Police head explains investigators' absence

INVESTIGATORS were present Monday during the arraignment of the couple charged for parricide over the death of their 6-year-old daughter last October, a top police official said.

Bacolod City Police Office Women and Children’s Complaints Desk (BCPO- WCCD) Chief Inspector Jovy Cabcaban said Tuesday that her investigators attended the arraignment on Monday at Branch 41 of the Hall of Justice.

She made the statement after government prosecutor Armando Abanado earlier claimed that representatives from the BCPO-WCCD should have been present during the arraignment, as they are the ones who initiated the case.

The WCCD investigators served as complainants against the couple Bernard Nolan, 27, and his live-in partner Rachel Esguerra, 26, since there were no private complainants.

However, during the arraignment, it was noticed that none of WCCD personnel were around.

Cabcaban said her investigators PO3 Lovella Cordova and PO2 April Diamante went to Branch 41 about 8:00 a.m. but there was no one there yet.

The investigators decided to go to the prosecutor’s office instead, so they could file the rape charges against the arrested suspect whose reglamentary period of arrest is about to end.

She said that the presence of the investigators was unnecessary as the case was only at the arraignment stage, but she assured that they will be present in the pre-trial on January 19.

Nolan and Esquerra were charged after they admitted beating their child, Alyanna Tan Esquerra (the name mentioned on her death certificate), when they were interrogated by the Women and Children's Complaints Desk investigators.

Autopsy report of City Medico-Legal Officer Eli Cong revealed that the body of Alyanna bore several contusions, particularly in the head, thighs, face and back.

Cong also reported that aside from physical abuse, the victim was also sexually molested as healed lacerations were noted in her genitalia, indicating that a foreign object might have been inserted causing the wounds on her hymen.

The girl died in October 27 at the Riverside Medical Center.

Cabcaban said they will ask for the birth certificate of the victim so they could establish whether Nolan is her real father amidst reports that he is only the victim's step-father. (Merlinda A. Pedrosa)