Marikina police chief axed as policewoman cries rape vs 2 cops
The highest-ranking Marikina police official has been relieved of his post for possible negligence after two of the city’s policemen were accused of raping a policewoman.
“We administratively relieved the chief of police of Marikina [to give way to] the pending investigation,” Eastern Police District (EPD) director Brig. Gen. Aden Lagradante said at a press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.
“When we say he is under investigation, we will investigate if the chief of police is remiss in his function or of his duties in overseeing his personnel,” said Lagradante who, as EPD chief, has jurisdiction over the police chiefs of the cities of Marikina, Mandaluyong, Pasig and San Juan.
He did not mention the name of the Marikina police chief, Col. Geoffrey Fernandez, who assumed his post only on June 15 this year, based on a post on the Eastern Police District National Capital Region Police Office Facebook page.
Superior also relieved
Lagradante said the commander of the substation the two policemen were assigned to, plus the suspects themselves, had also been relieved administratively. He did not identify the three law enforcers either.
The alleged rape occurred on Aug. 17 inside a police patrol car that was parked on a jogging lane in Libis, Barangay Santo Niño, Marikina City.
According to a police report obtained by the Inquirer, the police officers with the ranks of patrolman and staff sergeant invited their female colleague, also a patrolman, to have coffee at a nearby convenience store.
She went with them to the store but did not alight from the police car. She also refused to drink coffee, saying she wanted to be able to sleep later, the report said.
When the policemen returned to the car, they drove off and parked it on the dimly lit jogging lane and told their female colleague they had actually bought liquor instead of coffee. Based on the police report, they forced her to drink it, saying they would leave her behind if she refused.
Afterward, the two of them joined her in the back of the police car and raped her.
Since then, they have been relieved of their posts, stripped of their firearms and turned over to the Marikina City police’s personnel holding and accounting unit, according to the report.
The pair is under investigation for acts of lasciviousness and violation of Republic Act No. 8353, or the Anti-Rape Law.
Pasay case update
Also on Monday, the Philippine National Police gave an update on the robbery-rape case in Pasay City, in which two suspects robbed 13 massage therapists and raped two of them on Aug. 29.
“That thing is being investigated. We have a breakthrough in that investigation with the taking into custody of one of the suspects in that case,” acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said at a press briefing at Camp Crame.
A police investigative report obtained by the Inquirer identified the suspects as “Ashley” and “Jared,” both 23-year-old males.
A source who spoke under the condition of anonymity said that Jared surrendered to authorities in Albay on Monday morning. He was in the province for a billiards tournament.
On the other hand, the police continue to search for Ashley.
A police report said the two male suspects entered the massage therapy establishment in Pasay City, ordered the victims to lie face down, and took their cellphones and P119,000 in cash.
According to a separate police report from the Southern Police District, the youngest of the victims was 20 years old, while the eldest was 33.
The two rape victims were both aged 22.
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