Three men, including a teacher of the Catanduanes State University, were apprehended by the Virac police on the same day last week on the basis of sexual abuse cases filed against them before the Regional Trial Court.
The 31-year-old university mentor was arrested in barangay Valencia last Aug. 28, 2024 by joint elements of Regional Investigation Division-Regional Special Operating Unit 5 (RID-RSOU5 as lead unit, Virac Municipal Police Station and Catanduanes 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company led by PCapt. Allan Belen.
RTC Branch 42 Acting Presiding Judge Ritche Reyes Regala issued the warrant for this arrest last Aug. 22 for the crimes of Acts of Lasciviousness in violation of Art. 335 of the Revised Penal Code and under Criminal Case No. 11205 with recommended bail of P180,000.00; Sexual Abuse under Sec. 5 (B) of Republic Act 7610 under Criminal Case Nos. 11208 and 11209, with bail fixed at ₱180,000.00; and Statutory Rape under Art. 266-A, Para 1 (D) of the RPC as amended by RA 11648, under Criminal Case Nos. 11206 and 11207, with no bail recommended.
According to a reliable source, the rape incidents were committed inside a room at a local lodge while the acts of lasciviousness occurred elsewhere. It is claimed that the victim is a 15-year-old relative of the accused.
Also on the same day in San Isidro Village, police officers from the Virac MPS, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Catanduanes Provincial Field Unit, and Regional Intelligence Unit-Provincial Intelligence Team 6 nabbed a 31-year-old laborer from Rawis.
The suspect is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 43 Acting Presiding Judge Ritche Reyes Regala in connection with Criminal Case No. 1118 for Acts of Lasciviousness in relation to Sec. 5 (b) of RA 7610, with bail for his temporary liberty set at P10,000.00.
Sec. 5 (b) of RA 7610 penalizes those who commit the act of sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct with a child exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse.
If convicted, the accused could meted the penalty of reclusion temporal, which means a jail term of 12 to 20 years, or reclusion perpetua that includes 30 years in jail plus accessory penalties such as perpetual special disqualification.
The third man to be arrested on Aug. 28 was a 20-year-old included in the list of Provincial Most Wanted Persons who was surrendered to the police by his own mother.
According to the report, the suspect has been charged for Statutory Rape in violation of Art. 266-A of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 11648 under Criminal Case No. 11175 with no bail recommended.
RA 11648 amended the penal law on rape by increasing the age for determining the commission of statutory rape from 12 years old to 16 years old.
Apart from raising the minimum age of sexual consent, RA 11648 also amended the determination of how rape is committed. Under the amended provision, rape is committed “by a person who shall have carnal knowledge of another person…” This changed the old law that limits rape to certain acts done by a man on a woman.
However, minors engaging in sexual activity are exempted from criminal liability under the new law, provided that the age difference between the parties is not more than three years.
The law also introduced amendments to the provisions on qualified seduction, child prostitution and other sexual abuse, child trafficking, obscene publications and indecent shows, and other acts of neglect, abuse, cruelty or exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to the child’s development.
It also added a provision which directed the inclusion of the subject on the rights and protection of children in the basic education curriculum.