BY CYRUS M. GARDE
BACOLOD City – A member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental faces a rape charge. The complainant is the city councilor’s a 16-year-old housemaid.
The girl had been working at the city councilor’s house since she was 14. The alleged sexual abuse spanned two years, she claimed.
According to Superintendent Antonieto Cañete, Himamaylan City police director, the complaint will be filed tomorrow.
The girl decided to leave the city councilor’s house just last week.
Her mother and sisters used to live in the hacienda of the city councilor. She was later taken in to work as a maid in the city councilor’s house, she told the police.
The girl alleged she was raped in the city official’s house several times, and at times in motels and even inside the city councilor’s car.
According to the police, the girl alleged she told her mother about the rape but they were too afraid to complain then.
They feared eviction from the city councilor’s hacienda, alleged the girl.
The girl’s father died long ago.
The Himamaylan police declined to disclose the city councilor’s identity until the case has been filed.
The girl and her family decided to report to the police after they left the councilor’s property.
According to the girl, a sister would stand as a witness in the rape case.
The complainant is now under the care of the local Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Women and Children Protection Desk of the Himamaylan City police is helping, too.
In another rape case, a fisherman from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental was charged with raping a six-year-old neighbor in Sitio Slaughter House 1, Barangay Tinampaan.
The physician at the Cadiz City Emergency Clinic confirmed the girl’s genitalia had lacerations consistent with rape.
The police identified the suspect as 49-year-old Eddie Villanueva.
In Isabela, Negros Occidental, the police also arrested a man suspected to have raped his eight-year-old niece inside a sugarcane field.
The police said the rape happened on Aug. 24.
The suspect was detained at the Isabela police station./PN
