DSWD still searching for 4 rape victims in Malaysia

Authorities are still searching for the four Filipino women who had allegedly been sexually abused in a jail in Sabah before being deported to Tawi-Tawi.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman said social workers had a hard time screening the more than 900 deportees who arrived from Sabah yesterday.

Soliman said the information about the four alleged victims of sexual abuse by Malaysian jail guards had come from one Mary Grace Santos who had arrived with a previous batch of deportees.

Soliman said it would be difficult to investigate the allegations of Santos if they cannot locate the alleged victims who could confirm the rape.

Soliman said the deportees will be immediately processed at four centers in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga City so they could be sent back to their home provinces.

Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been sent to Sabah to inform some 80,000 to 100,000 Filipinos to secure papers to legalize their stay in that territory, Soliman added.

Meanwhile, three Malaysian police officials will arrive on Sept. 25 to interview a 13-year-old who has accused three Malaysian jail guards of raping her in a detention center in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said he had received the information from Malaysian Ambassador to Manila Mohammed Taufik.

"They will be interviewing the 13-year-old (rape victim) and other claims of maltreatment," he said. "They will be accompanied (by Philippine National Police officials) to Zamboanga City and will be given access to the victims."

Perez said he did not discuss with Mohammed the merits of the case because their talk was limited to "procedures" and the arrival of the police officials and their stay in the country.

"We discussed only the procedural aspects," he said. "Legal issues will be handled by advocates and solicitors."

The three police officials are Assistant Commissioner of Police Takbir Ahmad bin Nazir, investigating officer Yahaya bin Ramli, and Chief Inspector Nurul Huda bte Mohd Salleh, he added.

Perez said the Malaysians can also send medical experts to examine the girl.

"If they want, they can also send their medico-legal officers here, we welcome that," he said. "We want to show that we are not hiding anything." –Rainier Allan Ronda, Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin