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PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES Vs MARIVIC GENOSA [G.R. No. 135981. January 15, 2004]

The Facts

1. Marivic and Ben, during their first year of marriage, lived happily but apparently thereafter, Ben changed and

the couple would always quarrel and sometimes their quarrels became violent. Marivic testified that every

time her husband came home drunk, he would provoke her and sometimes beat her. Whenever beaten by

her husband, she consulted medical doctors who testified during the trial.

2. Marivic testified that during her marriage she had tried to leave her husband at least 5 times, but that Ben

would always follow her and they would reconcile.3. On the night of the killing, Marivic and Ben quarreled. Ben started beating Marivic, however, she was able to

run to another room. Marivic admitted killing Ben with the use of a gun. The information, however alleged

that the cause of death of the victim was by beating with a use of a lead pipe. Marivic invoked self defense

and defense of her unborn child. After trial, the Regional Trial Court found appellant guilty beyond reasonable

doubt of the crime of parricide with an aggravating circumstance of treachery and imposed the penalty of

death.

4. Dr. Dino Caing, a physician testified that he and Marivic were co-employees at PHILPHOS, Isabel, Leyte.

Marivic was his patient many times. Dr. Caing testified that from July 6, 1989 until November 9, 1995, there

were 6 episodes of physical injuries inflicted upon Marivic and tension headache and hypertension on 23

separate occasions.

On appeal The Supreme Court partly granted the URGENT OMNIBUS MOTION of the appellant. It remanded the case

to the trial court for reception of expert psychological and/or psychiatric opinion on the battered woman syndrome

plea.

1. Marivic Genosa was examined by Dra. Natividad A. Dayan, a clinical psychologist, who testified that Marivic

fits the profile of a battered woman. Marivic was suffering from emotional anguish for more tha 10 years.

There were a lot of instances of emotional, verbal and physical abuse. Ben had a very meager income and

Marivic was the one who was practically the bread earner of the family. The Ben was involved in a lot of vices;

going out with barkadas, drinking, even womanizing, being involved in cockfight and going home very angry

and that will trigger a lot of physical abuse. Marivic also had experience a lot of taunting from Ben for the

reason that he accused her of infidelity. Ben was saying that the child she was carrying was not his own.

Marivic most of the time is very angry and at the same time very depressed. She is like living in purgatory or

even hell with all of these happening day in and day out.

Testimony Dr. Alfredo Pajarillo

1. Dr. Alfredo Parajillo, a psychiatrist, explained that Marivic is suffering from neurotic anxiety. It is a case where

the victim relieves the beating or trauma as if it were real, although she is not actually beaten at that time

2. At the time Marivic killed her husband, her mental condition was she is re-experiencing the trauma. That the

re-experiencing of the trauma could not be controlled and it comes in flashes.

ISSUE

1. Whether appellant acted in self-defense and in defense of her fetus.

2. Whether treachery attended the killing of Ben Genosa.

Whether appellant acted in self-defense and in defense of her fetus

1. The Court ruled in the negative as appellant failed to prove that she is afflicted with the battered woman

syndrome.

A battered woman has been defined as a woman who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or

psychological behavior by a man in order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern

for her rights. Battered women include wives or women in any form of intimate relationship with men.

Furthermore, in order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at

least twice. Any woman may find herself in an abusive relationship with a man once. If it occurs a second

time, and she remains in the situation, she is defined as a battered woman.

More graphically, the battered woman syndrome is characterized by the so-called cycle of violence, which

has three phases: (1) the tension-building phase; (2) the acute battering incident; and (3) the tranquil, loving(or, at least, nonviolent) phase.

The defense fell short of proving all three phases of the cycle of violence supposedly characterizing the

relationship of Ben and Marivic Genosa. No doubt there were acute battering incidents but appellant failed to

prove that in at least another battering episode in the past, she had gone through a similar pattern. Neither

did appellant proffer sufficient evidence in regard to the third phase of the cycle.

In any event, the existence of the syndrome in a relationship does not in itself establish the legal right of the

woman to kill her abusive partner. Evidence must still be considered in the context of self-defense. Settled in

our jurisprudence, is the rule that the one who resorts to self-defense must face a real threat on ones life;

and the peril sought to be avoided must be imminent and actual, not merely imaginary. Thus, the Revised

Penal Code provides that the following requisites of self-defense must concur: (1) Unlawful aggression; (2)

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Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (3) Lack of sufficient provocation on

the part of the person defending himself.

Unlawful aggression is the most essential element of self-defense. It presupposes actual, sudden and

unexpected attack -- or an imminent danger thereof -- on the life or safety of a person. In the present case,

however, according to the testimony of Marivic herself, there was a sufficient time interval between the

unlawful aggression of Ben and her fatal attack upon him. She had already been able to withdraw from his

violent behavior and escape to their childrens bedroom. During that time, he apparently ceased his attack

and went to bed. The reality or even the imminence of the danger he posed had ended altogether. He was no

longer in a position that presented an actual threat on her life or safety.Mitigating Circumstances Present

1. The mitigating factors of psychological paralysis and passion and obfuscation were, however, taken in favor of

appellant. It should be clarified that these two circumstances psychological paralysis as well as passion and

obfuscation did not arise from the same set of facts.

