Raped nurse not yet ready to face probers - docs

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The 21-year-old volunteer nurse who was raped in South Upi, Maguindanao last Sept. 25 is not yet fit to face investigators to help identify her attackers, her doctors said.

“Possibly in a few weeks or so. But not right now... she is just not that well yet,” Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) executive director Leopoldo Vega told The STAR.

Vega said the victim could not be subjected to questioning yet as she might be traumatized again.

Vega said the victim has so far shown improvements in her motor skills, as she is now able to move parts of her body.

The victim suffered paralysis on the right part of her body due to head injuries she suffered during the attack.

“She has also improved a bit in her speech. She could already finish two to three sentences,” Vega said.

Vega added though that the victim still suffers from lapses in her memory, preventing her from facing investigators.  

“It would depend on the advice of the psychiatrist when she could meet other people because right now she is in a very cautious situation that she has to receive the pertinent treatment first,” Vega said.

Investigators are still clueless on who could really be her attackers. Authorities released at least six suspects after they were earlier cleared of alleged involvement in the gang rape.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is also waiting for the victim to recover to get her statement.

“We are still waiting for the go-signal of the doctor before we could take her statement. Hopefully, she recovers soon,” said NBI acting assistant regional director Arnel Dalumpines in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

In the absence of the victim’s testimony, Dalumpines said the NBI has to gather both testimonial and forensic evidence to build up the case.

He said the NBI is expanding its probe and not limiting it to the vice mayor of South Upi town or any particular person. “We are looking at other angles,” he said.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima herself said South Upi Vice Mayor Jordan Ibrahim is not yet considered a suspect in the rape case.

Ibrahim earlier had refused to submit himself to the investigation of the NBI.

In a press conference the other day, De Lima said investigators do not hold yet ample evidence to link the elected official to the crime.

“Hopefully very soon, he will be (considered a suspect). But at this moment, not yet,” she said.

De Lima admitted that investigators are having a hard time securing witnesses who are willing to testify against the vice mayor.

“It’s important that we get witnesses. It’s very difficult. Remember, South Upi is in Maguindanao and it is a hot spot during elections. And it seems that he is a powerful man there,” she said.  – With Edu Punay and Sandy Araneta