“People out there must be told about the
self-loathing that follows rape and how it's the greatest breakage in divine
law to mutilate themselves, as I have done.” Tori Amos
By Alex P. Vidal
OF the 12 members of
the Himamaylan city council in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, nine are
males and three are females.
Their presiding
officer is a woman, Vice Mayor Carminia G. Bascon.
One of the nine male
city councilors has been accused of rape by Rosalie (not her real name), a
16-year-old housemaid.
He will be formally
charged on September 1, according to Himamaylan city police chief,
Superintendent
Antonieto Cañete.
The city councilor was
not immediately named in the news “pending the formal filing of case against
him” thus there was a guessing game that followed when the report spread in
mass media.
He reportedly owns the
hacienda where Rosalie and her mother and sister used to live.
The repeated rapes
allegedly happened for almost two years when the victim and her family were still
staying in the suspect’s hacienda.
MOTHER
Rosalie had informed
her mother about the sexual molestation but they were afraid to tell the
police for fear of eviction, if not reprisal.
They were powerless
and paupers. They had no one to turn to.
Rosalie’s father died
years ago and only her mother was looking after her.
The suspect allegedly
sexually molested Rosalie on several occasions in separate places –in the
motel, inside his car, inside his house.
People in Himamaylan
City already know who the suspect is. The problem, our sources said, is nobody
is gutsy enough to mention his name in the media.
Once he will be
formally charged, his name will finally surface—whether he likes it or not.
Once formal charges
have been filed against the city councilor, he would be forced to defend
himself in media or “in the proper forum” and that is the court.
We hope there would be
no whitewash in the investigation.
We hope the family
will pursue the case and won’t backtrack when push comes to shove.
INVOLVED
Once a complaint has
been officially filed and the involved characters are prominent personalities,
media attention has always been full and constant.
We have heard of similar
cases in the past where the complaints only ended up being thrown in the waste basket
because the suspects and the victims’ families “amicably” settled the cases in
the prosecutor’s office.
Sometimes the cases
did not reach the first base as they were “settled” in the police station with
the lawyers from both parties, some cops, witnesses, middle men, atbp. ending up
with fat wallets and smiling from ear to ear.
Since Rosalie is a
minor, she would need the support of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD).
The suspect, except if
he was not framed up or a victim of political harassment (in this case it’s
impossible for a 16-year-old girl to allow herself to be used as a tool to
harass a politician at the expense of her and her family’s reputation), will
never take the case lightly.
He can’t afford to let
the case prosper and suffer the consequences in his personal life and political
career.
A rape accused,
especially if he is a celebrity or well-known in his place, can never win in
public opinion.
ODDS
The odds are always
stacked against him especially if the victim is a poor girl and does not have power
and connections.
He will always move
heaven and earth to resolve the case or settle the complaint in whatever means.
Rape is punishable by
reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, and is no peanuts once it reaches the
trial court.
Once the case has been
blown up in proportions in the media, the suspect will never be the same again.
It will be the start
of his political career’s gradual demise if he will not end up behind bars.
Who among these male
city councilors is the suspect in the rape case?
Aly B. Tongson, Jr., Gerardo
G. Gamposilao, Harry C. Sian, Larry C. Badajos, Martin Florencio R. Villafranca,
Raymuundo S. Lozada, Ricky T. Genova, Rolando V. Da-anoy, Timothy Augustine G.
Yulo.
Or none of the above?
