LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – One of the five civilians linked to the alleged abduction and gang rape of a 26-year old single mother in a house in Tuding, Itogon town vehemently denied his involvement in the obviously fabricated crime and claimed ‘we are not that stupid that after we have sexually abused her for several times and detained her for about six days, we just released her after instructing her to get her things and go back to the place where we detained her.”
In his 6-pagesworn affidavit, Jude Samson Saydawan, a native of Binanga, Tuding, Itogon, Benguet, one of the four suspects named in the celebrated abduction and gang rape case, cited the victim’s allegations against them are purely ridiculous and absurd, and contrary to human behavior and experience as he adopted most of the contentions of his co-accused being material to their overall defense of their case.
Furthermore, he pointed out the victim’s allegations and the statements of her own witnesses are baseless, concocted, absurd, distorted, malicious and fabricated stories, saying that the victim’s sowrn statement would readily show that there was no forcible abduction and rape that transpired.
Saydawan, who has two children and engaged in the ordinary buy and sell of second hand vehicles, disclosed that in the morning of May 23, he was at their house and then he brought her wife to Mines View Park to attend to her grocery.
At around 3 pm of the same day, he reportedly went to Wright Park, Pacdal, BaBaguio City purposely to meet a client, Marvin Cayatoc, a businessman who has more than 20 horses for hire at the park, who was to give an advance payment of a second hand vehicle which he previously sold to him.
Upon arrival in Cayatoc’s place, he revealed Cayatoc reportedly handed to him the amount of P130,000 for the second hand vehicle which he was going to buy from him, after which, he stayed in the place until 6 pm of the same day, May 23, together with several bystanders and friends of Cayatoc and even partook of two bottles of gin while exchanging some pleasantries.
At past 6 pm of the same day, Saydawan asked permission from Cayatoc and his friends that he will go ahead as he was to fetch his wife at her grocery in Mines View Park and while waiting for the closing time of his wife’s grocery, he played at the mahjong area nearby up to 7:30 pm.
In the morning of May 24, he again brought his wife to her grocery after spending the night in their house and he was able to receive a text message from a certain Paul Marcos, Jr. at around 9 am asking him if he could help in the repair of a pickup owned by a certain Darwin Feliciano, of which he agreed.
The suspect then proceeded to where the vehicle was, which was along the road at Binanga, and he was able to meet Marcos and the vehicle owner and subsequently repaired the vehicle.
He narrated at around 11 am of May 24, while he and Marcos were repairing the said vehicle, Christopher Tamayo, passed by and stopped to help and they all continued fixing the vehicle until 5 pm that day when they decided to retire.
The suspect and Marcos then proceed to Mines View Park using his vehicle to fetch his wife but stayed in the mahjong place until 8 pm that evening while waiting for his wife to be dismissed from work.
On May 25, from 8 am to 5 pm, he was again with Marcos and Tamayo continuing to fix the pickup truck and at past 5 pm, he left the duo and went home to prepare dinner considering that it was his daughter’s birthday.
On May 26, Saydawan stayed home and at 1 pm, he went to Mines View purposely to help his wife in her grocery and to accompany her in going home in the evening.
On May 27, he accompanied his wife in going to her grocery at Mines view Park and stated in the establishment the whole morning before again deciding to play mahjong nearby for the whole afternoon until they went home after his wife retired from work that day.
On May 28, he accompanied his wife to Hilltop to buy some goods before the couple proceeded to their grocery and stayed there the whole afternoon of the same day up to the grocery’s closing time of 7:30 and then proceeded home.
After doing errands for his wife on May 29, he proceeded to Tuding where he was supposed to meet a certain Randy Boy Tamayo who was dealing him a second hand pickup of which he was interested to buy.
When he was at Tuding at around 10 am of the same day, he met Paul Marcos along the Tuding main road, and he joined him looking at a taxi that fell into the ravine.
At that point, he was caught by surprise when a guy stood beside him and poked a gun at him and that the said armed individual was later identified as SPO2 Paulino Abance Lubos, Jr., a member of the PNP intelligence branch, with another man who was identified as SPO3 Patricio Eswag, while their companion whom he later knew to be a certain Jomar Aganon, an asset of SPO1 Lubos, Jr., was already at the driver’s seat of his gray Tamaraw FX, and SPO1 Lubos, Jr. forced them to board his own vehicle.
According to him, SPO1 Lubos, Jr. instructed Marcos to sit in front beside the driver, while he sat on the back passenger’s seat.
