A TUGBOAT captain was arrested on Sunday dawn, Oct. 2, 2022, after he was caught in the act of bringing a 16-year-old girl to a motel on Mantawi Drive, Barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City.
Macarlito Culanag, 54, a resident of Barangay Canlumacad, Santander town in southern Cebu, was arrested during an entrapment operation conducted by operatives of the Subangdaku Police Station.
Cunalag was arrested just as he was about to check in at a drive-by inn with Tanya (real name withheld).
Maj. Romeo Caacoy Jr., chief of the Subangdaku Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that they conducted the operation after Tanya filed a complaint before their office against Cunalag.
Tanya claimed that Cunalag reportedly uploaded their sex video on social media just after their first meeting at a bar in the same barangay.
According to Tanya, Cunalag brought her to a motel after having drinks in a nearby bar. It was at that motel that they had their first sexual encounter.
Tanya said Cunalag took videos of their sexual encounter, which was later shared by the suspect on social media on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
“The suspect (Cunalag) took videos while having sex with the victim. On one of the videos, it is shown that the victim (Tanya) attempted to stop the suspect’s advances. But because she was drunk at that time, the victim eventually had sex with the suspect,” Caacoy said in Cebuano.
Caacoy said they immediately conducted an entrapment operation after Cunalag chatted with Tanya with his plan to have sex with her again.
Denial
In an interview with SunStar Cebu, Culanag denied raping Tanya, adding that their previous sexual encounter was consensual.
He said the girl had agreed to go with him to a motel for a fee of P2,500.
Culanag added that a gay pimp allegedly introduced Tanya to him through Facebook.
He then contacted the girl through Facebook Messenger and they agreed to see each other.
The pimp allegedly asked P3,000 from him, which already included the girl’s service fee.
Caacoy said the personnel from their station’s Women and Children’s Protection Desk is already preparing charges to file against Culanag.
Culanag will be facing charges for violating of Republic (RA) Act 7610 (anti-child abuse law), RA 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997) in relation to RA 7610, and RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012). (TPT)