K. Title XI – Crimes Against Chastity

COMPLAINT-AFFIDAVIT

I, [Name of Complainant], of legal age, Filipino, and a resident of [Address], after having been duly sworn to in accordance with law, hereby depose and state that:

• I am filing this complaint against [Name of Respondent], of legal age, Filipino, and a resident of [Respondent's Address], for the crime of Acts of Lasciviousness as defined and penalized under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.
• On or about [Date of Incident], at around [Time of Incident], in [Place of Incident, including complete address], within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Office, the Respondent, with lewd designs, committed acts of lasciviousness against me, [Complainant's Name], by [briefly describe the specific physical act committed upon me, e.g., touching my private parts without my consent, and the applicable circumstance mentioned in the preceding article], which caused me mental and emotional distress.
• At the time of the incident, I was [briefly describe the situation, e.g., walking home from school, inside the workplace, etc.]. The Respondent approached me and [describe in detail the acts done by the Respondent, the manner in which they were done, and any other relevant facts, e.g., how the Respondent physically restrained you, used force or intimidation, etc.].
• I did not consent to these acts. I resisted and expressed my disapproval, but the Respondent continued with the offensive behavior.
• Due to the Respondent's actions, I felt violated, humiliated, and extremely fearful for my safety. These acts have caused me substantial emotional and psychological trauma, which I am still dealing with to this day.
• I am executing this Complaint-Affidavit to attest to the truth of the foregoing and to initiate criminal action against [Name of Respondent] for the crime of Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code.
• Attached hereto as Annexes are the following documents:
• Annex "A": A copy of my identification card for reference.
• Annex "B": A sketch of the scene of the crime.
• Annex "C": A medical certificate attesting to the physical and emotional trauma suffered.
• Annex "D": Affidavits of [Witnesses' Names], who witnessed the incident and can corroborate my account.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, I respectfully pray that this Honorable Office find probable cause to charge [Name of Respondent] for the crime of Acts of Lasciviousness and that a corresponding information be filed against him/her in court.

Further, I pray for such other reliefs as are just and equitable under the premises.

Persons Liable:

• Married woman who engages in sexual intercourse with a man not her husband; and
• The man who, knowing of the marriage of the woman, has sexual intercourse with her

Notes:

• The evil sought to be prevented by criminalizing adultery is the danger of introducing spurious heirs into the family.
• Carnal knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
• Each sexual intercourse constitutes a separate crime of adultery. It is not a continuing offense. Any act of infidelity subsequent to condonation constitutes a new offense that is subject to criminal prosecution.
• No crime of frustrated adultery
• The offended party must be legally married to the offender at the time of filing the complaint.
• But even if the marriage is subsequently declared void, there is still adultery when the adulterous act is committed before the marriage is judicially declared null and void in a final judgment.
• Acquittal of one defendant does not operate as acquittal of the other:
• There may not be a joint criminal intent although there is a joint physical act.
• One of the parties may be insane and the other is sane.
• The man may not know that the woman is married.
• The death of the woman during the pendency of the action cannot defeat the trial and convict the man. (U.S. v. De la Torre and Gregorio, 25 Phil. 36)
• Even if the man had left the country and could not be apprehended, the woman can be tried and convicted. (U.S. v. Topiño and Guzman, 35 Phil. 901)
• Death of the offended party will not terminate the proceedings. However, if the offended party dies before a complaint is filed, then the case cannot proceed because no one can sign the complaint, adultery being a crime which cannot be prosecuted de oficio.

CRIMINAL INFORMATION

The undersigned accuses [Name of Accused] of the crime of Acts of Lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code, committed as follows:

That on or about [Date of Incident], at around [Time of Incident], in [Place of Incident, including complete address], Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, with lewd designs and by means of force, intimidation, and grave abuse of authority, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously commit acts of lasciviousness upon the person of [Name of Complainant], by [describe the specific acts constituting the offense, e.g., touching the private parts of the complainant without consent], against the will of the said complainant, to her damage and prejudice.

