A 24-YEAR-OLD man was arrested Monday, May 23, 2022, for allegedly raping a minor in Barangay Daanglungsod, Alcoy, southern Cebu in 2018.

Senior Master Sergeant Jonalyn Entrina, investigating officer and chief of the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD), identified the suspect as Reymart Tano, a resident of Barangay Daanglungsod, Alcoy.

The suspect is one of the top three most wanted persons in municipal level and had been hiding in his relatives in Barangay Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental for four years.

Lieutenant Ramuel Banogon said Tano was one of the three suspects who allegedly raped the minor, who was 15 years old when the incident happened.

The victim had undergone counselling after the incident.

The two other suspects were arrested on August 3, 2018.

Banogon said Tano was nabbed around 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 23, in his house in Alcoy.

Tano told SunStar Cebu that around 4 p.m. of April 1, 2018, he and his friends had a drinking session with the minor victim and her female friend.

He recalled that they were drunk at that time, then the female friend of the minor victim left.

He added that around 6 p.m., he also went home.

He said he could not do such crime, as he and the minor victim were friends and he treated her like his own sister.

"Wala gyud ko ana nagbuhat. Di na nako mabuhat niya. Wala ko kahibalo ngano giapil ko niya nga ako pa gani ni ingon niya nga pauli na kay hubog naka," he said.

Tano said the minor victim included him as one of the suspects, because she thought that he knew that the incident was all planned.

Judge Francis Rainier Navarrete of Regional Trial Court 7 Branch 26, Argao, Cebu issued the warrant for Tano’s arrest on July 24, 2018.

Tano is currently detained at Alcoy Municipal Police Station. (GDC)