SC decides to withhold names of women and child victims

"To respect the dignity and protect the privacy of women and child victims," the Supreme Court has recently resolved to withhold their names and instead use fictitious initials in its decisions. Likewise, the personal circumstances of the victim-survivors or any other information tending to establish or compromise their identities, as well as those of their immediate family or household members, shall not be disclosed. Thus held the Court in a 20-page decision penned by Justice Dante O. Tinga affirming the conviction of Melchor Cabalquinto on two counts of rape against his eight-year old daughter. Pursuant to its ruling, the victim was referred to as "AAA" in the decision. The Court said its ruling effectuates the provisions of Republic Act No. 7610, the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, and its implementing rules; RA 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, and its implementing rules; and the Court’s own Rule on Violence Against Women and their Children. These enactments, the Court pointed out, unequivocally express the intention to maintain the confidentiality of information in cases involving violence against women and children. The Court also took into account separate comments from the Office of the Solicitor General, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, National Press Club, Philippine Press Institute, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The case stemmed from a sworn statement filed by "AAA," assisted by her mother "ABC," Cabalquinto’s common-law wife, saying that "AAA" was raped by Cabalquinto on November 8 and 13, 1998 inside their house. Both the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals found Cabalquinto guilty and sentenced him to death. However, in view of Republic Act No. 9346 which prohibits the imposition of the death penalty, the Court sentenced Cabalquinto to reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole and ordered him to pay "AAA" P75,000 civil indemnity damages, P75,000 moral damages, and P25,000 exemplary damages. Giving full credence to the contemporaneous and subsequent conduct of mother and child that reveal the veracity of the rape charge, the Court said, "Persons who witness an event may perceive it from different points of reference, hence they may have different accounts of how the incident took place. What is important is that their testimonies reinforce each other on the essential fats and that their versions corroborate and substantially coincide with each other to make a consistent and coherent whole." It may be recalled that in its February 14, 2006 resolution, the Court has resolved to refrain from posting in the Court website the full text of the decisions in cases of child sexual abuse. Concurring in the decision are Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, Senior Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno, and Justices Leonardo A. Quisumbing, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Antonio T. Carpio, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Renato C. Corona, Conchita Carpio Morales, Romeo J. Callejo, Sr. Adolfo S. Azcuna, Minita V. Chico-Nazario, Cancio C. Garcia, and Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr. (G.R. No. 167693, People of the Philippines v. Melchor Cabalquinto, September 19, 2006)