Amid heavy rains, rapist lurks at MRT Santolan station

MANILA, Philippines—A parking attendant going home at the height of last week’s heavy rains was allegedly raped at a train station right in front of the country’s police and military headquarters in Quezon City.

According to the 21-year-old victim, she was sexually abused inside a storage room at the Santolan station of the Metro Rail Transit, which is located between two highly-secured camps.

Police investigators from the Quezon City Police District’s Proj. 4 station have come up with a composite sketch of her attacker, who is believed to be familiar with the area and the train station.

“The suspect is probably hanging around in the Santolan area. Otherwise, why would he know the location of the storage room at the overpass?” said Senior Supt. Joel Pagdilao, QCPD’s deputy director for operations.

The police official described the rapist as between 35 to 40 years old, 5’3″ tall, weighing 70 to 75 kilos, and dark-skinned.

The woman also recalled her attacker as wearing a black t-shirt and shorts at that time.

The official said he has directed detectives to make the rounds of the Santolan area as the rapist can be lurking in the vicinity of the MRT station.

The Santolan MRT station is sandwiched between Camp Crame, which is the Philippine National Police’s headquarters, and Camp Aguinaldo, home of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The alleged rape happened at 1:15 am of Aug. 9 as Metro Manila was being pounded by torrential rains for several days.

In a complaint to the Proj. 4 police station, the victim had just come from her work as a parking lot cashier in Annapolis and was on her way home somewhere in Diliman, Quezon City.

The victim said she was crossing over to Edsa’s northbound side using the MRT’s overpass when a stranger grabbed her hand and dragged her to the overpass storage room.

The woman tried to scream for help but her attacker punched her in the stomach, causing her to black out.

Quoting the police report, Pagdilao said the man tore off her clothes and raped the woman as there was no one else at the MRT station at that time.

“The suspect can be anywhere in the area, he can be a barker or a vendor or a ‘tambay’,” he noted.

The police official said it was the first time that he heard of a rape incident within the premises of an MRT station.

“We will be intensifying our beat and foot patrols in these areas to deter and fight such crimes,” Pagdilao said.