Makati Police tracks down suspects behind abductions, rape of students

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati Police has formed a team to track down the suspects in the reported abductions and rape of two students.

Makati Police chief, Senior Superintendent Ernesto Barlam said he has ordered officers from the department’s intelligence and Women and Children Protection Desk to identify the suspects and track them down.

Barlam added that they have also started gathering footage from closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs) installed on the streets taken by the suspects during the abductions.

“We have also asked the two victims if they could recall the streets where the suspects have driven so we could retrieve CCTV footage if possible,” said Barlam.

In addition, Barlam said they have also started drawing sketches of the suspects in a bid to identify them.

The first victim, a 21-year old college freshman, claimed that she was abducted by four men last September 30 at around 6:30 p.m. while walking near the EDSA-Magallanes Interchange.

According to the victim, three men grabbed her and forced her into a van where she was allegedly raped. The victim said the van was driven by another man and had no license plates.

She said the suspects covered her nose with a handkerchief soaked in a chemical, causing her to lose consciousness.

She said it was already around 3 a.m. the next day when she woke up in a grassy area in Malolos, Bulacan. She said she was naked from the waist down and her whole body ached.

According to her, a woman and her daughter helped her, gave her clothes and food, and accompanied her to Monumento.

Barlam said the victim formally filed her complaint with the police last October 1.

Last Monday, a 14-year-old girl claimed that she was also abducted by men on board a van along Kalayaan Avenue in Makati while she was on her way to the Makati High School at about 10 a.m.

The victim said she was able to escape from her abductors after the suspects stopped at a gasoline station. Barlam said the second victim was not raped by her abductors during her five-hour ordeal.

The girl, however, told her mother later that she was molested by the driver of the van. While aboard the vehicle, the victim said the driver allegedly kissed and molested her.

The girl said the van passed Burgos Street in Makati to Manila, then pulled up at a gas station at J.P. Rizal Street at about 3 p.m.

While the driver was using the gas station's comfort room, the girl seized the chance to flee. She was eventually reunited with her mother at the Manila Police District's Station 9.

Barlam also said they are still looking at the angle that the two abductions were done by the same group of suspects.

“It is to early to say that. We have to look at all angles first,” he said.

Barlam was also quick to dismiss the two abductions as “isolated incidents” and assured that there is no group roaming in the city and serially abducting women.