Definition of terms:

• Conjugal Dwelling means the home of the husband and wife, even if the wife happens to be temporarily absent on any account.
• Scandal consists in any reprehensible word or deed that offends public conscience, redounds to the detriment of the feelings of honest persons, and gives occasion to the neighbors’ spiritual damage and ruin
• Cohabit means to dwell together, in the manner of husband and wife, for some period of time, as distinguished from occasional, transient interviews for unlawful intercourse
• Mistress – It is necessary that the woman is taken by the accused into the conjugal dwelling as a concubine.

Notes:

• People in the vicinity are the best witnesses to prove scandalous circumstances.
• Adultery is more severely punished than concubinage. Unlike adultery, concubinage is a continuing crime.

Chapter 2: Rape and Acts of Lasciviousness

Art. 335. When and How Rape Is Committed

Note: Art. 335 has been repealed by R.A. No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997). Rape is now punished under Arts. 266-A, et seq., as a Crime Against Persons.

Art. 336. Acts of Lasciviousness

Any person who shall commit any act of lasciviousness upon another person of either sex, under any of the circumstances mentioned in rape

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Elements:

• That the offender commits any act of lasciviousness or lewdness;
• That the act of lasciviousness is committed against a person of either sex; and
• That it is done under any of the following circumstances:
• by using force or intimidation,
• when the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious,
• by means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority,
• when the offended party is under sixteen (16) years of age or is demented.

Acts of Lasciviousness and Unjust Vexation, Distinguished

Test of obscenity:

Whether the matter has a tendency to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences. A matter can also be considered obscene if it shocks the ordinary and common sense of menas indecency. (US v. Kottinger, 45 PHIL 352)

Obscene is something offensive to chastity, decency or delicacy.

Notes:

• Publicity is an essential element
• Mere nudity in paintings and pictures is not obscene.
• Pictures with slight degrees ofobscenity having no artistic value and being intended for commercial purposes fall within this article.
• The author of obscene literature is liable only when it is published with his knowledge. In every case, the editor publishing it is liable.
• Dissemination of obscene material is necessary, but the number of times it is passed on is immaterial. Once is enough.

Art. 202. Vagrants and Prostitutes

Women who, for money or profit, habitually indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be prostitutes.

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Note:

R.A. 10158 has decriminalized vagrancy by amending Art. 202 so as to punish prostitutes only. Upon effectivity, all pending cases were deemed dismissed, and all those serving time for vagrancy were or should have be released.

Prostitutes - Women who habitually indulge in (1) sexual intercourse or (2) lascivious conduct, for money or profit.

Page 144

Crimes and Abuses against Chastity, Distinguished

Notes:

• Penalty for qualified seduction of a sister or descendant is higher than qualified seduction of a virgin.
• Deceit is not an element of qualified seduction but it is an element of simple seduction.
• In Abuse of Confidence, acts are punished because of the character of the person committing the same, on account of the excess of power/authority or abuse of confidence/relationship.
• A virgin is a virtuous woman of good reputation.
• The offended party need not be a virgin in the case of incestuous seduction.
• An accused charged with rape cannot be convicted of qualified seduction under the same information.
• If any of the circumstances in the crime of rape is present, the crime is not to be punished under Article 337 but under Art. 266-A or 266-B.
• If there is no sexual intercourse, the crime would only be acts of lasciviousness.

Art. 338. Simple Seduction

The seduction of a woman who is single or a widow of good reputation, over sixteen (16) but under eighteen (18) years of age, committed by means of deceit

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Reason for two-witness rule:

The special nature of the crime requires that the accused be afforded a special protection not required in other cases so as to avoid a miscarriage of justice. (Concurring Opinion of Justice Perfect in El Pueblo de Filipinas v. Marcaida, GR No. L-953)

Notes:

• A male cannot be the offended party here.
• It is necessary that the crime be committed under circumstances which would make it qualified or simple seduction had there been sexual intercourse.
• Consent is obtained by abuse of authority, confidence, or relationship, or by means of deceit.

Chapter 4: Abduction

Abduction - The taking away of a woman from her house or the place where she may be for the purpose of carrying her to another place, with the intent to marry or to corrupt her.

ART. 342. Forcible Abduction

Abduction of any woman against her will and with lewd designs

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Elements as to Pharmacists:

• That the offender is a pharmacist;
• That there is no proper prescription from a physician; and
• That the offender dispenses an abortive without a proper prescription from a physician.

