People v.
Jumawan
Rights and Obligations Between Husband and Wife | G.R. No.187495 | April 21, 2014 | Justice Bienvenido
Reyes | Gorgeous
FACTS:
Accused-appellant Edgar Jumawan married KKK1 in
1975. Together, they had four children and were
engaged in several businesses managed by KKK.
They did not have problems with intimate aspects
of their relationship until 1997. According to KKK,
Edgar began to be brutal in bed and that
lovemaking began to be painful for her so she
would resist, but that he would threaten her into
submission.
On October 16, 1998, KKK claimed that Edgar
raped her in their home in Cagayan de Oro after
she refused to give consent due to not feeling well
and that Edgar forced himself onto her, tore her
underwear, and even threw her against the walls.
The following night, KKK claimed that Edgar raped
her again, even after their eldest child, MMM,
attempted to dissuade her father, who reasoned
that he could even have sex with her in front of
their children since he was the head of the family.
KKK filed a case against Edgar for charges of grave
threats and physical injuries, in addition to a
charge of rape filed later. Her testimony was
corroborated by two of their children, MMM and
OOO, who were in the house at the time. Edgar
denied the charges, reasoning that he could not be
guilty of rape since there is implied consent due to
KKK being his lawful wife, as well as giving an alibi
and saying that KKK sued him as revenge for taking
over management of their businesses and that KKK
was guilty of having extra-marital affairs.
The RTC ruled in favor of KKK, finding Edgar GUILTY
BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT of two counts of
rape, sentencing him to reclusión perpetua for
each count and to pay KKK for damages. The Court
of Appeals later AFFIRMED the decision in toto,
hence the appeal to the Supreme Court.
ISSUES AND RATIO:
1.) WON there can be marital rape.
YES: Husbands do not have property
rights over their wives’ bodies. Even in
marriage, sex, without consent, is rape.
To treat marital rape differently from non-
marital rape would infringe on the equal
protection clause.
1 Real name of victim, KKK, and her two
mentioned children, MMM and OOO, not disclosed
in the decision to protect their privacy.
Edgar’s assertion that he could not be
guilty of rape since there is implied
consent due to KKK being his lawful wife
(irrevocable implied consent theory2) is
untenable. The Court cited the decision in
in the case of People v. Liberta in
American jurisprudence, which
abandoned this marital exemption rule for
lack of rational basis in distinguishing
marital rape from non-marital rape. A
marriage license should not be viewed as
a license for a husband to forcibly rape
his wife with impunity.
As this is the first case of marital rape in
the Philippines to reach the Supreme
Court, the Court cited the deliberations of
the 10th Congress on the progenitors of
Republic Act No. 8353, which reclassified
rape as a crime against person, in
reasoning that regardless of the Filipino
public’s inherent conservativism and
religiosity, there is no difference between
marital rape and marital sexual assault.
“As long as the attendant circumstances
of the traditional rape is present, then
that is rape”.
The Philippines, as a State Party to
CEDAW, defines and penalizes this act of
rape under RA No. 8353.
2.) WON Edgar Jumawan is guilty of raping
his wife.
YES: In citing the irrevocable implied
consent theory in his defense, Edgar
indirectly admitted to raping his wife.
Furthermore, in rape cases, conviction of
the accused rests heavily on the
credibility of the victim. The Court found
the testimony of KKK, as well the
corroboration by MMM and OOO to be
credible. Neither KKK’s failure to resist,
nor her failure to immediately report the
rape to police authorities, is fatal to her
credibility.
2 The irrevocable implied consent theory, first
conceived by Lord Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale
of England in the 17th century, holds that a
husband “cannot be guilty of a rape committed by
himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual
matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath
given up herself in this kind unto her husband,
which she cannot retract”.
 People v. Jumawan
Rights and Obligations Between Husband and Wife | G.R. No.187495 | April 21, 2014 | Justice Bienvenido
Reyes | Gorgeous
Edgar’s assertions of KKK’s fabricated
rape charges and ill motives in filing the
case is ridiculed with loopholes. His alibi
is also inconsistent with his argument of
citing the irrevocable implied consent
theory. The Court also found no ill motive
on the part of the victim and her two
daughters to falsely testify against Edgar,
their own husband and father.
SUPREME COURT RULING:
Decision by Court of Appeals AFFIRMED with
MODIFICATIONS. Accused-appellant is found
GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of two (2) counts
of rape and sentenced to reclusión perpetua for
each count, without eligibility for parole. Ordered
to pay victim civil indemnity, moral damages, and
exemplary damages for each count. Award
damages shall earn legal interest at a rate of 6%
per annum from finality of judgment until fully
paid.
PROVISIONS:
Article 266-A, Revised Penal Code (as amended by
Republic Act No. 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law of
1997)
Rape: When and How Committed — Rape is
committed:
1) By a man who shall have carnal
knowledge of a woman under any of the
following circumstances:
a) Through force, threat, or
intimidation;
b) When the offended party is deprived
of reason or otherwise unconscious;
c) By means of fraudulent machination
or grave abuse of authority; and
d) When the offended party is under
twelve (12) years of age or is
demented, even though none of the
circumstances mentioned above be
present.
Article 266-C, Revised Penal Code
Effect of Pardon — The subsequent valid marriage
between the offended party shall extinguish the
criminal action or the penalty imposed.
In case it is the legal husband who is the offender,
the subsequent forgiveness by the wife as the
offended party shall extinguish the criminal action
of the penalty: Provided, That the crime shall not
be extinguished or the penalty shall not be abated
if the marriage is void ab initio.
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW)
Sec. 2. States Parties condemn discrimination
against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by
all appropriate means and without delay a policy
of eliminating discrimination against women and,
to this end, undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men
and women in their national constitutions or other
appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated
therein and to ensure, through law and other
appropriate means, the practical realization of this
principle;
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other
measures, including sanctions where appropriate,
prohibiting all discrimination against women;
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(f) To take all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which
constitute discrimination against women;
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which
constitute discrimination against women.
United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence Against Women
Article 1. For the purposes of this Declaration, the
term "violence against women" means any act of
gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or
suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or in private life.
Article 2. Violence against women shall be
understood to encompass, but not be limited to,
the following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence
occurring in the family, including battering,
sexual abuse of female children in the
household, dowry-related violence, marital
rape, female genital mutilation and other
traditional practices harmful to women, non-
spousal violence and violence related to
exploitation;
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Article II, 1987 Constitution (in relation to
CEDAW)
Sec. 2. The Philippines renounces war as an
instrument of national policy, and adopts the
generally accepted principles of international law
as part of the law of the land and adheres to the
 People v. Jumawan
Rights and Obligations Between Husband and Wife | G.R. No.187495 | April 21, 2014 | Justice Bienvenido
Reyes | Gorgeous

policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom,

cooperation and amity with all nations.
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Sec. 11. The State values the dignity of every
human person and guarantees full respect for
human rights.
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Sec. 14. The State recognizes the role of women in
nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental
equality before the law of women and men.
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Republic Act No. 9262

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this
Act,
(a) "Violence against women and their children"
refers to any act or a series of acts committed by
any person against a woman who is his wife,
former wife, or against a woman with whom the
person has or had a sexual or dating relationship,
or with whom he has a common child, or against
her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within
or without the family abode, which result in or is
likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological
harm or suffering, or economic abuse including
threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion,
harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It
includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
A. "Physical Violence" refers to acts that include
bodily or physical harm;
B. "Sexual violence" refers to an act which is sexual
in nature, committed against a woman or her child.
It includes, but is not limited to:
a) rape, sexual harassment, acts of
lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child as a
sex object, making demeaning and sexually
suggestive remarks, physically attacking the sexual
parts of the victim's body, forcing her/him to watch
obscene publications and indecent shows or
forcing the woman or her child to do indecent acts
and/or make films thereof, forcing the wife and
mistress/lover to live in the conjugal home or sleep
together in the same room with the abuser;
b) acts causing or attempting to cause the
victim to engage in any sexual activity by force,
threat of force, physical or other harm or threat of
physical or other harm or coercion;
c) Prostituting the woman or child.
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