BAGUIO CITY– One of the police officers of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) Station 3 being forcibly linked to an alleged abduction and gang rape of a 26-year old single mother in Tuding from May 23-27 vehemently denied the accusation of the victim that he was one of the seven male individuals who allegedly abducted and gang raped her, saying that the victim’s allegations are unbelievable and contrary to human experience.
In his sworn affidavit submitted before the Benguet provincial prosecutor’s office, SPO3 Alvaro Bedking Perez cited on the dates May 23, 24, 25 and 26 when the victim was allegedly gang raped, he was able render duty from 4 pm to 12 midnight, except for May 25 which fall on his day off.
He was able to support his claim by presenting various attendance sheets duly signed by his superior officers indicating his service of his duty hours with the BCPO Station No. 3.
On the victim’s allegations that she was abducted at around 5:30 pm of May 23 in Mines View and was subsequently raped by three male individuals and a police officer, he argued that he was not among the persons who allegedly abducted her because he rendered official duty from 4 pm to 12 midnight on the said date as the station’s mobile driver, asserting that he and PO3 Jesus Gajeton, , PO3 Arn Mangangey and PO1 Moises Ducusin conducted routine mobile patrol within the area of responsibility of their station at 5 pm onwards.
Aside from rendering duty on May 23, he claimed the victim was not able to identify who were the three male persons who allegedly raped her and neither did she describe what these three men look like, emphasizing that he was not the police officer named by the victim to have allegedly raped her on the said dates.
He cited there was no mention of whatsoever of him by the victim in her narration of events the day of May 24 when she was again raped by a male person with colored hair at gunpoint before proceeding to Mines view where he was handed an item by another male person.
Contrary to the victim’s allegations that she was raped by a medium built person with blond hair, the policeman cited that he was not the person being referred to because he is considered tall and that he does not spot blond hair.
While it is fact that he was on day off on May 25, he was not identified by the victim as among the individuals who were with her on the said date and that she was only able to described two male individuals none of who was the suspect.
On the occasion of alleged rape on May 26, the suspect cited that the victim was able to name the said police officer which happens not to be him.
Further, he asserted the negative results of the drug test conducted on the police officer negates the victim’s claim that her abductors smoked shabu before allegedly raping her.
He claimed the same individuals that the victim claimed to have texted her that day of May 23 and whom she met before she was made to board the gray van categorically denied her allegations.
According to him, a careful review of the victim’s allegations would reveal more questionable incidents contrary to human nature.
Likewise, he disclosed all the various allegations of the victim that she was brought in and out of the room where she was held captive and that those who allegedly raped her packed shabu inside the room were contradicted by three witnesses who also submitted their respective affidavits before the provincial prosecutor.
He questioned the victim on how she was able to know that a certain Arnel Palangdan was from Tuding when she only met her once and after stating thst she was to be brought to Arnel’s place, the place she and SPO1 Paulino Lubos, Jr., a member of the Benguet Provincial Police Office intelligence branch, now claims to be the place where the alleged gang rape transpired is in the house of a certain Kenmark Alberto Pinas, one of the suspects in the case.
He rebutted that the victim’s description of the pathway leading to the room where she was allegedly raped for six days does not conform to the actual pathway leading to the house of Kenmark, arguing that there was no showing of a stairs then a road then a stairs again which was her description of the pathway where she was made to pass everytime she was brought to and from the house where she was allegedly raped.
On the victim’s claim that she was gang raped by the seven suspects inside a room that has now window, the suspect and his other colleagues were able to present photographs that the place where the gang rape incident happened has a window.
He reiterated his earlier allegations that the victim’s accusations are purely lies because she declared her date of birth as May 26, 1989 but her certificate of live birth revealed that her date of birth was November 15, 1989.
He pointed out being raped by seven men for six consecutive days would definitely reveal injuries on the victim, especially on different parts of her body, most probably on her legs and arms and also on her genital area, however, the victim’s medico legal certificate showed that there were no evident injury on her body at the time of examination.
On the other hand, the police officer branded the allegations on the sworn affidavit of the victim’s boyfriend, Rey Amboy Sabado Soda, are mere fabrications considering that his allegation that he saw hematoma on his girlfriend’s legs was negated by the result of the medico legal certificate which clearly states ‘no evident injury at the time of examination.’
