Thursday, August 19, 2004 Man accused of incest gets mayor's 'beating' By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- The friend he allegedly allowed to rape his 10-year-old daughter is dead, felled Tuesday by a bullet from a vigilante's gun. Now, he is behind bars on accusation of raping his nine-year-old daughter.
The future cannot be bleaker for this man, Ruben (not named to protect his daughters), 32, presented by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to the media Wednesday at City Hall, after some loud banging sound inside a closed room where the suspect and his family was brought.
An ominous, "I don't know. Ako di ko interesado ug kaso ba (I'm not interested in cases)," was the mayor's reply when asked if he intends to pursue the case against Ruben.
Police presented suspect Ruben, of Calinan, to Duterte Wednesday afternoon.
"This is the man who not only raped his daughter but allowed his friend as well to rape his other daughter," Duterte told reporters
Duterte said Ruben admitted raping his daughter at least five times.
Medical examination results showed "healing lacerations" on the victim's private organ indicating that the rape happened for some time now.
Duterte brought the suspect, along with his wife and four children, to a secluded room inside the mayor's office.
Right after Duterte entered the room, banging sounds were heard from inside. A few minutes after, the mayor went out of the secluded room with the handcuffed suspect behind him.
Asked what Duterte did to him inside the mayor's room, the suspect said, "wala man, gihapak lang man ko niya kausa (he merely hit me once)."
"Miingon lang si mayor nga kinahanglan atubangon nako ang silot sa akong gibuhat," he added. (He told me that I should face the punishment for what I did.)
In an interview, Ruben admitted raping nine-year-old Alona (not her real name) but denied allowing his friend to rape his other daughter, Maya (not her real name).
"Wala man ko kahibalo na gilugos pud diay sa akong amigo ang akong usa ka anak," the suspect said. (I didn't know that my friend also raped my other daughter.)
The suspect said he was drunk when the rape incidents happened. He said he did the carnal act at noontime when his wife was out of the house.
It was learned that Ruben's wife caught him raping Alona on August 13.
The suspect's friend, who allegedly raped Maya, was identified as one Jun Reyes. Reyes was reportedly killed by unknown suspects on Tuesday evening.
When informed of his friend's death, Ruben said he is ready to face whatever punishment to come his way.
"Wala tay mahimo ana. Ang Ginoo na lang ang mahibalo sa ako," Ruben said. (We can't do anything about it. Only God knows what will happen to me.)
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