People v.

Empante 306 SCRA 251

Elvie Empante was raped 3 times by her father, Pedro Empante.

1st: Elvie was 12 y/o. She was left alone with her father in her house. Pedro poked a hunting knife on her
right side and told her not to make any noise, other he would kill her. She tried to resist by closing her
thighs, but she was raped anyway. She was warned not to tell her mom about it or he would kill them
both. She knew her father to be a violent man, so, she didnt.

2nd: Elvie was 14 y/o. She was supposed to go to church with her mom for the midnight mass, but Pedro
told her to stay. When she was about to sleep, Pedro was over her with a knife pointed at her side. She
was violated again. She told her mom about it, then the parents had a fight. She went to her grandmas
house, but was forcefully dragged home by Pedro.

3rd: Elvies mom left. She was sleep when Pedro went on top of her. When she woke up, her shorts and
underwear were gone. Again, she was threatened with a knife. In anger, she demanded from him, Why
do you sexually abuse me? Why not go to others? To this, accused-appellant answered, Why [do I have
to] go to others when you are here? After the act, Pedro slept beside her while she wept. As her sobbing
kept her father awake, he hit her on the back and threatened her with harm is she didnt stop. Elvie went
to her grandmas house and told her story. Grandma Lourdes then took her to the barangay captain who
referred them to the police.

CONTENTION OF THE STATE:

Pedro Empante is guilty of 3 counts of rape against his daughter, Elvie Empante, then below 18 years of
age, and sentencing him to death.

CONTENTION OF THE ACCUSED:

Pedro Empantes plea of guilt and mitigating circumstance of intoxication mitigates his liability; his
sentence of death should be lowered to that of a lesser penalty.

RULING:

To be considered a mitigating circumstance, a plea of guilty must be made spontaneously by the accused,
in open court, prior to the presentation of evidence for the prosecution. In the cases at bar, accused-
appellant at first pleaded not guilty and only confessed his guilt after the prosecutions first witness was
nearly finished with her testimony. Such a belated act of remorse or contrition cannot be considered
spontaneous or timely within the contemplation of the law.

Even if the plea of guilty entered by accused-appellant satisfied the requisites laid down by law, it would
not serve to mitigate his liability for qualified rape and justify the imposition of a lighter penalty. Article
335 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659, states that the death penalty shall
be imposed if the crime of rape is committed when the victim is under eighteen (18) years of age and the
offender is a parent, ascendant, step-parent, guardian, relative by consanguinity or affinity within the
third civil degree, or the common-law spouse of the parent of the victim.