Qualified rape; elements; penalty - G.R. No. 195239

G.R. No. 195239

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Elements of Qualified Rape Duly Proved

The elements of rape as provided in the Revised Penal Code (RPC) are as follows:

ART. 266-A. Rape, When and How Committed. – Rape is committed –

1.      By a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:
a.       Through force, threat or intimidation;
b.      When the offended party is deprived of reason or is otherwise unconscious;
c.       By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority;
d.      When the offended party is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present. (Emphasis supplied.)

And one of the aggravating circumstances that would qualify the crime and raise the penalty to death is:

ART. 266-B. Penalties –

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The death penalty shall also be imposed if the crime of rape is committed with any of the following aggravating/qualifying circumstances:
1)      When the victim is under eighteen (18) years of age and theoffender is a parent, ascendant, step-parent, guardian, relative by consanguinity or affinity within the third civil degree, or the common law spouse of the parent of the victim. (Emphasis supplied.)

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Since all the elements of qualified rape were duly alleged and proved during the trial, the proper penalty should be death according to Article 266-B of the RPC. However, with the effectivity of Republic Act No. 9346, entitled An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines, the imposition of the supreme penalty of death has been prohibited. Pursuant to Section 2 of the Act, the penalty to be meted out should be reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole.

The trial court correctly awarded PhP 75,000 as civil indemnity, but the amount of moral and exemplary damages awarded has to be modified consonant to current jurisprudence. Civil indemnity, which is actually in the nature of actual or compensatory damages, is mandatory upon the finding of the fact of rape.[36] Moral damages are automatically granted in a rape case without need of further proof other than the fact of its commission, for it is assumed that a rape victim has actually suffered moral injuries entitling her to such an award.[37] According to prevailing jurisprudence, the amount of moral damages should be PhP 75,000.[38] Likewise, exemplary damages should have been PhP 30,000, and this is awarded in order to serve as public example and to protect the young from sexual abuse.[39]

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