A Father Who Slashed the Throat of his Daughter: His Liability

This is a page created by netizens in seeking justice for the slain daughter.  Image was taken from the page of ABS-CBNnews.com.

This is the news that shattered the whole nation this week.  A father slashed the throat of his very own daughter and then he even posted the picture of his dead daughter to his Facebook account.  Accordingly, he (the father) had an earlier altercation with his wife over the internet that led to the brutal death of their child.  The wife is working abroad.  You may read the whole story at ABS-CBNnews.com.

In this situation, the crime that the father is charged of is PARRICIDE.  It is parricide because of the relationship of the offender to the victim.

According to the Revised Penal Code:

Article 246:  Parricide - Any person who shall kill his father, mother, or child, whether legitimate or illegitimate, or any of his ascendants, or descendants, or his spouse, shall be guilty of parricide and shall be punished by the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death.

It is the father who killed his daughter allegedly in this case.  It does not matter whether the daughter was the legitimate or illegitimate child of the father.  The legitimacy is not an issue in this case.  What is important, it would be established by pertinent document, such as Certificate of Live Birth, that the victim was the child of the killer.  In the absence of such document, anything that will prove the relationship would be important.

The penalty to be imposed in this case would range from reclusion perpetua to death.  Reclusion perpetua involves an imprisonment from 20 years and 1 day to 40 years.

Considering that death penalty is suspended, it cannot be imposed to the offender.  Regardless of the gravity of the offense, death penalty would never be imposed because of the said moratorium.

However, despite the gruesomeness of the killing and regardless how guilty the father might appear, he still enjoys the presumption of his innocence.  He is innocent in the eyes of the laws until his guilt his proved beyond reasonable doubt.

In this case, the burden is on the part of the prosecution in proving the guilt of the accused.  And the amount of evidence should be beyond reasonable doubt.  Failure on their part to show such evidence, the father would be judged innocent and not guilty therefor.