Angry Arroyo eyes death penalty revival
By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer Northern Luzon
First Posted 01:21:00 07/21/2009
Filed Under: Crime and Law and Justice, Rape, Illegal drugs, Punishment
MANILA, Philippines—An outraged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Monday threw her full support behind antinarcotics authorities after members of a drug syndicate purportedly abducted and raped a government agent’s daughter at the weekend.
“The President is very upset,” Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesperson, said in Filipino. “Our agents should not be demoralized because no less than President Arroyo is behind them.”
The reported attack on the girl, a minor, appeared to have so incensed Ms Arroyo that Malacañang said it would look into proposals to revive the death penalty, specifically for drug traffickers.
In 2006, Ms Arroyo backed the abolition of capital punishment in the Philippines.
Fajardo said the Palace also wanted to know if politicians connected with drug syndicates had a hand in the attack on the girl.
“If we find out that there are politicians involved, we will not spare them however high their position of influence may be,” Fajardo said.
‘This is war’
A senior government official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer the other day that the girl went missing on Saturday night and was recovered the following day at 6 a.m. near a military facility in Luzon.
The official said the girl was abducted, drugged and sexually abused, and that she was in shock in a hospital.
Hours after the official spoke to the Inquirer, Malacañang said Ms Arroyo had been informed of the attack and that government forces were being mobilized to help the girl and her family.
“This is now a war on drugs,” the Palace said.
The senior official told the Inquirer that law enforcers were looking into the possibility that a drug syndicate “well-connected politically” perpetrated the crime.
The official also said a gang “might have taken a fancy to the girl but that is speculative.”
Fajardo said Ms Arroyo, who appointed herself the country’s “anti-drug czar” in January, had instructed authorities to provide additional security for the girl and her entire family, if needed.
Different version
Fajardo said the Palace was still awaiting an official report from law enforcers on whether the girl was attacked in connection with her father’s efforts against drug syndicates.
Fajardo said Malacañang was also worried about the larger problem of narco-politics, particularly about the “possibility” of drug money being used in the 2010 national and local elections.
“We have to do something about this,” she said. “The President is very serious in combating this [menace].”
The Cordillera regional police gave a different version of the incident that supposedly happened in Baguio City.
Chief Supt. Orlando Pestaño, Cordillera police director, said they had questioned a male teenager in Baguio and the boy told investigators there was no truth to reports about the girl being abducted and raped.
The boy gave information that “was totally different from the report that reached Malacañang,” Pestaño said in a telephone interview.
“I received a call on Saturday ... informing us that the girl was missing. She had attended [Saturday classes] and was dismissed at 3 p.m.,” Pestaño said.
“An hour later, I received another telephone call reporting that she was finally recovered,” he said.
Medical examination
A medical examination conducted by Dr. Maris Sheila Bueno-Luyun also showed that the girl was “negative for sperm identification,” Pestaño said, declining to identify the girl.
Citing a police report, he said the girl attended her classes on Saturday and that this was corroborated by school officials.
“She was dismissed at [3 p.m.] and went missing. She was found an hour later walking along a bridge in one of the barangays (villages) of Baguio City by four boys,” Pestaño said.
The girl was in her school uniform when she was found, Pestaño said.
“The report said she was tipsy … wet all over and chilling due to the weather,” he said. He said the boys saw the girl’s address in her school identification card.
He said the boys told the police that the girl at first refused to go home, but that the boys—whom Pestaño also did not identify—got a taxi cab and took her home.
Drinking spree
Pestaño said the girl asked that she be dropped near the gate of her house and that she did not want to return home.
“Ayoko umuwi, papatayin ako ng Papa ko. Doon ako matutulog kay ‘Bblack’ (I don’t want to go home, my father would kill me. I will sleep over at Bblack’s),” Pestaño quoted the girl as saying.
The police report identified “Bblack” as the girl’s classmate.
Pestaño said the boy who gave a different version of the incident was questioned by the police because he was supposedly involved in a drinking spree with the girl.
“We are just piecing together that one hour when she was supposedly missing. I don’t know how the rape theory arose and I don’t want to address that. We work with facts here,” Pestaño said.
He said the girl’s mother took her to a local hospital at about 8 p.m. Saturday and that the girl’s parents had asked the Baguio and Cordillera police to keep the incident confidential.
At a press conference later, Pestaño confirmed that Malacañang had ordered the Cordillera police to prioritize their investigation of the incident.
