A MOTHER and father will have to spend the rest of their lives in jail after the Supreme Court affirmed a decision finding them guilty of raping their own 14-year-old daughter.
In a decision promulgated in August 2023 but made public only on October 2, the High Court’s Second Division through Associate Justice Mario Lopez junked the appeal filed by the parents and upheld their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Aside from the penalty of reclusion perpetua, or up to 40 years in prison, the magistrates also ordered them to pay the victim P300,000 in civil indemnity, and moral and exemplary damages, with a 6 percent interest rate per annum until the amount is fully paid.
Records of the case showed that parents “YYY” and “XXX” were accused of conspiring with one another in having sexual intercourse with the victim identified only as “AAA.”
Both accused entered not guilty pleas during their arraignment and denied the accusation.
But the Pangasinan Regional Trial Court found both parents guilty beyond reasonable doubt, with the Court of Appeals upholding the ruling.
The father was also sued by AAA’s sister for rape.
The accused then elevated the case to the SC, challenging the CA’s decision.
But the High Court upheld the decision, adding that the prosecution was “able to establish all elements of rape.”
The SC also stressed that “incestuous rape is not a simple criminal offense that can be easily fabricated, especially in this case where both parents are accused.”
It also cited previous jurisprudence wherein a wife was also held liable for helping her husband sexually abuse a victim.
“A wife helping her husband rape another person is not new, and or jurisprudence is replete with cases of fathers raping their daughters. However, a mother helping her husband rape their own daughter is uncommon,” the SC ruling said, adding that though such thing is unimaginable, it can still happen as in the instant case. “Its inconceivability cannot reduce the credibility of the victim’s testimony nor make her words less true,” the SC said.
“To our mind, a daughter like AAA would not have imputed false allegations against her own parents, on whom she depends for support, were it not for her desire to seek justice and to stop the sexual abuse that she had to endure at a very young age,” it added.
The High Court also did not find fault if the victim took nine years to report the sexual abuse.
“One can only imagine the physical, emotional, and psychological trauma that the 14-year-old girl had to put up with every single day for several years before finally mustering the courage to reveal her ordeal to her aunt,” it said, adding that this was compounded by the fact that her mother was also her abuser.
