THE ANTI-RAPE LAW OF

1997
R.A. 8353
AN ACT EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF THE
CRIME OF RAPE, RECLASSIFYING THE SAME
AS A CRIME AGAINST PERSONS, AMENDING
FOR THE PURPOSE ACT NO. 3815, AS
AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE
REVISED PENAL CODE, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES.
IMPLICATIONS:
1. From private to public crime;
2. It is now categorized as a crime against person and no longer as against chastity;
3. Can be committed against males;
4. Use of objects or fingers;

PUBLIC CRIME
May be prosecuted even without the initiative of the offended party which is a
jurisdictional requirement for crimes against chastity.
RAPE THROUGH SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
By a MAN who shall have carnal knowledge of woman under any of the following
circumstances:
a) Through force, threat and intimidation;
b) When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious;
c) By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority;
d) When the offended party is under twelve (12) years old or is demented even
though none of the circumstances above is present;

RAPE BY SEXUAL ASSAULT

By ANY PERSON who, under any of the four circumstances above shall commit an
act of sexual assault by inserting his penis (man) into another person (man or
woman) mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument or object into the genital or anal
orifice of another person.
R.A. 8353, AMENDED BY R.A. 11648, MARCH 04, 2022

Section 1. Article 266-A (1)(d) of Act No. 3815, otherwise known as "The Revised Penal Code," as
amended by Republic Act No. 8353 known as "The Anti-Rape Law of 1997," is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"Article 266-A. Rape; When and How Committed. - Rape is committed:
"1) By a person who shall have carnal knowledge of another person under any of the following
circumstances:
"x x x“

d) When the offended party is under sixteen (16) years of age or is demented,
even though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present: Provided, That there shall
be no criminal liability on the part of a person having carnal knowledge of another person sixteen
(16) years of age when the age difference between the parties is not more than three (3) years,
and the sexual act in question is proven to be consensual, non-abusive, and non-
exploitative: Provided, further, That if the victim is under thirteen (13) years of age, this
exception shall not apply.

"As used in this Act, non-abusive shall mean the absence of undue influence, intimidation,
fraudulent machinations, coercion, threat, physical, sexual, psychological, or mental injury or
maltreatment, either with intention or through neglect, during the conduct of sexual activities
 KINDS OF RAPE:
RAPE THROUGH SEXUAL INTERCOURSE RAPE BY SEXUAL ASSAULT

The offender is always a man, and the The offended is may be a man or a
victim is always a woman woman
Instrument or object rape, gender-free
Carnal knowledge, penile rape
rape, homosexual rape
Parts of the body involved: Anus, genitals, mouth, anal and genital
Male and female sex organ orifice
MARITAL RAPE
Husband can be held liable for marital rape. It is the legal husband who is the
offender, the subsequent forgiveness by his wife shall extinguish the criminal
liability of the offender. R.A. 8353 has eradicated the archaic notion that a marital
rape cannot exist because a husband has absolute proprietary rights over his
wife’s body and thus her consent to every act of sexual intimacy with him is
always obligatory or at leat presumed. (PP VS. Jumawan, GR No. 187495,
04.21.2014)
RAPE THROUGH SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

'Forcibly' does not mean violently, but with the description of force which
must be exercised in order to accomplish the act for unlawful connection
with a woman in a state of unconsciousness, produced by profound sleep,
stupor or otherwise amounts to rape. This force may be constructive where
the female was an idiot, or had been rendered insensibly by the use of
drugs or intoxicating drinks, she was incapable of consenting, and the
law implied force. In such a case, the force required by the statute is the
wrongful act. A man who, knowing of a woman's insanity, takes
advantage of her helpless condition is guilty of felonious rape, though he
uses no force than that involved in the carnal act, and though the woman
offers no resistance. (People v. Rosare, G.R. No. 118823, November 19,
1996)
RAPE THROUGH SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

The absence of violence or offer of resistance would not be significant

because of the overpowering and overbearing moral influence of the
father over the daughter which takes the place of violence and offer of
resistance required in rape cases committed against non-relatives (People
v. Mabunga, G.R. No. 96441, November 13, 1992) or where threats and
intimidation are employed on the victim. It is a relative term depending on
the age, size and strength of the parties and their relation to each other.

Rape is qualified when the victim is under eighteen (18) years of age and
the offender is a parent, ascendant, step-parent, guardian, relative by
consanguinity and affinity within the third civil degree, or the common law
spouse of the parent of the victim.
STATUTORY RAPE

• Two elements must be established to hold the accused guilty of statutory rape:
(1) that the accused had carnal knowledge of a woman and (2) that the woman
is below 12 years. In this specie of rape, consent is immaterial. The mere fact of
having sexual relations with a girl below 12 years old consummates the offense,
and consent is not a defense since the law presumes that a child that age
cannot give an intelligent consent to the sexual act.
•
The gravamen of the offense of statutory rape is the carnal knowledge of a
woman under 12 years old. Sexual congress with her is always rape. It is utterly
of no consequence that there is no evidence of force, intimidation or physical
injury (People v. Palicte, G.R. No. 101088, January 27, 1994) or that his prey is
not deprived of reason or rendered unconscious. It suffices that there is carnal
knowledge of the latter, without more. (People v. Oarga)
THE SWEETHEART DEFENSE

