Three life sentences for father who raped his daughter

Three life sentences for father who raped his daughter
Francis B. Bermido Jr.
4 August 2022

After eleven years of being together, the parents of Mady and her two siblings argued for the last time and her mother walked out of the family and abandoned her three children in 2020. The children were shocked and cried non-stop all day and were left in the custody of their father, a fisherman that worked on boats just outside Subic Bay.

Mady, 11 years old and a Grade 7 student, was the only one to care for her two younger siblings, Jan, nine years old, and Macy, eight (not their real names). At 11 years old, she learned to cook, wash their clothes and care for them every day. She helped them in their home study using the modular learning system due to the Covid-19 lockdown when the schools were closed.

One night, when her father arrived at 1AM, she awoke and saw him lift Jan and Macy, who were fast asleep, and place them on the floor mat. Then he came to the wooden bed and lay on her. Mady begged him to stop. He said he would not hurt her, he would be quick and kind, and then he did it. He raped her. That was October 2020.

She dressed and cried all night, hugging herself in shame and shock that her own father would rape her. It was not the only time Mady was frightened. Every time he came back to the shack, she feared the worst, it might happen again. It did. In the following months, he raped her twice more. Now, she lived in fear every day.

In July 2021, Mady went to the house of her uncle, the brother of her father, and there she broke down and told her uncle and aunt what her father had and was doing to her. The uncle and aunt were very angry when they heard this and they confronted her father. As expected, the father denied any wrongdoing.

The aunt and uncle informed the local social worker about what Mady told them. The local social worker of the Municipality of Subic responded immediately and rescued Mady and referred her to the Preda Home for Girls. Later, the Preda social worker helped Mady bring a formal legal complaint against her father.

Mady’s younger siblings were also rescued and given back to the custody and care of their mother in Paranaque, Metro Manila. Mady’s father was then arrested and jailed and brought to trial.

In the Preda home for abused children, Mady felt welcome, encouraged, and affirmed, assured that she had done the right action to tell her uncle and aunt. She was assured that she was innocent and her father could never abuse her again. She felt that she was protected and safe. It took a while for her to recover and adapt to family life in the community. She began to eat a lot more and regained weight and became more active. She joined more learning and fun games and activities every day. She enjoyed the group dynamics sessions, the gospel readings and discussions on the dignity and rights of children and the values of life. She was soon studying and was a happy child.

Then one day, she asked to join the other children having Emotional Expression Therapy in the padded therapy room. There, with the help of a therapist, she released her deepest feelings of pain, frustration, and anger at her father. She shouted and punched the cushions as if fighting her father. She challenged her mother, “Why did you abandon us?” She screamed. After many sessions, she felt stronger and wanted to have justice. With the help of the Preda Social worker and paralegal officer, she filed a formal complaint with the prosecutor against her abusive father.

The day came when she bravely testified in court. With clarity and conviction, she narrated all that he had done to her. He denied everything. But it was insufficient to overturn the clear, unequivocal testimony of Mady. When Mady finished her testimony in Court, she was reintegrated with her mother and siblings in Paranaque where she continued her schooling. She finished Grade 8 in Paranaque.

Then almost one year later, on August 1, 2022, Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio of the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City, handed down her judgment and convicted the abusive father of Mady. The judge sentenced him to suffer the penalty of three reclusion perpetua without the possibility of parole. Justice has been done for Mady. She is free to live a normal life, having achieved justice and freedom from the abuse of her rapist father.

After the promulgation, the Preda social worker called Mady by Messenger. Upon hearing the good news, Mady cried for joy. She wept over the phone and was overwhelmed she could hardly say how thankful she was to all at the Preda home for giving her a new start in life. She was so happy the Court had believed her and that her abuser will never be able to abuse her or any other children again.

*The Preda Home for Girls project is jointly supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines (PDAP), the Government of Canada through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, and the United Nations Trust Fund Against Contemporary Forms of Slavery, USAID, and Misereor of Germany.

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