Man held over ‘stoned’ GF’s 3-week ordeal

A 20-year-old man was arrested in Manila on Monday for allegedly detaining his girlfriend for almost three weeks and forcing her to take drugs and have sex with him.

PO1 Edith Chavez of the Manila Police’s District Women and Children Protection Section said charges of serious illegal detention and serious physical injuries have been filed in the City Prosecutor’s Office against Mark Anthony Soriano.

Chavez said Raquel Valladolid, 22, a freelance model from Barangay (village) Rizal, Makati City, sported bruises and appeared traumatized by her alleged ordeal when rescued from Soriano’s home in Sampaloc, Manila, on Sunday.

“She flinched when I tried to check her bruises. She was suspicious of the people around her,” the officer said. “Badly beaten up, she was forced to take drugs and have sex with him. She’s still stoned and can’t talk sensibly.”

Soriano denied the charges, claiming he and his girlfriend had actually been “living together” and that she started behaving abnormally after coming from a Malate bar Saturday night. Once, he said, she tried cutting herself with a knife.

Valladolid’s mother reported her to be missing three days after she left their house for work on Dec. 27 accompanied by Soriano, her boyfriend for the past two months.

The mother was able to contact her daughter Friday last week on her cell phone. In that one conversation, Valladolid repeatedly asked for help, saying someone was threatening to kill her, but did not give a name until the phone went dead.

On Sunday, the victim managed to call a cousin and give her location.