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TheAntiRapeLawof1997|PhilippineeLegalForum

THE ANTI-RAPE LAW OF 1997


By: Atty.Fred | September 25, 2006 in Criminal Law, Litigation
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The Subic Rape Case again puts the spotlight on the crime of rape. As comments on the merits of the case are
not allowed, lets just discuss the crime of rape.
Rape is governed by Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), which was amended on 22 October 1997 by
Republic Act No. 8353, also known as the Anti-Rape Law of 1997. Among the innovations under R.A. 8353 are
the following:
1. Marital rape is impliedly recognized. Rape committed against the wife, also known as marital rape, is
impliedly acknowledged under the new law, which provides that the subsequent forgiveness by the wife as the
oended party, in case its the husband who is the oender, shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty.
(Article 266-C)
2. Reclassication of rape as a crime against persons. The new law reclassied rape from crime against
chastity to a crime against persons, which means that prosecution is commenced in court by the ling of an
information by the public prosecutor, and no longer by a mere complaint led by the oended party, parents,
godparents or guardian.
3. Fourth mode of committing rape. Prior to 1997, rape is considered committed by having carnal knowledge
of a woman: (1) by using force or intimidation; (2) when the woman is deprived of reason or otherwise
unconscious; or (3) when the woman is under twelve years of age or is demented. The new law added a fourth
mode of committing rape on a woman by fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority.
4. Rape may now be committed against men, not only against women. Rape is committed by any person
who xxx shall commit an act of sexual assault by inserting his penis into another persons mouth or anal
orice, or any instrument or object, into the genital or anal orice of another person.
5. Rape now includes acts other than penile penetration of the vaginal orice. The provision quoted above
means that, among other things, a woman may now be charged of raping another woman.
6. On statutory rape. The new law provides that statutory rape may be committed even though none of the
three other modes are present. RA 8353 provides that rape is committed by a man who shall have carnal
knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:
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a) Through force, threat, or intimidation;


b) When the oended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious;
c) By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; and
d) When the oended party is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even though none of the
circumstances mentioned above be present.

7. Kind of resistance and proof. Any physical overt act manifesting resistance against the rape in any degree
from the victim is admissible as evidence of lack of consent. Tenacious resistance, however, is not required.
Neither is a determined and persistent physical struggle on the part of the victim necessary. In drafting the new
law, the legislators agreed that Article 266-D is intended to soften the jurisprudence of the 1970s
when resistance to rape was required to be tenacious. The lawmakers took note of the fact that rape victims
cannot mount a physical struggle in cases where they were gripped by overpowering fear or subjugated by
moral authority. Article 266-D tempered the case law requirement of physical struggle by the victim with the
victims fear of the rapist or incapacity to give valid consent. Thus, the law now provides that resistance
may be proved by any physical overt act in any degree from the oended party (People vs. Dulay).
8. Marriage extinguishes criminal liability. The new law also expressly provides (Article 266-C) that the
subsequent valid marriage between the oender and the oended party shall extinguish the criminal action or
the penalty imposed. However, this does not apply if the marriage is void ab initio or from the beginning.
Incidentally, the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 should be considered with R.A. 8505 (the Rape Victim Assistance and
Protection Act of 1998), which provides for a rape shield. It simply means that in rape, evidence of
complainants past sexual conduct, opinion thereof or of his/her reputation shall not be admitted unless,
and only to the extent that the court nds, that such evidence is material and relevant to the case. (Sec. 6)
Related Posts:
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4. Eect of Annulment in a Criminal Case for Bigamy
5. Preliminary Investigation in Criminal Cases

13 thoughts on The Anti-Rape Law of 1997

josa
October 13, 2006 at 5:31 am
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I am greatly disappointed that to this date, date rape which may fall under fraudulent machinations still isnt
recognized such that more often than not, the complaint for rape is downgraded to seduction.
Is there any philippine jurisprudence on date rape that you may be aware of?

Atty.Fred
October 13, 2006 at 2:50 pm

Hello Josa, I havent heard of one, although will still check. Anyway, may I request that you write something on
that issue (your status is now a contributor, please see last post in this site).

concerned uncle
November 2, 2010 at 3:13 am

Dear Atty. Fred,


My family just discovered that rape was continuously committed by my brother in law against my niece, who is
17 yrs. old. My niece is actually not his own child, but the child of my sister from her rst partner. The rst time
rape was committed was when my niece was just 6 years old and has continued until last month, October 2010
when we discovered it. We found this out through my other niece, who admitted that she saw her father raping
her step-sister (older sister) and complained last week that her father has started touching her as well. When
confronted, my brother-in-law admitted to the oences. We then evicted him from their house through the
help of his relatives and baranggay o cials.
I want to le criminal charges against him and at the same time, apply for TPO and eventually PPO. However,
we are concerned that once found guilty (which in my humble opinion is more likely), he will lose his job and
will not be able to provide for the family. As a seafarer, he is also bound to leave the country next month.
Criminal/ police records will surely prevent him from leaving which will then result to inability to support the
family. My sister is jobless. They have a toddler and 2 grade-schoolers plus the oldest daughter, the rape-victim
who is now in college.
May we just apply for TPO or PPO without ling criminal charges? Will the government, (e.g. DSWD)not force us
to take legal steps which will result to my brother-in-laws incarceration or worse, meddle in the child-custody
matter?
I will appreciate your response. I want to apply for TPO today as he is continuously sending my sister alarming
text messages. I am withholding my plans because of the aforementioned concerns.
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Thank you very much.

captain16
November 7, 2010 at 11:31 am

Good Day,
I would like ask for advice regarding to my sister rape case.
My father discovered that my 16 years old sister was pregnant, and the worst scenario, she was raped. But the
problem, the was done last May 2010 after the election and my parents only know about it this last week of
October 2010. And they try to ask for help in the police station but the police said they can only le warrant of
arrest if it was only few days was past, but its been 5 months after the crime and they can only give subpoena.
But until now, no subpoena was come for hearing and we want to punish this criminal after he done to my
sister.
I want to ask if its right and we need to wait for this subpoena or the police can arrest this guy at once. Because
we are worrying maybe this criminal guy will hide and it will so hard for us the justice that we deserve.
And please give us advice what much better need to do.
Thank you very much..