By way of additional defenses, the policeman stated that the victim’s allegations should not be given appropriate weight because she has a history of having been allegedly forced to use shabu and has been allegedly dumped into the river sometime in November 2014 in Binalonan, Pangasinan and the police report of the incident further noted that the victim was fetched after four days by her father somewhere in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
He argued his inclusion as one of the male persons who allegedly abducted and raped the victim from May 23 to 28 was just a result of the unverified and mere assumption of a fellow police officer, SPO1 Paulino Lubos, Jr and his pinpointing as one of the suspects was based on the allegations of SPO2 Lubos that he received an information that Jude Saydawan is associated with another police officer assigned at BCPO Station No. 3 who is dark colored and unevenly –toned face and with big eyes.
“Clearly stated in the aforementioned affidavit of SPO1 Lubos, Jr. is his admission that his inclusion of the undersigned in this case was merely based on an information he received. SPO1 Paulino Lubos, Jr. did not even care to elaborate as to the source of this information,” he added.
He accused SPO1 Lubos, Jr. to have mistaken the case to be similar to the usual drug cases he has usually handled during his career with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and now in the PNP where in mere information from an asset would suffice for drug law enforcers to conduct a buy bust operation.
Another BCPO Station 3 attested to the fact that the victim’s boyfriend went near SPO1 Lubos, Jr. and spoke to the latter in the Ibaloi dialect, saying that there is also another one that was the same in description like Jojo who is their co-police and thereafter SPO1 Lubos announced inside the police station that he was included in the case.
Ironically, the description of SPO1 Lubos of the suspect in his sworn affidavit does not tally with the victim’s description of one of her abductors since the description provided to SPO1 Lubos by his informant was a police officer assigned at BCPO Station No. 3 who is dark colored and with unevenly-toned face and with big eyes, but her victim’s description of one of her abductors was a dark and thin person with an unevenly-toned face and with big eyes.
He countered that there also seems to be an assumption on the part of the arresting officer that since the alleged abduction happened in Mines view and that there was a mention of a police officer that police officers of BCPO Station 3 are the ones involved in the alleged crime.
Perez claimed his arrest and identification is highly questionable and irregular because his identification as one of the perpetrators of the alleged crime was determined by none other than SPO1 Lubos, Jr. and none other than Chief Inspector Marlo Gasingan Evasco, BCPO Station 3v commander, attested to the fact that on June 1, 2015 at around 2:36 pm, he received a text message from SPO! Lubos, Jr. stating among others that the police officer will be arrested because of his involvement in the crime.
Evasco further attested that when the alleged victim came to the office of Station 3 on May 29 with SPO1 Paulino Lubos, Jr., the victim was not able to positively identify any of the police officers in the organizational chart photographs to be among those who abducted and raped her.
Moreover, Evasco attested to his utterances to SPO1 Lubos, Jr. when the latter came into his office.
BCPO Station 3 personnel attested to the fact that the identification of the suspect during the lineup was questionable and was prompted by the actuations of SPO2 Lubos, Jr. who had been reportedly issuing threatening words against some of them inside the office prior to the lineup.
During the lineup, two lady police officers observed that the victim kept testing using her cellphone and that she did not positively identify Perez as one of the suspects and instead, she continued texting and it was only when SPO1 Lubos, Jr. went near and stood in front of Perez during the lineup that she stopped texting and suddenly hesitantly pointing to him, saying that her uncle Junior knows it referring to SPO1 Lobs, Jr.
The lady police officers further observed that the victim and SPO1 Lubos, Jr. were both busy texting and while texting, SPO1 Lubos, Jr. suddenly went near Perez and stood in front of him.
Even during the clarificatory investigation conducted before the investigating prosecutor, Perez asserted that it was SPO1 Lubos, Jr. who informed the investigating prosecutor that he was positively identified by the victim and that he even answered under oath the question of the prosecutor.
He alleged that the admission of SPO2 Lubos, Jr to the prosecutor is contrary to the affidavit of arrest where he also stated that “I then asked PO1 Tongacan and she replied that it was that person who was wearing maong jacket who happened to be SPO3 Alvaro Perez.”
Perez explained clearly, it was not from the victim that SPO2 Lubos, Jr. confirmed his identification and none other that his colleagues speak of his integrity and good moral character.
Perez therefore prayed to the prosecutor to dismiss the complaint of abduction and rape against him for lack of merit and that he also prayed for such other reliefs just and equitable under the premises.
By Dexter A. See
