‘Sweetheart theory’ doesn't justify rape - SC

MANILA, Philippines – Intimate relationship does not justify rape. This was the gist of a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the conviction of a man who reportedly raped his aunt in Antipolo City in Rizal province nine years ago. In an eight-page decision penned by Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, the court struck down the “sweetheart theory” of Elmer Baldo, who said his aunt consented the sex act in 2000 because she did not demonstrate “resolute resistance.” “A man does not have unbridled license to subject his beloved to his carnal desires. [The victim’s] failure to shout or to tenaciously resist the appellant should not be taken against her since such negative assertion would not ipso facto [by that very fact] make voluntary her submission to appellant’s criminal act,” the court ruled. In its ruling, the SC upheld the previous decision of the Court of Appeals on July 4, 2006, which affirmed the decision of the Antipolo City Regional Trial Court Branch 73. The SC also affirmed the P125,000 civil damages earlier imposed on Baldo. In rape, the SC explained that the force and intimidation must be viewed in the light of the victim's perception and judgment at the time of the commission of the crime. It stressed that victims react in various ways, as already settled in earlier jurisprudence, and that resistance is not an element of rape. - Sophia Dedace and Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV