Thursday, August 04, 2005
Vice guv's son implicated in rape case anew
By Michael Sarcauga
PAGADIAN CITY -- It took some three hours for doctors to repair the damaged sex organ of a female rape victim, who has accused the scion of a powerful politician in Zamboanga del Sur as the culprit, officials said.
The suspect in the rape of the 20-year-old nursing student of a college here Tuesday evening is the son of Zamboanga del Sur Vice Governor Roseller Ariosa, police records showed.
The suspect's family strongly denied the allegation and said the younger Ariosa was not involved whatsoever in the incident.
This is the second incident in which the vice governor's son, who is a former youth leader in the city, was implicated in a rape case. The other case remained pending at the Regional State Prosecutor's Office in Zamboanga City.
The alleged victim of the first rape case was the daughter of the Ariosa family's house helper. The incident allegedly took place inside the Ariosa residence in Sta. Maria District here, on the eve of July 4, 2003. The case against the younger Ariosa was filed on April 13, 2004, at the state prosecutor's office.
Birthday party
In the Tuesday incident, police said the victim, Angelie (not her real name), told them she was invited by the suspect to a birthday party in the house of a relative along San Jose District last Monday evening.
The victim said that when she arrived she saw six others, three males and three females, inside the house.
The group was having a drinking spree, and the victim was invited to join. After taking a small amount of beverage, the victim said she felt dizzy, and lost consciousness.
Around 11 p.m. of the same day, the victim was brought by a female friend to the hospital due to profuse bleeding. The victim was still wearing her school uniform when brought to the hospital, police records said.
The police record of the incident was marked: "Not for press release." The police refused to say why there was such a notice on their record of the case.
Several policemen also told local reporters who regularly check the police records not to report the incident. They did not give any reason as well.
Bottle inserted
Doctors who attended to the victim reportedly said it appears that a softdrink bottle was inserted in the victim's sex organ.
A hospital staff who requested anonymity also said: "It seems a bottle of soft drink was inserted because of the severe damage to her organ. It bled profusely. It took the Ob-Gyne (doctor) some three hours to repair her damaged sex organ."
No one among the attending physicians, nurses and hospital personnel at the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Hospital wanted to issue a statement.
The mother of the suspect is the chief of the Zamboanga del Sur Integrated Provincial Health office (IPHO), and the hospital where the victim was confined is under the IPHO.
Influential family
The family of the victim is reportedly reluctant to file a complaint against the suspect because he belongs to an influential family. But Attorney Friolo Icao Jr., district chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said the family of the victim has already decided to file a formal complaint against the Ariosa scion.
The victim's elder brother (name withheld) said Wednesday that they will file charges. "We already contacted the NBI to conduct the investigation," he said.
He expressed fear for his younger sister's life as well as the entire family. "We are facing a powerful and influential family," he said.
An elder brother of the victim, a policeman from Zamboanga del Norte, is the one pursuing the filing of charges against the suspect.
"I already dispatched my agents to interview the victim at the hospital. Charges are to be filed against the suspect," Icao said. He refused to give more details.
The suspect's father is the son of the late Zamboanga del Sur governor during the Aquino administration.
The vice governor is now serving his second term. He once served as city councilor. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(August 4, 2005 issue)
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