3 laborers charged for high school coed's rape-slay

MANILA, Philippines - A bull cap and a pair of rubber shoes recovered at the crime scene led police to three suspects in the rape-slay last Jan. 25 of a graduating high school student in Antipolo City.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, Rizal police director, said his men traced the owner of the bull cap as Christian Penas, 21, while the red Adidas shoes belonged to Ritchel Llamorin, 22.

A third suspect, Delmar Morta, 23, was tagged in the crime by three witnesses, Anduyan said.

The three suspects were laborers in a building being constructed in Barangay Inarawan, Antipolo.

Superintendent Rodino Elfa, Antipolo City police chief, filed charges of rape with homicide in relation to Republic Act 7610 (child abuse) against the suspects before the city’s prosecutor’s office last Saturday.

The three were among seven construction workers invited for police questioning hours after the body of the victim, Abegail Arguilles, 16, was found at an unlit and grassy portion of Barangay Inarawan last Jan. 25.

The seven laborers though were released after the police gathered no hard evidence against them and after their swab and semen samples were taken.

Elfa said they re-arrested Penas, Llamorin and Morta after the three witnesses, all residents of Barangay Inarawan, executed sworn affidavits linking them to the crime.

Arguilles, a graduating high school student at the Antipolo High School, was on her way home when she was reported missing by her mother, Felisa, who arrived late to fetch her from a jeepney terminal.

She was repeatedly stabbed, strangled with a piece of cloth and was naked from the waist down.

Responding policemen headed by Chief Inspector Rizaldy Aquino, Antipolo police deputy chief, found a camouflage bull cap and a pair of rubber shoes at the crime scene and showed these to the residents who positively identified their owners.

Anduyan said the three suspects did not resist arrest when confronted with the evidence. They, however, invoked their constitutional right to remain silent on the charges against them.

Elfa said the three are now detained at the Antipolo City detention center.