Man gets death for raping daughter

The accused, Gelacio Catapang, pleaded with the judge yesterday that the sentencing in his case be postponed because his lawyer was not present. But Quezon City Regional Trial Court judge Monina Zenarosa brushed aside his protestations.

"This case has dragged on for long enough a time," said the stern-faced judge, who then appointed one of the lawyers for the other pending cases as counsel de officio "for purposes of the promulgation."

Charged for raping seven times his own daughter, a 14-year old girl, in 1998, Catapang assumed a stoic pose as he stood in front of the judge while the Clerk of Court read the decision.

The man, who wore a yellow jersey over denim jeans, hardly showed any emotion, except perhaps for a slight flinch on the face when the Clerk of Court reached the dispositive portion outlining the verdict: Guilty beyond reasonable doubt on all counts.

The penalty, death by lethal injection on each count of rape.

The court took note of the fact that the victim was his own daughter – an aggravating circumstance that called for the heaviest penalty the law could impose on a criminal, according to Philippine statute books.

There was a hushed silence while the decision was being read and a crowd of people craning their necks to look at the court room drama blocked the door to the court sala. A single camera crew from a television station took footage of the proceedings.

Just before the decision was read, the daughter, now a third year high school student and accompanied by her mother and other relatives, stepped out of the court room, obviously unable to bear the import of what was going to happen soon.

Only the private prosecutor, Minerva M.B. Ambrosio, was left inside the court room to represent the complainant. "For the record, this case goes on automatic review before the Supreme Court as the law provides," the judge said.

From the records of the case, it appeared that Catapang and the victim’s mother, who was a private school teacher, had a troubled marriage.

They had been living together for a long time without the benefit of marriage until 1997, because the man, who worked as a security guard and was a martial arts instructor, had a prior marriage that was only annulled about four years ago. The victim was the eldest of their four children.

The girl told the court her father sexually abused her seven times in a period of two months. The incidents took place at the family residence in Barangay Culiat.

Her father threatened to kill her and her siblings if she told on him, she told the court between sobs.

The victim said the first time the rape happened, her father threatened her with a knife. She also told the court how she feared that her father would use a samurai he kept in a drawer to kill her if she told anyone about her ordeal.