Rostum V.

Agapito May 04, 2019

Forensic Medicine Course Work

Part I

1. As defined in Philippine context, Child abuse is any act detrimental to a child’s health, safety,
normal development, and life. Under the R.A 7610, we have four (4) categories of child abuse,
namely: neglect, psychological or emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. I have three
(3) key learnings in child abuse. First, in neglect, the deprivation of the basic needs such as food,
clothing, education, and shelter must not be due to poverty or else it will fall under child abuse.
Second, shaking a baby may cause shaken infant syndrome which falls under physical abuse. This
syndrome may cause motor defects, mental retardation, and vision impairments that are not readily
noticeable. Third, sexual abuse is also common with boys and not only with girls. The data on
this is very alarming since it can be opined that our society should be partly blamed for it being
underreported and unrecognized.

2. A) Testimony of a rape victim-daughter – “It is hornbook doctrine that the positive and
categorical testimony of a rape victim-daughter, identifying her own father as the one who
sexually attacked her, prevails over his bare denial.” The SC held in People v. Abellano, that
no daughter will charge a father, especially a good father, with rape. The charge is not only
embarrassing to the victim and the family but also meant the death of the head of the family.

B) Delay in Reporting does not mean it is fabricated – “Settled is the theory that delay or
hesitation in reporting the abuse due to the threats of the assailant is justified and must not
be taken against the victim, since it is not uncommon that a rape victim conceal for some
time the assault against her person on account of fear of the threats posed by her assailant.”
The SC held in People v. Domingo, that delay in reporting a case of rape is not always to be taken
as a fabricated charge; a rape charge becomes doubtful only when the delay in revealing its
commission is unreasonable and unexplained.

C) Victim testimony consistent with medical findings – The SC held in People v. Bidoc that, “It
has been said that when the testimony of a rape victim is consistent with the medical findings,
sufficient basis exists to warrant a conclusion that the essential requisite of carnal knowledge
has thereby been established.” In such cases, the rape charges against the perpetrator is
strengthen.

D) Virginity not an element of rape – The SC held in People v. Aquino that, it is well-settled that
the rupture of the hymen or vaginal lacerations are not necessary for rape to be
consummated. What is fundamental is that the entry or at least the introduction of the male organ
into the labia of the pudendum is proved.

E) Desire to change position constitute only one count of rape – The SC held in People v. Aaron
that even though the accused thrice succeeded in inserting his penis into the private part of
the victim, if the three penetrations occurred during one continuing act of rape which was
obviously motivated by a single criminal intent, the accused can only be convicted with one
count of rape. In such case, there is no indication that the accused decided to commit those
separate and distinct acts of sexual assault other than his lustful desire to change positions inside
the room where the crime was committed.

3. R.A. 9262, Sec. 3(c) defines Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) as a pattern of psychological
and behavioral symptoms found in women living in battering relationships as a result of
cumulative abuse. BWS has three phases, namely: the tension-building phase, the acute battering
incident phase, and the tranquil period. In the tension-building phase, minor battering in the form
of verbal or slight physical abuse happens and the woman tries to pacify the batterer by showing
acts of kindness and nurturing behavior. In the acute battering incident phase, the woman
experiences brutality or destructiveness and the woman realizes that she cannot reason anymore
with the batterer. Lastly, in the tranquil period, the couple makes amend and the batterer may show
a tender and nurturing behavior towards his partner.

In People v. Genoso, the Supreme Court enumerated three (3) requisites in order for it to be valid
form of self-defense. First, each of the phases of the cycle of violence must be proven to have
characterized at least two battering episodes between the appellant and her intimate partner.
Second, the final acute battering episode preceding the killing of the batterer must have produced
in the battered person’s mind an actual fear of an imminent harm from her batterer and an honest
belief that she needed to use force in order to save her life. Third, at the time of the killing, the
batterer must have posed probable – not necessarily immediate and actual – grave harm to the
accused, based on the history of violence perpetrated by the former against the latter.

Part II

My plan to personally contribute to solving these issues is by educating people about it. The
problem is, people remain in such circumstances for they are not aware that there are already
systems or policies that could help them get out from it. I worked before in Inter-Agency Council
Against Trafficking (IACAT) which is the agency mandated to implement our laws against human
trafficking, and I learned that a huge chunk of their budget is for seminars and a 24-hour hotline
system that responds to all trafficking reports. These actions put a premium on how to educate
other agencies (PNP, DSWD, LGU’s) and sectors and how to make reporting of the problem more
convenient and accessible to the people.

However, being a student right now, I can only educate people in a small scale. This can be done
by joining our community in spreading awareness on how to know when our friends, neighbors,
or relatives are in such circumstances. And also, by telling them that we already have convenient
means to report such incident such as the 1343 Hotline of IACAT and the Actionline Application
in the App Store and Google Play for child abuse that can also be considered as trafficking.