OPERATIVES of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Cebu City Field Unit arrested a man wanted for rape in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City on September 20, 2022.
They identified the accused as Mario Baquelta, also known as Mario Makosado Baquilta, a 29-year-old resident of Barangay Jugan in the northern town of Consolacion, Cebu.
Lieutenant Colonel Hector Amancia led the operation along with members of the Cebu City Mobile Force Company.
They were armed with a “no-bail” warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso in Cebu City on March 6 for six counts of rape against Baquelta.
According to Amancia, they launched a “social media exploitation” for two weeks to locate the whereabouts of the accused. Once they found him, they set up a meeting in Barangay Carreta, where he was eventually taken into custody.
Baquelta allegedly tried to escape when he realized he was dealing with police, but they had him surrounded.
Baquelta is accused of raping a 25-year-old woman six times in 2019. The victim worked with his wife as a housemaid in Maria Luisa Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City where the incidents allegedly happened.
The victim reported the sexual abuses to the Mabolo Police Station, which filed a case against Baquelta in court.
Baquelta initially confessed to the crimes, saying he was drunk when it happened. But when he found out that cases had been filed against him, he fled to his birthplace of Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, where he lived for a couple of years. (AYB)