minda to inform the latter what happened to Liza and to plan
their next move. Later on, after Liza’s medical examination confirming that she
was indeed raped, and after reporting the incident to the police. Minda filed a
complaint against Bruno for the rape of Liza.At the trial, Liza testified and
reiterated her tragic experience. Ana also testified and corroborated what
happened to her sister. Bruno on the other hand denied that he went to Liza’s
house that evening. He said he was at his friend’s house drinking until 3 a.m. the
following morning. And when he awoke at around 7 a.m. he did not notice Liza.
He contended that the charge against him was motivated by the quarrel he had
with Lina, the mother of Liza and his sister.

But the trial court found Bruno guilty of the crime of rape as charged and
sentenced him to reclusion perpetua and to pay the corresponding indemnity
plus damages. The court said that Liza was able to positively identity Bruno as
the perpetrator of the crime which was further bolstered by the medical findings.
Bruno questioned the decision all the way to the Supreme Court. He contended
that Liza’s failure to offer resistance to his advances discounted the occurrence
of rape. Was he correct?

No, said the Supreme Court. In rape cases, the law does not impose a
burden on the victim to prove resistance because it is not an element
of rape. The failure to shout or offer tenacious resistance does not
mean that the victim voluntarily submitted to the criminal act of the
offender. Rape victims react differently. Some may offer strong
resistance while others may be too intimidated.

In this case it is evident that Liza feared Bruno, her uncle, who can be
reasonably expected to exercise moral authority over her even prior to the rape
incident. In fact, Bruno and her other Uncle Max used to scold her and kick her.
This fear immobilized her and disabled her to offer physical
resistance to Bruno’s advances. Physical resistance need not be
established when intimidation is brought to bear on the victim and the
latter submits out of fear especially if the reprehensible act is done on
a 16-year-old child-woman by no less than her uncle.

In fact, Bruno’s conviction for rape is qualified by his being the uncle of Liza and
related by third degree of consanguinity (Article 266_B Revised Penal Code).
And since Liza was only 16 years old, the rape calls for the application of death
penalty. But with the passage of R.A. 9436 suspending the imposition of death
penalty, Bruno should suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua without eligibility
for parole. The civil indemnity and moral damages should also be increased
(People vs Palanay, G.R. 224583, February 1, 2017)