Davao Region. INQUIRER FILES
DAVAO CITY — The police have reported 128 cases of rape in the Davao region in the first four months of this year, most of them involving minors below 16 years of age, Lieutenant Colonel Eudisan Gultiano, spokesperson of Police Regional Office 11, said in a media forum in this city.
What is more disturbing about the police data, however, is that some of the perpetrators were the girls’ own father.
Of the 128 rape cases that reached the police from January to April this year, 76 or 60 per cent consisted of statutory rape, or those involving minors 16 years old and below; 18 others were of incest, while 34 were reported simply as rape.
WomensLaw.org defines statutory rape as the crime of sex with a minor when the sex is agreed to by both parties, not forced. But the reason it is considered rape is because the minor is considered to be too young to legally consent to have sex or sexual contact, WomensLaw.org explained.
Republic Act No. 11648, or the act increasing the age for determining statutory rape, signed by former President Duterte into law last year, had increased the age of sexual consent in the country from 12 to below 16 years old.
Gultiano said they were intensifying their information drive in the barangay level to make people in the community more aware and to know where to seek help in case they needed one.
“Since rape happens in the privacy of homes and places beyond the reach of police patrol, we encourage victims to come to our women’s desk, we are ready to help you,” Gultiano said.
She said that of the reported cases, 88 or majority of the victims were aged 11 to 17 years old; 19 were within the range of 18 to 25, while seven involved 6 to 10-year-old victims.
Although the majority of perpetrators either had no or undetermined relationship with their victims, 13 of the cases indicated the father as the perpetrator.
Majority or 48 of the suspects were 18 to 30 years old; 27 were aged 31 to 40 years old; and 19 were 41 to 50 years old.
Most, or 81 of the rape cases, happened inside their residences, 10 in abandoned structures, six on the streets, and six others in business establishments.
Gultiano said the 128 cases that reached their office this year was lower by 25 per cent than the 172 recorded in the same period last year. Of these 172 cases, 127 were at the level of the prosecutors office or other courts as the perpetrators had been identified.
Sixty cases were considered solved or had been filed in court.
Davao City registered the highest number of 35 cases; followed by Davao del Norte, 32; Davao del Sur, 26; Davao de Oro, 18; Davao Oriental, 11; and Davao Occidental, 6.
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