Suspect in Feliciano rape-slay identified?

The Parañaque City police are closing in on the group of men responsible for the rape-slay of a pretty 21-year-old female coed graduate of the De La Salle University whose brutalized body was found dumped along the banks of a Parañaque City creek Sunday morning.

Inspector Edgardo Ariate, Parañaque police investigation chief, said they are now watching the movements of a Parañaque resident who closely resembles the cartographic sketch of one of the four suspects.

Ariate, who declined to identify the suspect pending follow-up operations, said the cartographic sketch was based on the description of Janet Balis, whom the suspects also tried to abduct early Monday before dawn.

The naked and hog-tied body of Claudine Mabel Feliciano was found dumped in a creek inside San Antonio Village 3, in Parañaque Sunday morning.

Feliciano came from her friend’s house, Myra Dacanay, in Ayala, Alabang and was believed to be driving her black Mazda sedan on her way home when she was abducted. She left Dacanay’s house at around 11 p.m. Saturday.

At around 3 a.m. Monday, Balis was waiting for a ride along Sucat Road, near the Multinational Village gate, from her work at a fastfood restaurant when Feliciano’s black Mazda with plate number URN-855 stopped near her and one of the four men onboard tried to drag her inside.

The abduction attempt was aborted when Balis screamed for help and alerted bystanders, who responded, alarming her abductors, who sped off. However, her handbag was taken by the suspects who tried to pull her inside the car.

The Makati police found Feliciano’s car abandoned along Lapu-Lapu street in Magallanes Village, Makati City last Tuesday morning.

Sources at the Parañaque police said nothing valuable was taken from the car. Recovered from the vehicle were personal belongings of Balis but her handbag was gone.

Police noted that robbery was not a motive of the would-be abductors. However, they suspect that Feliciano’s killers may have been high on drugs as they noted several empty bottles of mineral water were seen inside the abandoned car.

Police sources said that persons "high" on drugs experience deep thirst. The sources said the abductors may also have been on a "kidnap-for-rape" spree last weekend.

The abductors, police believe, were likely well-off persons since they showed knowledge and access to exclusive enclaves in the Makati-Parañaque-Muntinlupa area. – Rainier Allan Ronda