Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tiñga yesterday ordered the local police to launch a massive manhunt against two suspects who allegedly robbed, molested and raped a 19-year-old woman in front of her boyfriend in Barangay Wawa in Taguig City Sunday night.
“The suspects must be arrested immediately and be dealt with the full force of the law. Their arrests should serve as a warning to other offenders that we do not tolerate such violence and immorality in our city,” Tiñga said.
Victim Marjen Saberola, a resident of Morning Sun Subdivision in Barangay Hagonoy, positively identified the two suspects as Paterno Nilo, Jr. and Joel Clemente, both residents of Taguig City, who alternately abused and raped her in a dark, open area near the DMCI dumpsite along Access Road in Barangay Wawa.
Initial investigation showed that Saberola and her live-in partner Jeffrey Almajose, a resident of G. Tuazon in Manila, were on their way to a gas station Sunday night at about 9 p.m. aboard a Hyundai van (RBM-180), when the suspects stopped them on their tracks.
Police Officer 2 Fretsie Cobardo of the Taguig Police Investigation Division said Saberola, who apparently knew the suspects as acquaintances, asked Almajose to stop.
The suspects then ordered Almajose to alight the van, and then declared the holdup.
When the suspects retrieved only P200, they ordered the victims to undress and tied Almajose by the van’s side mirror with their dresses. Armed with ice pick and a fan knife, the suspects then took turns in raping Saberola. After the incident, the suspects casually walked away and left the victim. – Rhodina Villanueva
The police on Monday conducted a follow-up operation on the suspects’ residence but failed to arrest them. The suspects, who remain at large, have already been charged with robbery, rape and frustrated homicide by the police.