While his vehicle which was commandeered by Aganon, the asset of SPO1Lubos, Jr. was going down the main Tuding road, Saydawan kept on asking the police officer if what was his fault and SPO1 Lubos, Jr. pointed his gun to him and said it’s rape.
Upon reaching the Tuding police station, Saydawan narrated that he handed his money to Marcos for safekeeping which he was supposed to use in buying the second hand vehicle from Tamayo amounting to around P98,500 but the driver, who happens to be the asset of Lubos, grabbed the money from Marcos even as he was explaining that the money was for the payment of the vehicle which he was about to buy.
At that point, SPO1 Lubos, Jr. ordered Marcos to just give the money to the driver and which he acceded.
When he was about to alight from his vehicle upon reaching the police station, Saydawan revealed SPO1 Lubos, Jr. reportedly got his wallet containing around P27,000 and other personal belongings and his mobile phone and when he proceeded to the Tuding police station for safety, SPO1 Lubos, Jr. followed him and grabbed him in order for him to board another vehicle, a white Adventure and proceeded to Mines View Park.
While at Mine View Park, he claimed SPO1 Lubos, Jr. alighted from the vehicle, and boarded a green owner-type jeep and stayed there for more than an hour, after which, the police officer returned to their vehicle, and just said to him that he was the one of which he actually did not understand what he was saying, more so, that he did not understand what was going on.
The suspect averred that they then proceeded to the Baguio General Hospital (BGH) for medical checkup and stayed at the BGH parking area for about four hours, before he was brought to the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) Station No. 3, then to the Itogon police station.
While at the Itogon police station, Saydawan demanded that his money which was taken by SPO1 Lubos, Jr. and his companion totaling to P125,500 be returned but to his surprise, only around P2000 was returned, together with his cellphone, the remaining balance was still with the police officer and his companions and up to this time, his money has yet to be fully returned.
He asserted the victim’s allegations of forcible abduction with rape is ‘too good to be true, as the allegations therein are contrary to ordinary human nature and experience,’ since her statement was crafted and orchestrated as a grand design and conspiracy purposely to extort money from him and from the other respondents.
“The truth is that there was no forcible abduction with rape as pictured out by the victim in her statement,” Saydawan stressed.
He emphasized that he had not known nighters that he met nor that he had seen the victim’s face and that the victim’s statement was taken at around 5:30 pm of May 29 after he was illegally apprehended by the group of SPO2 Lubos, Jr. in the same morning, citing that her mind was already pre-conditioned by her supposed boyfriend known as alias Amboy and SPO2 Lubos, Jr. to mention him in her statement and made him part of her orchestrated story.
Moreover, a certain Arnel Palangdan, whom the victim likewise mentioned in her statement has vehemently denied the allegations in the complaint, as he only came to know of her only in the morning of May 28 contrary to her allegations of the complainant.
Saydawan emphasized the straight-forward statement of Palangdan would support the fact that her allegations are mere fabrications.
Saydawan argued there is no truth to the victim’s allegations that she was abducted on May 23 and was only released on May 28 as there were several people who have seen her on May 24 at Gail’s mini mart at Purok 5, Mines View Park.
Three eye witnesses were categorical in stating that they saw the victim in the mini mart in the afternoon of May 24 so how could she claim that she was abducted on May 23 to May 28.
He lamented the victim’s allegations trying to picture them as drug users contrary to the results of the medical tests that turned out to be negative for drug use, especially on the drug test done on him and other suspects.
Moreover, Saydawan cited the victim has the propensity of concocting and fabricating stories when she was the one actually involved in the use of shabu pursuant to available police reports.
He rebutted that the victim’s boyfriend tried to make it appear that he did the barbaric thing to his girlfriend because of a previous quarrel he had with him and such allegation is baseless, as the said misunderstanding was already settled in the barangay.
He countered that the information regarding his personal circumstances was not actually from the victim herself but supplied by her boyfriend and SPO1 Lubos, Jr. after he was illegally arrested and moreover, during the time that the victim was allegedly abducted at around 4:30 pm of May 23, he was with the company of friends at Wright park so he was not one of the abductors.
He branded the victim’s allegations that he raped her on May 24 at gunpoint is more imaginary than real because she portrayed herself to be totally helpless, hence, why would he threaten her with a gun before he would actually rape her and he could just have raped her at will and that the same is just part of the grand design of the victim of fabricating stories.
Saydawan prayed for the outright dismissal of the cases filed against them before the provincial prosecutor’s office considering that the victim’s allegations are mere products of the mind and not real happenings based on the pieces of evidence he submitted.