Notes:

• The taking advantage of scientific knowledge or skill for the destruction of human life justifies the imposition of the maximum penalty.
• The significance of knowledge that the abortive would be used to cause abortion:
• Without such knowledge, punishable under this article; or
• With knowledge, punishable as an accomplice in the crime of abortion
• Not necessary for the abortive to be actually used; the act constituting the offense is dispensing the abortive without proper prescription

Elements:

• That the person abducted is any woman, regardless of her age, civil status, or reputation;
• That the abduction is against her will; and
• That the abduction is with lewd designs

Notes:

• If child-victim is under 12 years of age, the crime is forcible abduction even if she voluntarily goes with her abductor.
• “Taking away” must be against the will of the woman. This may be accomplished by means of deceit first and then by means of violence and intimidation.
• Actual intercourse is not necessary. Lewd designs may be shown by conduct of the accused. Intent to seduce the girl is sufficient.
• Lewd design is present in a hurried marriage ceremony by force, where the marriage is merely an artifice by which the accused sought to escape the criminal consequences of his acts.
• The husband may not be held liable for the abduction of his wife as lewd design is wanting.
• If there are several defendants, it is enough that one of them had lewd designs and the others knew about it.
• Nature of crime: against liberty, honor and reputation, and public order (but under the RPC title on Crimes against Chastity)
• There must be only one complex crime of forcible abduction with (one) rape. Subsequent rapes committed should be considered independent of the abduction.
• Conviction for acts of lasciviousness is not a bar to conviction for forcible abduction.

Age and Reputation of the victim are immaterial in:

• Rape;
• Acts of lasciviousness against the will or without the consent of the offended party;
• Qualified seduction of sister or descendant; and
• Forcible Abduction

Art. 343. Consented Abduction

Abduction of a virgin over sixteen years and under eighteen years of age, carried out with her consent and with lewd designs

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Chapter 5: Provisions Relative to the Preceding Chapters of Title Eleven

Art. 344. Prosecution of the Crimes of Adultery, Concubinage, Seduction, Abduction, and Acts of Lasciviousness

• Adultery and concubinage must be prosecuted upon complaint signed by the offended spouse.
• Seduction, abduction, or acts of lasciviousness must be prosecuted upon complaint signed by:
• offended party,
• her parents,
• grandparents, or
• legal guardians.
• In the order in which they are named above.

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Notes:

• Art. 344 was enacted “out of consideration for the offended woman and her family who might prefer to suffer the outrage in silence rather than go through with the scandal of a public trial.”
• Rape is now a crime against persons, and thus, may be prosecuted de oficio or upon complaint of any person.
• In adultery and concubinage, the complaint must include both guilty parties if both are alive.
• When the offended party is of age and is in complete possession of her mental and physical faculties, she alone can file the complaint (applies to crimes against chastity).

Pardon in Crimes against Chastity

• Express or implied pardon by the offended party is a bar to prosecution for adultery or concubinage. However, pardon must extend to both offenders and must come before the institution of the criminal action.
• Express pardon by the offended party or other persons named in the law, as the case may be, is a bar to prosecution for seduction, abduction or acts of lasciviousness. Pardon in seduction must also come before the institution of criminal action.

In a rape case, a subsequent valid marriage between the offender and the offended party extinguishes the criminal action or the penalty imposed, under Article 266-C of the Revised Penal Code.

Pardon By Parents, Grandparents or Guardian Must Be Accompanied by the Express Pardon of the Girl Herself

Pardon must be granted directly by the offended party and it is only when she is dead or otherwise incapacitated to grant it, that her parents, grandparents or guardian may do so for her. (U.S. v. Luna, 1 Phil. 360)

Art. 345. Civil Liability of Persons Guilty of Crimes against Chastity

The four circumstances:

