The Liability of the Mother Who Let Her Child Die While the UmbilicalCord Still Attached

This photo was taken from bing images.

As I scrolled the page of ABS-CBNnews.com, it was one of the news that caught my attention.  I have pasted herein the whole information as posted in the said webpage.

MANILA - A newborn baby was found dead on a vacant lot in Barangay 86 in Caloocan City Tuesday.

The baby's umbilical cord was still attached to her body, and her placenta was also found in the area.

Residents said they still heard the baby cry early in the morning while it was raining.

Barangay officials immediately went to a nearby house, where they found a bleeding woman, who denied that the baby was her daughter.

The woman, however, eventually went to the barangay hall and admitted that she left her daughter outside to die.

She added that she lied because she was scared.

The suspect was then brought to a hospital for treatment.

Authorities said the woman may be charged with parricide. -- report from Doland Castro, ABS-CBN News

Legally speaking, what would be the criminal charge that may be faced by the alleged mother?

As reported, the mother may be charged with parricide.  It may sound correct considering that the victim was the child of the offender. 

A parricide is committed by any person who shall kill his father, mother, or child, whether legitimate or illegitimate, or any of his ascendants, or descendants, or his spouse, and shall be punished by the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death.

Thus, basing on the provision of parricide, the mother who allegedly killed his child may be guilty of parricide.  However, we have to consider the age of the victim in the instant case.

Allegedly, the baby's umbilical cord was still attached to her body when she was found dead.  Further, the placenta was also found in the area.

Surmising in the above-mentioned circumstances, the baby was less than 3 days of age when she died.  Considering of the age of the baby, the provision on infanticide shall likewise be considered into.

Infanticide - The penalty provided for parricide in Article 246 and for murder in Article 248 shall be imposed upon any person who shall kill any child less than three (3) days of age.

Regardless of the relationship of the killer to the victim child, the crime will always be infanticide.  It is not the relationship that would matter but the age of the victim child.  For as long the child was less than 3 days old when he was killed, the crime would be infanticide.

The law says that the penalty imposed either in parricide or murder shall be imposed as the case may be.  In the instant case, the penalty in parricide which is reclusion perpetua to death shall be imposed.

The law of infanticide further states:

If the crime penalized in the crime of infanticide be committed by the mother of the child for the purpose of concealing her dishonor, she shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its medium and maximum periods, and if said crime be committed for the same purpose by the maternal grandparents or either of them, the penalty shall be reclusion temporal.

Granting that the mother let the child outside to die in order to conceal her dishinor, she would only be facing the penalty of prision mayor.  It is on her burden to prove this fact.

While reclusion perpetua involves imprisonment of 20 years and 1 day to 40 years, prision mayor only an imprisonment of 6 years and 1 day to 12 years.

Lastly, reclusion temporal is only imprisonment of 12 years and 1 day to 20 years.