Shango
November 8, 2010 at 6:21 am

What if a gay who forced a guy to have sex with him. He managed to do so, by using force, and then he sucked
the guys private part. Is that considered rape?

namanpotoh
March 19, 2012 at 6:41 pm

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hican somebody answer me i live in bohol. i have a daughter and married. iwas raped by my father he
intimidate me with a knife and i got pregnant shes 2 years old now. can i charge my father a rape even 2 years
have been pass?thx for the answer send me yoour answer namanpotoh@yahoo.com

vlad
November 27, 2012 at 12:50 pm

can anyone help me please?


My Uncle was accused of rape and he is now in Jail .. the said Victim was a 13 yrs. old girl .. and the girl admits
to the investigators that she was the one who ask my uncle to do it with her, and she said that my uncle didnt
force her and didnt even put his Penis in her Vagina, according to her what my uncle did was insert his nger in
her .. the investigation took only 2 days but based on what Ive read in R.A. 8353 Section 5 it says This Act shall
take eect fteen (15) days after completion of its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
is there a way to make my uncle not guilty of the crime? and is what he and the girl did was considered rape ?
thank you for the help
dionelavom@gmail.com

uriel_2007
August 6, 2013 at 5:13 pm

good day,
27 yrs ago i was born unwed
My mother 17 yrs old and my father was 22 yrs old. Can I still le a case for that?. Since my mother is not of
legal age and my father is of legal age?. even 27 yrs have past? is there a prescribe years for the case to be le?
Im hoping an answers.. thank you.
It will great help.
you can reach me trough my email address uriel_2007@yahoo.com

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karensantos
August 29, 2013 at 4:28 pm

Good day,
I want to ask regarding the case of my father who has been accused of rape by an 18 year old. The said
complainant lived in my grandmothers house. She worked as a housekeeper and in return my grandmother
nance her education and basic needs. My grand mother sent her home last June 2013 to her family because
the complainant had been going home late for how may times and my grandmother also complained of losing
amount of cash in which she suspects the complainant is guilty for this matter. After 1 month that she was sent
home, a subpoena was recieved by my father allegeding 7 counts of rapes in which my father denied all of it.
We have strong wtnesses and proof for the 3 counts but the remaining 4 dates, we cannot defend because my
father and family could no longer remember their iterinaries or my father was at home with my mother. i just
want to ask help and expert advise because rape case is unusual in our locality. and is it possible that the scal
will move up the case eventhough the complainant has only sworn statement of rape and no other supporting
evidence against my father?because it seems the complainant has other intentions.

karensantos
August 29, 2013 at 4:39 pm

Good day,
I want to ask regarding the case of my father who has been accused of rape by an 18 year old. The said
complainant lived in my grandmothers house. She worked as a housekeeper and in return my grandmother
nance her education and basic needs. My grand mother sent her home last June 2013 to her family because
the complainant had been going home late for how may times and my grandmother also complained of losing
amount of cash in which she suspects the complainant is guilty for this matter. After 1 month that she was sent
home, a subpoena was recieved by my father allegeding 7 counts of rapes in which my father denied all of it.
We have strong wtnesses and proof for the 3 counts but the remaining 4 dates, we cannot defend because my
father and family could no longer remember their iterinaries or my father was at home with my mother. i just
want to ask help and expert advise because rape case is unusual in our locality. and is it possible that the scal
will move up the case eventhough the complainant has only sworn statement of rape and no other supporting
evidence against my father?because it seems the complainant has other intentions. you can reach me through
my email adddress karensantos405@gmail.com

Jen
December 6, 2014 at 7:54 pm
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hi. I just want to ask is how long is the statute limitations for statutory rape?? I was 16 at the time of event
(currently 20 now) and unconscious. The guys was 24 years old at that time. I was advised the it was certainly a
statutory rape even if I consented or not the event. Could you help me out if I can still le a complaint?

nregenn
December 12, 2014 at 10:23 am

hi good day,
I would like to ask an advice regarding the case of my sister,she is 6 years old when she was rape,actually just
last year,we, the family led a case against the suspect.He is now in jail,but the last hearing we attended,really
shakes our head, because the public prosecutor told us that the suspect,could earn his freedom back outside
the jail because he is a 16 YEARS OLD MINOR! and according to the prosecutor,the custody of the of the
suspect will be turn over to the DSWD and denetely to the parents.We really cant understand why he is
gaining his freedom back?The prosecutor told us, that if the suspect reaches 21 thats the time that he will be
going back to jail.so my questions are? is this really in the law,that a minor suspect could have a parents
custody in this kind of case?Is it possible that the parents of the suspect could le an ORAL DEFORMATION to
us if we will not win in this case? what are we going to do now? I really need your help because me personally, I
dont have that wide knowledge to understand all the aspects of legality, so i am hoping your help, we really
wanted to ght despite the adversities and trials,we encounter .NOT A POVERTY WILL STOP OUR HUNGER IN
AIMING JUSTICE ..

Roland
September 16, 2015 at 7:12 am

My wife was date raped. She is worried the rapist can take the child from us. I wish to know if he has any claim
to my wifes child. We were legally married then and now. She is worried and I support the child. In all aspects.
Medical, dental, nancial and private school.

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