G.R. No. 1662. February 13, 1905

The defendant has been charged with the crime of rape and his guilt
has been proven conclusively. The court below sentenced him to eighteen
years of reclusion, with the accessories provided for in article 59 of
the Penal Code, viz, to indemnify Maria Pineda, the injured party, in
the sum of 3 reales and 12 cuartos (the value of a shirt which was
torn), to support the offspring, should there be any, and to pay the
costs. From this judgment the defendant appealed.

As regards the principal penalty and the accessories, the sentence
is in conformity with the law. The aggravating circumstances, to wit,
the commission of the crime in the nighttime and at the house of the
injured party, justify the application of the penalty in its maximum
degree.

As regards the civil liability, the judge acted in accordance with
the law when he abstained from making any statement about the first two
obligations imposed by article 449 of the Penal Code upon those guilty
of the crime of rape, estupro, or seduction—that is, to endow
the injured party and to acknowledge the offspring. The obligation to
endow is imposed by the code in favor of the injured party, if she is
unmarried or a widow. The woman on whom the rape was committed in this
case is a married woman. The defendant can not be condemned to
acknowledge the offspring because the character of its origin prevents
that. Further, the law prohibits the acknowledgment of the offspring in
this case on account of the parental authority which might thus be
conferred upon the party committing the rape, and because of the
inherent parental right in favor of the father in constanti matrimonio.
If this legal right should be violated the family rights would be
disturbed and the acknowlegment on the part of the offender would cause
its consequent disturbance in the family as a result of the crime
committed by the man, who would thus introduce into the family a
spurious offspring.

The judge has imposed on the defendant the obligation to support the
offspring, should there be any. The woman in this case who was raped
was a married woman, pregnant, four months gone, and the same reason
which prevents the offender from acknowledging the offspring should
also prohibit him from entering periodically the home of the woman
raped, in order to comply with the duty thus imposed toward the
spurious offspring. This duty, depriving it of all correlative rights
on the party furnishing the maintenance, would be the source of great
disturbance to the family rights of the parents, who should live in
peace and enjoy the attributes, of their legitimate authority over
their children.

Stripped of the three forms of civil liability prescribed by article
449 of the Penal Code, the defendant can not be placed in a better
condition than one who violates an unmarried woman or a widow. The
latter would not in any case be deprived of the three obligations
arising from the performance of any one of these crimes against her
chastity.

The indemnification of 3 reales and 12 cuartos,
the value of the mutilated garment, which the judge imposed on the
defendant, is reparation merely for the damage caused by this offense
against her property, but for the offense against chastity he should
respond for a damage of a different and a higher entity, and this
reparation should always be a civil reparation corresponding to the
character of the crime which injures both honor and chastity.

Therefore we affirm the judgment below except as regards that part
which imposes on the defendant the obligation of supporting the
offspring, should there be any. In place of this we condemn Jose Yambao
to indemnify Maria Pineda in the sum of P500, Philippine currency, and
to pay the costs in both instances, without having to suffer subsidiary
imprisonment in case of failure to pay the indemnification which we
impose,. for the reason that the nature of the principal penalty
imposed relieves him from such imprisonment. Let this judgment be
executed as modified. So ordered.

Torres, Mapa, Johnson, and Carson, JJ., concur.