Teen found dead in Laguna; rape eyed

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Laguna, Philippines – A 14-year-old high school student was found dead, with marks indicating she could have also been raped, in Los Baños, Laguna on Wednesday.

Superintendent Dante Novicio, Los Baños police chief said in a telephone interview that a local resident found the victim’s body in a banana plantation in Barangay (village) Batong Malake at around 9:30 a.m.

Initial police reports said a pair of jogging pants the victim wore was tied around her neck and may have been used to strangle her.

“Her underwear was also removed,” said Novicio, although autopsy results had yet to be completed to confirm if the victim was sexually abused.

The police identified the victim as a second year student of the Batong Malake National High School. She also used to sell sampaguita leis to earn extra money, Novicio said, citing testimony from the victim’s neighbors.

The police requested to withhold the victim’s name given the sensitivity of the case. The victim’s family has been informed although they have yet to give their statement to the police, Novicio said.

In October last year, a student from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, Given Grace Cebanico, was murdered and raped, prompting tighter security inside the university compound and in the surrounding villages of Batong Malake and San Antonio.

Cebanico was abducted by the alleged perpetrators, a tricycle driver and a bank security guard who were later arrested, near her dormitory in Barangay Batong Malake, but her body was found in a remote portion of the UPLB campus in Barangay Putho-Tuntingin.