SAN PEDRO, Laguna—The case of raped and murdered University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student Given Grace Cebanico speaks of the continuing call for justice to other victims of violence against women, according to a women’s youth group.
On Thursday afternoon, Gabriela Youth (GY) and other UPLB students lit candles in memory of Cebanico, who was murdered on Oct. 11 last year. Students and faculty members from the Rizal Science National High School in Binangonan, where Cebanico graduated, also lit candles, according to Cebanico’s father and Christian pastor, Daniel.
The pretrial of the Cebanico rape-slay case lodged at the Calamba Regional Trial Court in Laguna ended on Tuesday. Some 30 GY-UPLB members and other student activists picketed in front of the court during the pretrial to call on state prosecutors to speed up the hearing.
“It looks like the case will now start rolling, finally, after a year of waiting,” Daniel said in a phone interview. The actual hearing is set to start on Nov. 26.
GY-UPLB publicity head Teesha Leigh Pacris said their group is seeking justice not only for Cebanico but also for other rape victims, among them 14-year-old Rochel Geronda, who was raped and murdered also in Los Baños town on Feb. 29.
According to Gabriela-Southern Tagalog, other recent rape cases include those of an 8-year-old girl in Cabuyao City, Laguna; a 17-year-old in Baras, Rizal; a 15-year-old girl in Catanauan, Quezon, and a 13-year-old in Lobo, Batangas. These cases occurred from 2010 to the present.
“We are also gathering as many signatures as possible before Nov. 26 in hope of urging the court to fast-track the trial,” Pacris said.
Tricycle driver Percival de Guzman and bank security guard Lester Ivan Lopez Rivera, the suspects in the Cebanico rape-slay, are detained at the Calamba city jail. Both entered a not guilty plea during the case arraignment.
“But we learned from my fellow pastors, teaching Bible study in the jail, that they [De Guzman and Rivera] are considering retracting their earlier plea. We hope they will admit [to the crime],” Daniel said.