GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 13 Aug) — Hundreds of students and faculty members of Goldenstate College here staged a prayer rally at the Freedom Park on Monday, calling for justice for three students who were raped in separate incidents.
Two of the cases allegedly involve members of the Highway Patrol Group.
The demonstrators carried placards with messages such as “Rape is a crime, not a shame” and “Protect the victims, not rapists,” as they marched through city streets in a show of solidarity.
Josie Yap, Goldenstate College’s vice president for academic affairs, said that while the perpetrators have already been arrested and charged, the school fears the cases might stall or be derailed.
“Before this [event], the perpetrators were already arrested and charged. Our worry is that the cases might not progress for whatever reason, which is why we continue to call for justice,” Yap said over Brigada News GenSan.
According to the school official, two of the victims are 17-year-old Goldenstate female students on a motorcycle who were stopped for a traffic violation in Barangay Calumpang about two weeks ago by HPG-12 personnel, then taken to another location and raped.
Col. Benito Recopuerto, chief of HPG-12, said the suspects, a master sergeant and a senior master sergeant, have been relieved from their posts and placed under restrictive custody.
“The criminal case [was] already filed by this station and then [the] administrative aspect already endorsed by my office to the IAS [Internal Affairs Service], Recopuerto said in a separate interview with GMA Regional News TV. He added that all information have also been forwarded to the HPG.
Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, Yap revealed that attempts have been made to influence the victims’ families to accept settlements and drop the cases.
Retired Gen. William M. Dangane, the school’s dean of criminology, warned that such actions could be considered obstruction of justice and vowed to take legal action against anyone who tries to interfere.
He said he would find out who is behind the move. “If you’re interfering in the case, and you’re threatening people, of course charges will be filed against you,” Dangane said.
Yap added that all three victims are currently undergoing counseling and continuing their studies through distance learning.
The rally came amid growing public concern over a pattern of sexual violence cases involving law enforcement in General Santos City.
Last January, a police master sergeant from the city police’s Traffic Enforcement Unit (TEU) was also accused of raping a 17-year-old inside his bunkhouse. (Guia Rebollido / MindaNews)
