2 Batangas cops charged for 2 preachers’ deaths

BATANGAS , Philippines  â€“ Formal charges have been filed against two policemen for the deaths of two female preachers of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) Movement in Balete town last Aug. 6.

Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said two counts of murder and two counts of rape were filed with the provincial prosecutor’s office against PO3 Jose Rico Benitez and PO2 Mhelven Pagkaliwangan, both assigned at the mobile patrol unit of the Balete police.

Acosta, who assisted the victims’ families in filing the case, said witnesses positively identified Benitez and Pagkaliwangan as the alleged killers of JIL preachers Adelaida Fabricante, 46, and Leonila Cafe, 48.

In an earlier report, the Balete police claimed that Fabricante and Cafe were hit-and-run victims as their bodies were found along a road in Barangay Makina at around 8:30 p.m. last Aug. 6.

However, Balete Mayor Jovencio Hidalgo ordered the case reinvestigated when thousands of townsfolk trooped to the municipal hall to condemn the deaths of Fabricante and Cafe.

“Several witnesses volunteered to give their statements linking the two cops to the deaths of the two female preachers,” Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo said the two victims had just come from a JIL prayer meeting in Barangay Magape when they decided to hitch a ride with the two police officers, as there was no longer any public transport that night.

In a re-autopsy conducted by PAO experts, the victims were found to have died from head injuries caused by a blunt object. There were signs of alleged sexual abuse. 

A preliminary investigation is set on Aug. 27 for Benitez and Pagkaliwangan, who have denied the accusations against them.

The two police officers have been disarmed and are now being held at Camp Miguel Malvar in Batangas City.