Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman for the purpose of establishing conjugal and family life. To procreate child and enhance the love, married couple copulate. Thus, sex is an act of love and often described as a basic human need. As an act of love, sex is consensual and voluntary rather than a duty.
Rape is a crime committed when a man shall have sexual intercourse with a woman [1] through force, threat or intimidation; [2] deprived of reason or is unconscious; [3] thru fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; and [4] victim is under 12 [Revised Penal Code] or 16 years of age [Republic Act 11648 which became effective on 22 March 2022] even if the preceding circumstances are not present.
May one convicted of rape be freed because of marriage? This was answered in People v. De Guzman, G.R. No. 185843, 03 March 2010. In this case, Ronie was charged, tried and convicted of two rape and sentenced to reclusion perpetua [30 years under Article 27, Revised Penal Code] as affirmed in 2008 by the Supreme Court. In 2009, the accused and accuser got married in jail. A motion for extinguishment of the crime was filed that he be absolved of two counts of rape. The Supreme Court ruled that in relation to Article 266-C, RPC, its Article 89 reads that criminal liability is totally extinguished: xxx 7. by the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344, RPC, which reads: in cases of rape, marriage of the offender with the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or remit the penalty already imposed upon him. The motion was granted, accused was absolved of his crime and was released from prison.
While marriage extinguishes rape, is husband liable if he forced his wife to have sex with him? This was answered in People v. Jumawan, G.R. No. 187495, 21 April 2014. In this case, Edgar first met KKK at the latter’s farm, where the former’s father works as a laborer. In 1975, they got married after a year of courtship. They were blessed with four children. KKK engaged in several businesses: trucking, rice mill and hardware while Edgar assisted in the rice mill by driving occasionally. In 1994, KKK would shuttle from Cagayan to Bukidnon and vice-versa. Conjugal intimacy was fulfilling and frequent. In 1997, Edgar become brutal in bed that the method of love lovemaking was physically painful for lack of foreplay that she would resist his sexual ambush but she was threatened to submission. On October 16 and 17, 1998, Edgar forced his wife despite having headache and abdominal pain. Still, despite her pleas and cries heard by their two children, he forced KKK. Once gratified, he laughed and said “it’s nice, that is what you deserve because you are a flirt or fond of sex.” Edgar’s aggression recurred the next day. KKK sued Edgar for rape. The Regional Trial Court and Court of Appeals convicted him of rape. In his appeal, he argued that there was no rape since consent is implied between husband and wife.
Our Supreme Court ruled that husbands do not have property rights over their wives’ bodies. Sexual intercourse, albeit within the realm of marriage, if not consensual, is rape. This is the clear State policy under Section 266-A, Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law of 1997. The paradigm shift on marital rape in the Philippine jurisdiction is further affirmed by R.A. No. 9262, which regards rape within marriage as a form of sexual violence. It is true that the Family Code obligates the spouses to love one another but this rule sanctions affection and sexual intimacy, as expressions of love that are spontaneous and mutual, not the kind which is unilaterally exacted by force or coercion.
Rape is not simply a sexual act to which one party does not consent. Rather, it is a degrading, violent act which violates the bodily integrity of the victim and frequently causes severe, long-lasting physical and psychic harm. To ever imply consent to such an act is irrational and absurd. Marriage has never been viewed as giving a husband the right to coerced intercourse on demand. Certainly, a marriage should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity. Further, the delicate and reverent nature of sexual intimacy between a husband and wife excludes cruelty and coercion. This is the first marital rape case. The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence of reclusion perpetua with no eligibility for parole. [in sex, dura lex, sed lex applies – the law maybe hard or harsh, but it is still the law]