He said Malacañang’s concern was relayed to him by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde but “the Palace did not explain why it was alarmed by this particular case.” With reports from Delmar Cariño, Vincent Cabreza and Elmer Kristian Dauigoy, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer Northern Luzon
First Posted 01:21:00 07/21/2009
Filed Under: Crime and Law and Justice, Rape, Illegal drugs, Punishment
MANILA, Philippines—An outraged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Monday threw her full support behind antinarcotics authorities after members of a drug syndicate purportedly abducted and raped a government agent’s daughter at the weekend.
“The President is very upset,” Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesperson, said in Filipino. “Our agents should not be demoralized because no less than President Arroyo is behind them.”
The reported attack on the girl, a minor, appeared to have so incensed Ms Arroyo that Malacañang said it would look into proposals to revive the death penalty, specifically for drug traffickers.
In 2006, Ms Arroyo backed the abolition of capital punishment in the Philippines.
Fajardo said the Palace also wanted to know if politicians connected with drug syndicates had a hand in the attack on the girl.
“If we find out that there are politicians involved, we will not spare them however high their position of influence may be,” Fajardo said.
‘This is war’
A senior government official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer the other day that the girl went missing on Saturday night and was recovered the following day at 6 a.m. near a military facility in Luzon.
The official said the girl was abducted, drugged and sexually abused, and that she was in shock in a hospital.
Hours after the official spoke to the Inquirer, Malacañang said Ms Arroyo had been informed of the attack and that government forces were being mobilized to help the girl and her family.
“This is now a war on drugs,” the Palace said.
The senior official told the Inquirer that law enforcers were looking into the possibility that a drug syndicate “well-connected politically” perpetrated the crime.
The official also said a gang “might have taken a fancy to the girl but that is speculative.”
Fajardo said Ms Arroyo, who appointed herself the country’s “anti-drug czar” in January, had instructed authorities to provide additional security for the girl and her entire family, if needed.
Different version
Fajardo said the Palace was still awaiting an official report from law enforcers on whether the girl was attacked in connection with her father’s efforts against drug syndicates.
Fajardo said Malacañang was also worried about the larger problem of narco-politics, particularly about the “possibility” of drug money being used in the 2010 national and local elections.
“We have to do something about this,” she said. “The President is very serious in combating this [menace].”
The Cordillera regional police gave a different version of the incident that supposedly happened in Baguio City.
Chief Supt. Orlando Pestaño, Cordillera police director, said they had questioned a male teenager in Baguio and the boy told investigators there was no truth to reports about the girl being abducted and raped.
The boy gave information that “was totally different from the report that reached Malacañang,” Pestaño said in a telephone interview.
“I received a call on Saturday ... informing us that the girl was missing. She had attended [Saturday classes] and was dismissed at 3 p.m.,” Pestaño said.
“An hour later, I received another telephone call reporting that she was finally recovered,” he said.
Medical examination
A medical examination conducted by Dr. Maris Sheila Bueno-Luyun also showed that the girl was “negative for sperm identification,” Pestaño said, declining to identify the girl.
Citing a police report, he said the girl attended her classes on Saturday and that this was corroborated by school officials.
“She was dismissed at [3 p.m.] and went missing. She was found an hour later walking along a bridge in one of the barangays (villages) of Baguio City by four boys,” Pestaño said.
The girl was in her school uniform when she was found, Pestaño said.
“The report said she was tipsy … wet all over and chilling due to the weather,” he said. He said the boys saw the girl’s address in her school identification card.
He said the boys told the police that the girl at first refused to go home, but that the boys—whom Pestaño also did not identify—got a taxi cab and took her home.
Drinking spree
Pestaño said the girl asked that she be dropped near the gate of her house and that she did not want to return home.
“Ayoko umuwi, papatayin ako ng Papa ko. Doon ako matutulog kay ‘Bblack’ (I don’t want to go home, my father would kill me. I will sleep over at Bblack’s),” Pestaño quoted the girl as saying.
The police report identified “Bblack” as the girl’s classmate.
Pestaño said the boy who gave a different version of the incident was questioned by the police because he was supposedly involved in a drinking spree with the girl.
“We are just piecing together that one hour when she was supposedly missing. I don’t know how the rape theory arose and I don’t want to address that. We work with facts here,” Pestaño said.
He said the girl’s mother took her to a local hospital at about 8 p.m. Saturday and that the girl’s parents had asked the Baguio and Cordillera police to keep the incident confidential.
At a press conference later, Pestaño confirmed that Malacañang had ordered the Cordillera police to prioritize their investigation of the incident.
He said Malacañang’s concern was relayed to him by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde but “the Palace did not explain why it was alarmed by this particular case.” With reports from Delmar Cariño, Vincent Cabreza and Elmer Kristian Dauigoy, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