The "sweetheart defense" cannot be sustained in statutory rape where

what is material is not the consent but the fact that the victim was below
12 years old when it happened. The child's birth certificate is the best
evidence of the date of her birth. Its evidentiary value is not affected by
late registration. (People v. Apostil, G.R. Nos. 123967-8, December 9, 1999)

Section 1(d) of R.A. 11648:

When the offended party is under sixteen (16) years of age or is demented, even
though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present: Provided, That
there shall be no criminal liability on the part of a person having carnal knowledge
of another person sixteen (16) years of age when the age difference between the
parties is not more than three (3) years, and the sexual act in question is proven to
be consensual, non-abusive, and non-exploitative: Provided, further, That if the
victim is under thirteen (13) years of age, this exception shall not apply.
PERSON DEPRIVED OF REASONING

Rape of a mental retardate (a person "deprived of reason") falls under

subparagraph (b), not (d) of Article 266-A (1). (People v. Magabo, G.R. No.
139471, January 23, 2001)

Knowledge of the offender of the mental disability of the victim at

the time of the commission of the rape qualifies the crime. An
allegation in the information of such knowledge of the offender is
necessary.
IMMATERIAL:
a) Resistance, when the accused is the father or is closely related to the victim, moral ascendancy
and influence substituting for physical violence or intimidation. (People v. Abella, G.R. No.
131847, September 22, 1999)
b) Virginity. (People. Sacapaño, G.R. No. 130525, September 3, 1999)
c) The accused's being younger than the victim. (People v. Bayron, G.R. No. 122732, September 7,
1999)
d) Full or complete penetration of the complainant's private parts as the only essential point to
prove is the entrance or at least the introduction of the male organ into the labia of the
pudendum. (People v. Ligotan, G.R. No. 119219, September 30, 1996)
e) Medical findings. Medical examination is not an in- dispensable element in a prosecution for
rape, neither is presentation of the victim's torn panty fatal to the prosecution's case. The
purpose of the medical exa- mination is merely corroborative in nature. Further- more, the
presence of a laceration in the vagina is not an essential prerequisite to prove rape. (Id.)
f) Precise time of the commission of rape. Even a variance of a few months between the time set
out in the indict- ment and that established by the evidence during trial does not constitute an
error so serious as to warrant the reversal of a conviction solely on that score. (People v.
Serdanilla, G.R. No. 137696, January 24, 2001)
g) Pain alone cannot prove carnal knowledge. Penetration cannot be presumed from pain. (People
v. Brioso, G.R. No. 182517, March 13, 2009)
IMMATERIAL:

h) Rape is essentially an offense of secrecy, not generally attempted except in dark or

deserted and secluded places away from prying eyes. The crime usually commences solely
upon the word of the offended woman and conviction invariably turns upon her credibility,
as the single witness of the actual occurrence.
i) Thus, three guiding principles in reviewing rape cases are: (1) an accusation for rape can be
made with facility; it is difficult to prove but more difficult for the accused, though innocent,
to disprove; (2) in view of the intrinsic nature of the crime where only two persons are
usually involved, the testimony of the complainant must be scrutinized with extreme
caution; and (3) the evidence for the prosecution must stand or fall on its own merits and
cannot be allowed to draw strength from the weakness of the evidence for the defense.
(People v. Excija, G.R. No. 119069, July 5, 1996)
j) In rape cases alleged to have been committed by force, it is imperative to establish that the
element of voluntariness on the part of the victim be absolutely lacking. The prosecution
must prove that force or intimidation was actually employed by the offender upon his victim
to achieve his end. Intimidation is very subjective and must be viewed in the light of the
victim's perception and judgment at the time of the commission of the crime and not by any
hard and fast rule. (People v. Clemente, G.R. No. 130202, October 13, 1999)
QUALIFIED RAPE
[Link] through sexual intercourse or sexual assault is qualified by any of the
following circumstances:
[Link] the victim is a child below seven years old;
[Link] the victim is below 18 years of age (but seven years or above) and the
offender is a parent, ascendant, step- parent, guardian, relative by consanguinity
or affinity within the third civil degree, or the common-law spouse of the parent of
the victim;
[Link] the victim is under the custody of the police or military authorities or any
law enforcement or penal institution;
[Link] the rape is committed in full view of the spouse, parent, any of the children
or other relatives within the third civil degree of consanguinity;
[Link] the victim is a religious engaged in legitimate religious vocation or calling
and is personally known to be such by the offender before or at the time of the
commission of the crime;
QUALIFIED RAPE
7. When the offender knows that he is afflicted with the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus
(HIV)Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or any other sexually trans- missible
disease and the virus or disease is transmitted to the victim; 7. When committed by any
member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or paramilitary units thereof or the
Philippine National Police or any law enforcement agency or penal institution, when the
offender took advantage of his position to facilitate the commission of the crime; 8.
When the offender knew of the pregnancy of the offended party at the time of the
commission of the crime;
8. When the offender knew of the mental disability,
9. emotional disorder and/or physical handicap of the offended party at the time of the
commission of the crime;
10. When by reason or on the occasion of the rape, the victim has suffered permanent
physical mutilation or disability;
11. When by reason or on the occasion of the rape, the victim has become insane; and
12. Whenever the rape is committed with the use of a deadly weapon or by two or more
persons. (Article 266-B)