• Using force or intimidation; the degree sufficient to overcome resistance:
• According to People v. Las Piñas, Jr. (G.R. No. 133444), the test is whether reasonable fear is produced in the mind of the victim; where resistance would be futile, offering none at all does not amount to consent.
• Physical resistance is not indispensable; force or intimidation is assessed in the circumstances, and the victim’s failure to struggle does not by itself establish consent. (People v. Gacusan, G.R. No. 207776)
• The force need not be irresistible; force or violence necessary is relative, depending on the age, size, and strength of the parties and their relation to each other.
• It is not necessary that the force or intimidation employed be so great or of such character as could not be resisted; it is only necessary that the force or intimidation be sufficient to consummate the purpose which the accused had in mind.
• Intimidation – enough that it produces fear in the victim; must be viewed in light of the victim’s perception and judgment at the time of rape.
• Moral ascendancy or influence has been held to be a substitute for intimidation, in a long line of cases. [People v. Dichoson, G.R. No. 118986-89; People v. Bazona, G.R. No. 133343-44; People v. Panique, 316 SCRA 757; People v. Perez, 307 SCRA 276] In such a case, it is not necessary that the victim put up a determined resistance
• The abuse of moral influence is the intimidation required in rape committed by the common-law father of a minor. (People v. ZZZ, G.R. No. 229862)
• The victim need not complain immediately or struggle to oppose the action of the offender in a rape case, since, first, fear is recognized as a legitimate deterrent for struggling against, and that (second), since he was the common law father of the victim, he had moral ascendancy and abused his authority by doing such action. (People v. Gacusan, G.R. 207776)
• Intimidation is addressed to the mind of the victim. It is subjective and its presence cannot be tested by any hard-and-fast rule, but must be viewed in the light of the victim’s perception and judgment at the time of the crime. (People. v Mostrales, GR No 125937).
• Offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious:
• Deprivation need not be complete;
• Intercourse with a deaf-mute woman will only be considered rape if she’s also proven to be an imbecile.
• Not considered rape where consent is induced by the administration of drugs/liquor, which incites the victim’s passions and doesn’t deprive her of will power (REYES, BOOK TWO, p. 586, citing State v. Lung)
• By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; and
• When the offended party is under 16 years of age or is demented, even though none of the other circumstances are present (Statutory rape); the close-in-age exception applies where its requirements are met under Article 266-A(1)(d), as amended by RA 11648.
• Consent and character (e.g. prostitute) of the offended party is immaterial.
• It is also called statutory rape as "it departs from the usual modes of committing rape." It is enough that the age of the victim is proven and that there was sexual intercourse. (People v. Francica, G.R. No. 208625)
• It is immaterial that the prosecution failed to allege in the information the exact date of the commission of the offenses. Under the former law applied in People v Marciano Dollano, Jr., it was sufficient that it was alleged that the victim was under 12 years of age when the crime was committed; Article 266-A(1)(d), as amended by RA 11648, now sets the threshold at under 16, subject to its close-in-age exception where its requirements are met. (People v Marciano Dollano, Jr., GR No 188851)
• The term “demented” refers to a person who has dementia, which is a condition of deteriorated mentality, characterized by marked decline from the individual’s former intellectual level and often by emotional apathy, madness, or insanity.
• The offender engaged in sexual intercourse even though he knew fully well that the child was mentally ill and was deprived of reason. (People v. Corpuz, G.R. No. 208013)
• Conditions under Article 266-A should be construed in the light of one's capacity to give consent. An intellectually disabled person is not necessarily deprived of reason or demented. Under the former under-12 threshold applied in People v. Tayaban, the victim’s chronological age might be over 12 years old but her proven mental age was lower than 12 years old; Article 266-A(1)(d), as amended by RA 11648, now sets the threshold at under 16, subject to its close-in-age exception where its requirements are met. (People v. Tayaban, G.R. No. 207666).

Evidence which may be accepted

• Any physical overt act manifesting resistance against the act of rape in any degree from the offended party
• Circumstances showing the offended party to be so situated as to render him/her incapable of giving consent.

Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 (R.A. No. 8049, as amended by R.A. No. 11053)

Section 4. – Abuses against Chastity

Art. 245. Abuses against Chastity

Any public officer who shall solicit or make immoral or indecent advances to a woman interested in matters pending before such officer for decision, or with respect to which he is required to submit a report to or consult with a superior officer;

Any warden or other public officer directly charged with the care and custody of prisoners or persons under arrest who shall solicit or make immoral or indecent advances to a woman under his custody

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