The rape near the Fuente Osmeña in 1924

In 1924, a gruesome crime of rape happened in Cebu that shocked the community. Here is the story:

At about 4:00 pm on March 13, 1924, a Cebu policeman assigned in the Court of the Justice of the Peace accompanied by his two brothers-in-law met a married woman aged 20 on the road near the Golf Club in Cebu.

The policeman told the woman that she was under arrest as her husband lacked a cedula certificate. The woman (a resident of Banilad) resisted arrest but she was compelled by the three to come along with them. Arriving at the corner of the street leading to the Fuente Osmeña, the policeman caused a passing truck to stop, and the three placed the woman upon it and she was carried away.

The truck continued its course until it arrived at a bridge near the Lahug River where it stopped and the three men transferred the woman to a two-wheeled vehicle called as tartanilla. The three brought the woman to a garden near the Fuente Osmeña where they alighted, after and took her to an unoccupied house in a secluded place about half a kilometer away.

The men then took turns in violating the woman. The act was repeated by each of them before 9:00 o'clock at night. After a sleepless night and about 4:00  the next morning, the policeman brought her back to the place where she arrested her and there left her to make her way home. In the course of the night, the rings of the woman from her fingers were taken and not returned, with a total value of P14.00.

The unlawful arrest of the woman was seen by two witnesses, and while the woman was about to return to her home she met someone and related what happened to her. She was then brought to the house of the Barrio Lieutenant and then brought to her husband. The woman was on the verge of going crazy.

Owing to the serious condition of the woman, no steps were taken to prosecute the policeman and his companions until about July 24, 1924. An affidavit was then taken from her by the Fiscal and brought to Judge Adolph Wislizenus. Being impressed with the gravity of the charge, the woman was brought before him and examined on her affidavit. The judge finding that the proof was sufficient to justify the belief that the policeman and his companions committed the crime of rape and robbery ordered their arrest.

The three were all convicted for the crime of rape by Judge Wislizenus and his decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. The policeman argued that there was no proper preliminary investigation thus there must be a new preliminary investigation that should be conducted.

The policeman also complained of the hostile attitude of the judge towards them, the accused. A consolation of the gruesome crime was that it only took months for the Supreme Court to resolve the case. It was on February 7, 1925 that the Supreme Court en banc resolved the appeal of the policeman.

The policeman and his companions were represented by the legal giants of Cebu at that time, namely, Dionisio Jakosalem, Paulino Gullas, Manuel Briones, and Vicente Sotto.

The Supreme Court ruled that there was sufficient compliance on the rules on conducting a preliminary investigation. The Supreme Court also said that there was aggravating circumstance of advantage of superior strength and that the offense was deliberately augmented by unnecessary wrongdoings.

The policeman was given the penalty of, by the words of the Supreme Court, extreme maximum allowed by law, that is to say, twenty years, reclusion temporal. The Supreme Court also ordered the additional penalty of imprisonment for the crime of robbery and to indemnify the woman in the amount of P14 for the two gold rings taken from her.

The Supreme Court at that time though had a Filipino Chief Justice, the first of which to be appointed was Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano. The majority of the associate justices were Americans. Arellano was succeeded by Chief Justice Victoriano Mapa. Among the American Justices were Johnson (the one who wrote the decision of the rape case), Malcolm, Ostrand, Johns, and Street.