THE Philippine Supreme Court revised its guidelines on how courts should classify and penalize rape cases involving minors, broadening the scope of the term 鈥渜ualified rape of a minor鈥 and raising the minimum damages awarded to victims.
Under the amended guidelines, the term applies when the victim is below the statutory age, now under 16 following a 2022 law, or has comparable mental disabilities, and at least one qualifying circumstance is present. Statutory rape will only apply when no aggravating factor exists.
Minimum damages were set at P150,000 each for civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages in qualified rape of a minor; P100,000 each in qualified rape; and P75,000 each in statutory rape, with possible increases for cruelty.
鈥淐learly, not all rape committed against a minor will automatically bear the nomenclature 鈥楺ualified Rape of a Minor,鈥欌 a 9-page resolution penned by now-retired Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez, dated June 30, read.
鈥淭he designation should be used only when a special qualifying aggravating circumstance is present and when the victim is below the statutory age or is suffering from mental retardation comparable to the intellectual capacity of a child below the statutory age.鈥
鈥淭he term 鈥榮tatutory age鈥 shall mean either 鈥榖elow 12 years old鈥 or 鈥榰nder 16 years old,鈥 depending on whether the crime of rape was committed before or after the effectivity of Republic Act No. 11648, respectively.鈥
Qualified rape applies if at least one special aggravating circumstance under Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code exists and the victim is not under the statutory age or is mentally disabled, like a child of that age. The accused must pay at least P100,000 each in civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages, with possible increases for extreme cruelty.
If the victim is below the statutory age or has a mental disability equivalent to that of a child of that age, the crime is considered statutory rape. The minimum civil liability is P75,000 each for civil indemnity, moral damages, and exemplary damages, which can be increased if the crime involved extreme cruelty. 鈥 Chloe Mari A. Hufana
