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Saturday, September 17, 2005
Witness says that uncle of slain girl told him to join the assault
A twist surfaced yesterday in the rape-slay case of 13-year-old Maylen Lapu-tan in Carcar, Cebu, when witness Ronnie Tabora confessed before Commission on Human Rights (CHR) investigators that he participated in the crime last Sept. 6.
But the development was not new to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).
The CPPO has been keeping the information since they got hold of Tabora. But they also offered him protection after he identified Maylen’s father Maximo and uncle Concordio as the culprits.
“Diha man ko. Kami man ang nagkuyog (I was there. I was with them),” Tabora told CHR investigator Eddie Gurrea. Guilt drove him to admit his participation in the crime, he said.
CPPO Director Vicente Loot said the police kept the information under wraps because Tabora did not have a lawyer when he admitted to the police last Sept. 10.
Signed confession
But his admission cannot be used as basis to include him in the case that brothers Maximo and Concordio are now facing, until he signs an extra-judicial confession in the presence of his lawyer.
CPPO Director Vicente Loot said he advised Tabora to tell the CHR about his involvement and allow the court to decide if he qualifies to become a state witness.
The CHR joined the case after Maximo’s wife claimed the rights of her husband and brother-in-law were violated, when police arrested them without a warrant. She believes the real culprit still roams freely.
Maylen’s aunt Nida also sought the help of lawyer Elisa Porio of the Public Attorney’s Office. That, after Carcar police reportedly closed the investigation without considering other evidence, particularly the bloodstained khaki shorts that Nida found near Maylen’s body.
The shorts belonged to Tabora.
Tabora claims that Concordio threatened him with a knife so he would participate. But Tabora insisted he did not rape the girl. (From DRT of Superbalita)
(September 17, 2005 issue)
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