The Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and life sentences imposed on a father and mother who teamed up in the 2008 rape of their own minor daughter.

“It is so despicable that it seems unreal,” declared Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez who wrote the decision that was unanimously upheld

The SC Second Division rejected the appeal of the spouses for a reversal of the guilty verdict meted out by both the Regional Trial Court in 2019 and the Court of Appeals that upheld the RTC ruling in 2022.

The SC and the two other courts were unanimous in imposing the punishment of reclusion perpetua on the two accused. The sentences will keep them imprison from 20 to 40 years each.

The couple was ordered to pay the victim PHP 100,000 in civil indemnity; PHP 100,000 in moral damages and PHP100,000in exemplary damages.

The names of both the victim and the convicted spouses were redacted in the decision.

In its decision, the Second Division thumbed down the arguments presented by the two accused who both attempted to discredit the testimony given by their daughter.

“This is not just another horrid case of child rape or an incident of a father raping his own daughter. This is a despicable case committed by a father and a mother against their own daughter,” wrote Lopez.

The court noted that while the ‘jurisprudence is replete with cases of fathers raping their daughters,” a case where a mother helps her husband sexually abuse their daughter is rare.

“However, even if it is unimaginable, it can still happen. Its inconceivability cannot reduce the credibility of the victim’s testimony nor make her words less true,” stated the SC division.

The victim was 14 years old when her parents teamed up to allow her father to sexually abuse her on December 15, 2008.

She recalled that her mother woke her up on that day and told her to lie down beside her father.

Her mother quickly held her two feet as soon as she followed the command while her father went on top of her then sexually abused her for nearly five minutes.

According to the girl, she did not tell anyone about the incident, fearing the wrath of her father.

However, on May 29, 2017, she finally decided to tell her mother’s sister about the incident.

In upholding the rulings of the lower courts, the SC noted that the victim’s testimony was clear and categorical.

“Accused appellants have apparent moral ascendancy and physical superiority over their daughter. They placed their daughter in a position where she cannot resist because her father was holding her hands and her mother was holding her feet,” the Court noted.

The victim’s mother was declared a conspirator to the crime committed by her husband.

“Their actions clearly demonstrated a common design towards the accomplishment of the same unlawful purpose,” stressed the SC ruling.