The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the conviction of a father and a mother for the rape of their own minor daughter in 2008.

The “despicable act” was committed by the father with the help of his wife, the mother of the 14-year-old victim.

In upholding the crime committed by both father and mother, the SC also affirmed the sentence of reclusion perpetua (imprisonment from 20 to 40 years) imposed by both the trial court and the Court of Appeals (CA).  

The spouses, whose names were redacted in the SC decision, were also ordered to pay their daughter-victim P300,000 in civil, moral, and exemplary damages in a decision written by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez.

The SC said in its decision: 

“This is not just another horrid case of child rape or an incident of a father raping his own daughter. This is a despicable case of rape committed by a father and a mother against their own daughter. This only proves that lust is not deterred by age or relationship.

“A wife helping her husband rape another person is not new, and our jurisprudence is replete with cases of fathers raping their daughters.

“However, a mother helping her husband rape their own daughter is uncommon. It is so despicable that it seems unreal.

“However, even if it is unimaginable, it can still happen. Its inconceivability cannot reduce the credibility of the victim’s testimony nor make her words less true.”

The daughter-victim was born on Nov. 11, 1994.  She testified that about 10 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2008, her mother woke her up and told her lie down beside her father.

She testified that her mother held both of her feet while her father went on top of her and inserted his private part inside her private part for almost five minutes while he was holding her hands.

She narrated that during the incident and while she was crying out of pain, her mother continued to hold both of her legs.

Afterwards, she said, her parents ordered her to go back to where she was sleeping.

She said she did not report the incident to anyone for fear of her father.  But on May 29, 2017, she said, she broke her silence and told what happened to her to her mother’s sister.

She stressed she was tired of what her parents were doing to her and she wanted them to pay for what they have done.

Both father and mother were charged before the regional trial court (RTC) with incestuous rape under Article 266-A in relation to Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act No. 8353, the law on the expanded definition of rape.

During the trial, the spouses denied the charge and presented the defense of alibi to dispel the incident of rape testified to by their daughter.

The RTC convicted them in the decision issued on Feb. 11, 2019. The couple elevated the case to the CA which affirmed their conviction in a decision handed down on April 20, 2022.  Undeterred, they appealed their case to the SC.

In affirming their conviction, the SC said: 

“The daughter testified clearly and categorically on how her father succeeded in having carnal knowledge of her with the help of her mother.

“Accused appellants (the parents) have apparent moral ascendancy and physical superiority over their daughter. They placed their daughter in a position where she cannot resist because her father was holding her hands and her mother was holding her feet.

“The Court stresses that incestuous rape is not a simple criminal offense that can be easily fabricated, especially in this case where both parents are accused.

“The humiliation of a trial and life-long stigmatization will surely take a toll on the victim and her family.

“To our mind, a daughter (like the one this case) 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.”