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Friday, January 28, 2005
Anti-crime crusader arrested
By Mia E. Abellana
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A known anti-crime crusader was arrested Wednesday afternoon for a rape and child abuse case in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
Carlos “Caloy” Reyes, 58, former executive director of Bantay Bayan, was in his rented house in Barangay Buhisan, Cebu City when operatives of the Security and Service Group (SSG) served two warrants of arrest on him.
The warrants were issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 1 Judge Teo-filo Baluma in Tagbilaran City, dated June 30, 2004 and July 4, 2004 for rape and child abuse, respectively.
Acting Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Melvin Gayotin said the warrants were endorsed to them by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 based in Bohol after they received reports that Reyes was sighted in Buhisan.
Reyes said, though, that the complaint was the work of a syndicate that wanted money from him and his co-accused Joevy Gibb.
Livelier
In an interview, he said he was a consultant for Thistle Inn, owned by Gibb, and that he had suggested to Gibb to hire guest relations officers to make the inn’s karaoke bar “livelier.”
They had paid a mama-sang from Mindanao to look for 10 to 20 girls there, but the mamasang only gave them two.
He said he believes the girls were told to file rape and child abuse complaints against them because they wanted the mamasang to pay them back.
Jealous
He also hinted that a rival anti-crime group that was “jealous” of him could be backing the syndicate.
“I have never met these girls in my life,” he said when he was presented to the media.
He said he was very disappointed with the way prosecutors handled the case because they were clearly abusive.
He pointed out that despite affidavits attesting that he was in Cebu at the time the crime was committed, they still filed the case.
Most of these affidavits were from policemen whom he said saw him since he was attending a conference.
He said the crime happened on Feb. 28, 2002, but the victims filed their complaints more than a week later.
The judge allowed Reyes and Gibb to post P200,000 bail each for the child abuse case, but Reyes will have to remain in jail because no bail was recommended for the rape case he alone is facing.
(January 28, 2005 issue)
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