On Target: First-ever conviction for marital rape

A man was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Sultan Kudarat province for raping his wife.

It was the first case ever of a husband convicted for raping his wife after the law penalizing violence against women and children (Republic Act No. 9262) was passed.

The couple’s names were withheld because of the nature of the case, according to reports.

It’s understandable for the wife’s name to be withheld but why should the husband’s identity be hidden from the public?

Because of that case, we hope husbands will now respect their wives’ right to say no.

Marriage doesn’t mean wives should be considered chattels of their husbands.

*                               *                           *

One of the shocking reports I ever received in my public service program, “Isumbong Mo kay Tulfo,” was about two prosecutors in Puerto Princesa City who dismissed a rape case because the complainant was no longer a virgin!

Que horror! And the two prosecutors—the chief prosecutor and assistant prosecutor—are both women.

The chief prosecutor agreed with the decision of the assistant prosecutor dismissing the rape case.

It’s a good thing Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, to whom I appealed the dismissed case, ordered the re-filing of the rape complaint.

Imagine, the two prosecutors—women at that—dismissing the rape case only because the girl has had sexual intercourse before when she filed the rape complaint.

How did those two women get appointed government prosecutors?

How did they ever pass the bar exams?

*                               *                          *

Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte, who has attained notoriety or fame—depending on whether you hate or like him—for his unorthodox method of dealing with criminals is a stickler for following the law against violence against women and children.

A certified womanizer, Duterte is a complete gentleman in dealing with the distaff side.

His daughter, Inday Sara, herself a former Davao City mayor, is his only child who talks back to him.

Duterte also goes ballistic when he sees a child being maltreated.

A Korean man playing golf in Davao City found to his dismay that it doesn’t pay to maltreat his own son.

Duterte, who was also on the golf course that day, saw the Korean hitting his young son in the head whenever the boy committed a mistake as his father was teaching him the rudiments of the game.

The mayor told his caddy to tell the father to stop maltreating his son.

When the father didn’t stop—apparently thinking it was not another man’s business to tell him how to treat his own son—Duterte went up to the Korean and beat him up.

“Why, why?” was all the Korean man could say while he was being punched by Duterte.

He reasoned with the mayor that the slapping or whipping of children by their parents was allowed in South Korea.

“You are in the Philippines and not in Korea. You should follow our laws,” Duterte told the shocked foreigner.