Ex-CAFGU man gets 40 years for rape

A former member of the Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Unit who worked as a security guard for a cement factory in Naga was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of rape more than six years ago.

Regional Trial Court judge Olegario Sarmiento sentenced Ireneo Ganzan, 48, to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and pay the 19 year-old victim P80,000 civil and moral damages.

Ganzan worked as security guard of Apo Cement Corporation but was detailed as a mountaineer to watch over the quarry site of the factory from illegal activities when the alleged rape happened in February 2001 in barangay Tinaan, Naga.

The victim positively identified Ganzan as the person who introduced himself as a member of the New People’s Army from Bohol and the one who raped her.

The victim said she and her friend attended a disco party as it was their barangay’s fiesta. On their way home, Ganzan waylaid them, poked a gun and ordered her and her friend to stay in the dark.

While in the dark, the accused asked them several questions and were even ordered to strip off their clothes to see if they have tattoos on their body.

The victim said that her friend was ordered by Ganzan to buy barbeque and cigarette leaving her behind. She said she was then dragged by the accused to the vicinity of the cement factory where he raped her.

Ganzan allegedly threatened to kill her and her family if she reported the incident to the police. Upon trial, Ganzan denied the charges saying he was sleeping in the bunkhouse about four kilometers away from the crime scene when the alleged rape happened.

But the court dismissed his alibi in favor of the positive identification by the victim and her friend.

“It is recognized that the defense of alibi is the weakest of all the defenses as it may easily be concocted,” Sarmiento ruled.

The court said that for the defense of alibi to stand against positive identification, it must be shown that the place of the incident is far enough that it would be impossible for the accused to be at the place of the incident when it happened. – Fred P. Languido/QSB