Just because a 16-year-old high school student was no longer a virgin, she could not have been raped by a total stranger while she was drunk.
This, in effect, was the logic of Puerto Princesa City Assistant Prosecutor Marivic Adla Bungay in her resolution absolving Herbe Borbon.
Bungay’s resolution was approved by City Prosecutor Joy Olga Rabang.
The girl, who comes from a poor family and 21-year-old Borbon, whose father is reportedly a government employee, had consensual sex, according to Bungay.
According to the girl, however, Borbon forced himself on her.
The girl and her friends, who are Borbon’s relatives, had a drinking session in the house of Borbon’s parents on Roxas Street, Barangay Bagong Silang in Puerto Princesa City on Oct. 12.
The girl lives in Sitio Sta. Fe, Barangay Bacungan, a remote area in the city. Thus, she can be considered a barrio lass.
That was the first time she met Borbon, the girl said, adding that she had a few drinks with Borbon, a complete stranger, because she was with her friends.
The girl said that when she became tipsy, her friends left her in a room with Borbon. She was too weak to resist his advances, she added.
In her resolution, Bungay said: “It is surprising to know that a person, claiming as a 16-year-old minor (sic), has healed hymenal tears at 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions.”
“This implies,” Bungay added, “that the complainant, who is expected to have the innocence of a child, already had sexual experience; if not one, several sexual experiences.”
Was Bungay saying that just because the victim was no longer a virgin, she agreed to have sex with a total stranger?
But even a prostitute can be raped.
Under the law, a woman can accuse her husband of rape if he forces himself on her although she refuses to have sex with him.
Any first year law student would tell Bungay and Rabang that there was rape because the girl was not in her right frame of mind as she was drunk at the time.
A typical Filipino woman who values her honor would not expose herself to public ridicule and invent a story about being raped.
I talked to the girl, who lives in a nipa hut with her parents, at my farmhouse in Sitio Sta. Fe last Saturday. She didn’t look like the type who would concoct a rape story.
* * *
It seems the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been recruiting second-rate government prosecutors.
In order to attract intelligent prosecutors and keep them honest, the DOJ should increase their salaries.
* * *
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle says the Catholic Church has forgiven tour guide Carlos Celdran.
Celdran was convicted of “offending religious feelings” for marching down the aisle of Manila Cathedral during a Mass. At that time, he was carrying a placard that read “Damaso” in reference to a friar in Jose Rizal’s novel that portrayed the abuses of the clergy during the Spanish era.
Tagle said although the Church had forgiven Celdran, it was the “People of the Philippines” that filed the case against him.
Anybody knows that without a complainant, even a murder case cannot prosper in court.
So, who complained against Celdran—the People of the Philippines?
If the Church had forgiven Celdran, then the case would not have prospered in court.
* * *
A man was charged with rape and when he read the charge sheet, “People of the Philippines vs Tal Fulano,” he protested.
“But I’m also [part of the] people of the Philippines. Me against me?” he said.
Of course, this is just a joke.