Thirteen Bacolod policemen suspended in rape case of jogger

Thirteen policemen posted at the Community Police Assistance Center at the Bacolod Government Center (BGC) have been relieved from their duties reportedly due to their negligence in securing the BGC facility, in which a female jogger was raped.

Based on the findings of Senior Police Officer 3 Arlyn Torrendon, the officer-in-charge of the Women and Children’s Protection Desk of the Bacolod City police, the 20-year-old victim had been jogging around the government complex with some companions at around 9 p.m.

She decided to use the toilet located at the building’s annex, but while on her way to the toilet, a 27-year-old man identified as Charlie Ramos, a mechanic of a motor shop near the BGC, followed her and raped her inside the cubicle. The rape reportedly took place shortly after 10 p.m.

Two minors who had heard the victim’s cries for help alerted authorities from the Community Police Assistance Center.

Councilor Caesar Distrito called the rape of the young woman a blunder in security, saying that it happened “right under the cops’ noses.”

Meanwhile, in what has been described as an effort to downplay the negligence of the officers assigned to the complex, Mayor Monico Puentevella emphasized that the policemen were quick to arrest the suspect.

Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya, however, was not convinced, and demanded that the security measures at the complex be carefully reviewed and revamped, as necessary.