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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Malilong: Mandaue officials’ silence on rape case
By Frank Malilong Jr.
The Other Side
The Cebu provincial board should be commended for its quick reaction to published reports on the alleged rape of a Cebuana housemaid by a Korean businessman in Mandaue City. The resolution sponsored by Board Member Vic Maambong should be appreciated not so much for its express declaration of the suspect as an “undesirable alien” as for its implied statement of solidarity with, and support for, the alleged rape victim.
I expect that the Board’s support does not end there. Colleague Bobby Nalzaro said that while the suspect is still in jail, the girl has gone missing, most probably hidden by her relatives who were pressuring her to accept a huge sum from the Korean as a settlement. Before she disappeared, the girl had reportedly executed a statement that she was no longer interested in pursuing her complaint, an indication that money must have changed hands.
Judge Augustine Vestil, according to Super Bob, has prudently withheld action on the affidavit of desistance until the girl surfaces to confirm it. If she does, the prosecution’s case is doomed because she is a material witness. If she remains missing, the defense can invoke the right of the accused to a speedy trial and ask for a dismissal. Either way, the court’s hands are tied.
Which is why it is important that the girl be located and placed under state protection. The girl comes from Aloguinsan, which is part of the third district represented in the Board by Baby Yapha. Surely, she can help the authorities locate the victim and provide for her a safe environment under which she could think soberly and speak the truth.
If she wasn’t raped, then she should say so, freely and voluntarily, to the Court. There are legal implications in falsely accusing someone, especially of a crime such as rape, which is non-bailable but after the shame that she had put herself into when she publicly admitted to having sex with someone, even if it was against her will, the legal consequences should be the least of her worries.
If she was in fact molested, we should not allow anyone to intimidate or pressure her into saying otherwise. It is bad enough that she was raped. It is worse when you consider that the attack happened in her homeland in the hands of a foreigner.
Which is why I am surprised that the elected officials of Mandaue City have chosen to remain silent on the case. I did not expect them to rise in righteous indignation but the least that they could have done was to express interest in finding the girl and assuring her of their protection. I hope that the silence had nothing to do with rumors that the suspect is a “desirable alien” because of his business connections in the city.
If the rumors are true, then I cannot blame the girl for going into hiding.
(fmmalilong@yahoo.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 24, 2006 issue)
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