THE Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) has hailed the Supreme Court for reversing the decision of a regional trial court and the Court of Appeals (CA), acquitting a mentally challenged mom over the death of her 5-year-old daughter 16 years ago.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, interviewed on Sunday by The Manila Times, cited the ruling penned by Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan with the concurrence of Associate Justices Benjamin Caguioa, Henri Jean Paul Inting, and Japar Dimaampao that absolved the woman from Manila who was charged with parricide.
At the same time, the chief public attorney praised the members of PAO’s Special and Appealed Cases Service (SACS) who provided legal services to the accused.
In its decision on May 27, 2022, a Manila Regional Trial Court found the mother guilty under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and sentenced her to reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for 20 years and one day to 40 years.
Affirming the lower court’s ruling, the appellate court, in its Jan. 10, 2024 decision, denied the accused’s appeal for her failure to present sufficient evidence to establish that she was indeed suffering from insanity at the time of the commission of the crime.
Court records showed that on Jan. 19, 2010, the accused, while carrying her daughter, the victim, jumped into the river from a bridge. She was rescued, but her daughter drowned.
The high court’s Third Division found compelling reason to overturn the conviction of the victim’s mother, Gaerlan said.
Notably, since the law presumes all persons to be of sound mind, insanity is the exception rather than the general rule, as the high tribunal emphasized that it found sufficient evidence to establish that she was indeed suffering from insanity at the time of the commission of the crime.
“She was able to medically prove that she was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the commission of the crime,” the high tribunal said as it noted the testimonies of three physicians who also confirmed that she had been experiencing symptoms since 2004.
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and often accompanied by hallucinations and delusions.
“It is a medical condition that deprives a person of discernment,” Gaerlan said.
Accordingly, the high court is convinced that at the time of the incident, the accused’s mental state deprived her of the ability to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of her act, the ruling said.
Although the high court exempts her from criminal liability, Gaerlan said she still has civil liability and other damages, considering that a criminal act was nonetheless committed.
The Court then ordered that she be immediately transferred from the detention facility to the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City for her treatment.