2. The first circumstance arose from the cyclical nature and the severity of the battery inflicted by the

batterer-spouse upon appellant. That is, the repeated beatings over a period of time resulted in her

psychological paralysis, which was analogous to an illness diminishing the exercise of her will power without

depriving her of consciousness of her acts.

3. As to the extenuating circumstance of having acted upon an impulse so powerful as to have naturally

produced passion and obfuscation, it has been held that this state of mind is present when a crime is

committed as a result of an uncontrollable burst of passion provoked by prior unjust or improper acts or by alegitimate stimulus so powerful as to overcome reason. To appreciate this circumstance, the following

requisites should concur: (1) there is an act, both unlawful and sufficient to produce such a condition of mind;

and (2) this act is not far removed from the commission of the crime by a considerable length of time, during

which the accused might recover her normal equanimity.

Whether treachery attended the killing of Ben Genosa

1. No, because of the gravity of the resulting offense, treachery must be proved as conclusively as the killing

itself. Besides, equally axiomatic is the rule that when a killing is preceded by an argument or a quarrel,

treachery cannot be appreciated as a qualifying circumstance, because the deceased may be said to have

been forewarned and to have anticipated aggression from the assailant. Moreover, in order to appreciate

alevosia, the method of assault adopted by the aggressor must have been consciously and deliberately chosen

for the specific purpose of accomplishing the unlawful act without risk from any defense that might be put up

by the party attacked.

Marivic acted upon an impulse so powerful as to have naturally produced passion or obfuscation. The acute

battering she suffered that fatal night in the hands of her batterer-spouse, in spite of the fact that she was

eight (8) months pregnant with their child, overwhelmed her and put her in the aforesaid emotional and

mental state, which overcame her reason and impelled her to vindicate her life and that of her unborn child.

Supreme Courts Decision

1. WHEREFORE, the conviction of Appellant Marivic Genosa for parricide is hereby AFFIRMED. However, there

being two (2) mitigating circumstances and no aggravating circumstance attending her commission of the

offense, her penalty is REDUCED to six (6) years and one (1) day of prision mayor as minimum; to 14 years, 8

months and 1 day of reclusion temporal as maximum.

2. Inasmuch as appellant has been detained for more than the minimum penalty hereby imposed upon her, thedirector of the Bureau of Corrections may immediately RELEASE her from custody upon due determination

that she is eligible for parole, unless she is being held for some other lawful cause.

Application of Natural Law

All humans have the right to freedom from unlawful torture. It is commonly understood as inalienable

fundamental right to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being, and which is

inherent in all human beings, regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other

status. It is applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and its egalitarian in the sense of

being the same for everyone. It requires empathy and the rule of law and imposes an obligation on persons to respect

the human right of others. They should not be taken away except as a result of due process

based on specific

circumstances.

1. Justificatory Use of Natural Law.

Marivic Genosa on her defense put up the battered woman syndrome, which allegedly constitutes self-defense. The

right of self defense is called by John Locke the first law of nature. Each person owns his or her own life and no other

person has a right to take that life. Consequently, a person may resist aggressive attacks.

Individual culpability is subjective and may depend on the surrounding circumstances. Marivic in killing her husband

has done so grave a wrong but her action should have been justified. The defense was able to establish the

occurrence on more than one occasion of the "tension-building phase" of the cycle. The various testimonies of

appellant's witnesses clearly reveal that she knew exactly when she would once again be subjected to acute battery.

2. Difficulty in the enforceability of Natural Law.

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Justice Panganiban acknowledged "Battered Woman Syndrome" as a valid form of self-defense but did not acquit

Marivic. In his decision he wrote:

While our hearts empathize with recurrently battered persons, we can only work within the limits of law,

jurisprudence and given facts. We cannot make or invent them. Neither can we amend the Revised Penal Code. Only

Congress, in its wisdom, may do so.

The Courts hands were tied by the prevailing provisions of the Revised Penal Code which did not consider BWS as a

justifying circumstance that would enable Marivic to claim valid self-defense. A natural law however meaningful it is,

if it is not incorporated into a command enforceable by government seems hardly worth the paper it isn't written on.

3. Interpretative Use of Natural LawThe use of the natural law in statutory interpretation arises when a particular situation or condition apparently not

within the words of the statute is within the spirit or purpose.

On the case at bar the supreme court appreciated the battered woman syndrome (being the first case of that nature

in the country) as a mitigating circumstance eventhough it is not included in Article 13 of the RPC. The Supreme Court

has taken a step further to construct the law and apply it to the case awarding Marivic 2 mitigating circumstances

thereby reducing the penalty imposed on her and saving her from the death row.

4. Importance of the Marivic Genosa Case

Marivic Genosas case was the basis and gave rise to a definition of battered woman syndrome which leads to the

formulation of anti battery law.

On March 8, 2004 after the Marivic Genosa case, R.A. 9262 was enacted. It provides that the victims-survivors who

are found by the courts to be suffering from battered woman syndrome do not incur any criminal and civil liabilitynotwithstanding the absence of any elements for justifying circumstances involving the commission of the crime.

The battered woman syndrome is now a new Justifying Circumstance pursuant to RA 9262. What the Genosa case

failed to give, RA 9262 has given.