Death for raping own daughter

A tricycle driver was sentenced to death yesterday after he was found guilty of raping his own mentally-challenged daughter in Makati City last June.

Judge Sixto Marella Jr. of the Makati City Regional Trial Court imposed the maximum penalty on accused Arsenio Mangaoang, 58, a resident of Barangay Comembo in Makati City.

It was revealed that the crime took place last June 22 inside the Mangaoang residence in Makati City.

Based on the account of the victim, her father forced her to have sexual intercourse with him on that day. The sister of the victim discovered what her father did and immediately accompanied her sister to the Makati City police to file a complaint.

During trial, Mangaoang denied the accusations against him and pointed to a certain Waret, one of his boarders, as the person who could have raped his daughter. The victim was taken to the National Center for Mental Health where she underwent evaluation.

Results of the evaluation showed that the 20-year-old victim has the mental capacity of a six-year-old. It was revealed that she is also suffering from epilepsy.

However, the doctors testified that the victim, because of her mental limitations, does not have capability to lie nor concoct stories against his own father.

In his decision, Marella noted that the defense of the accused was not convincing because his statements lacked coherence. "The court is convinced that the evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused for the crime of rape beyond reasonable doubt," Marella said in his decision.

Because Mangaoang was fully aware of the mental condition of the victim during the commission of the crime, Marella decided to impose the maximum penalty of death under Article 266-B of the Revised Penal Code on the accused. Mangaoang was also ordered to pay the victim of P125,000 for moral damages.

Meanwhile in Parañaque, a Japanese national was arrested yesterday morning by the police in a buy-bust operation. The suspect yielded 25 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P25,000, the police said.

Police identified the suspect as Kanji Kobayashi, 34, a carpenter from Osaka, Japan.

Investigation showed that the suspect was arrested at around 11:45 a.m. at the parking lot of a fastfood restaurant along President Avenue corner Sucat Road in BF Homes, Parañaque.

A policeman undercover agent posed as a buyer and arranged for a drug deal with the suspect. Kobayashi reportedly gave himself up peacefully after the police’s Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) pounced on him during the entrapment. – Marvin Sy and Nikko Dizon