FILE PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. Image from PNP
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar has directed the Laurel Municipal Police Station to do a quick and thorough investigation on the rape and killing of a 15-year old girl from Batangas.
Reports shared by Eleazar showed that the victim’s body was found in a forested area in Barangay Santa Maria on Monday evening after she visited a classmate to answer their modules for distance learning together.
When she was found, the victim was naked while her clothes covered her body. Local police said that the teenager’s cadaver bore signs of sexual abuse and strangulation.
“Bilang magulang ramdam ko ang sakit at pagdadalamhati ng mga naulila ng biktima. Ako ay nakikiramay sa pamilya ng dalagita na malayo pa sana ang mararating sa buhay,” Eleazar said in a statement on Wednesday.
(As a parent, I feel the pain and the anguish of the bereaved family. I am sending my heartfelt condolences to the family of the teenager, who could have achieved more things in life.)
“Titiyakin ng PNP na airtight ang kaso para siguradong mapanagot sa batas ang salarin sa karumal-dumal na krimen na ito,” he added.
(The PNP would assure that we have an airtight case so that we can hold the perpetrators of this crime accountable to the law.)
Eleazar said that a witness has come out to pin the blame on a barangay tanod, who was supposedly last seen with the victim. The suspect was subsequently arrested, although he denied involvement in the incident.
The latest developments however showed that the witness himself was a suspect in the crime.
“Sa ngayon, hawak natin ang isang barangay tanod na sinasabing nasa likod ng krimen. I have ordered the Laurel Municipal Police Station in Batangas to leave no stones unturned in gathering evidence to the crime to make sure they get the real perpetrator or perpetrators,” Eleazar said.
(As of now, we are holding one barangay tanod who is supposedly behind the crime.)
“Nananawagan ako sa ating mga kababayan na kung may nalalaman kayo hinggil sa krimeng ito, huwag sana kayong magdalawang-isip na lumapit sa pulisya para makatulong sa agarang pagkamit ng hustisya sa kalunos-lunos na sinapit ng biktima,” he added.
(I am calling on our fellow Filipinos that if you have information regarding this crime, please do not hesitate to approach the police force to help us attain justice for the teenager.)