TV network employee’s brother charged with abduction, rape try on 13-year-old

MANILA, Philippines – Charges of abduction and attempted rape were filed on Wednesday in the city prosecutor’s office against a TV network employee’s brother for allegedly trying to abuse a 13-year-old high school student in Quezon City.

Charged by Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Kamuning station investigators was Jose Carlo Rosales, of Project 2, who was identified by his alleged victim through a picture, which appeared on his driver’s registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

Kamuning police station investigators zeroed in on him after the teenager, a student of the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Cubao, was able to take note of the license plates of the red car (ZRD-461) driven by the man who allegedly abducted and tried to rape her on July 1. A check with the LTO revealed it was registered to GMA Network Inc.

The police investigators, during the investigation, was informed by the GMA management that the car had already been sold to marketing department sales director Maria Teresa Paula Rosales, who had not yet transferred the car registration to her name.

When the GMA Network employee allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation, the police investigators resorted to searching for her close male relations who could have had access to her red Honda Jazz, starting off with LTO drivers’ registrations.

“When we showed a picture of Jose Carlo Rosales mixed in with several other pictures of other men to the victim, she immediately pointed to Rosales’ picture and said it was him,” a police investigator told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, adding that the girl did not even hesitate.

Based on the address on the LTO driver’s registration, the Kamuning police station investigators were able to locate the red car over the weekend and found it parked inside the garage of Rosales’ house in Project 2.

Apart from the teenage high school student, a 12-year-old girl, who claimed to have been abducted and almost raped on February 10 along K-7th Street in Barangay (village) West Kamias by the driver of the same red car with similar license plates, surfaced over the weekend.

She also identified Rosales as the suspect, choosing his driver’s registration picture out of a pile of other pictures.

In her complaint, the girl claimed that she was on her way home at around 11 a.m. of February 10 from an errand at a nearby store when she was grabbed by the driver of a red car and forced inside the vehicle. She claimed that the driver was able to draw her close by asking for directions.

The girl also told investigators that she was freed by the suspect who had allegedly started forcing himself on her when she cried and begged for him to let her go. She was also able to take note of the license plates of the red car as it sped away and immediately reported the attack to the QCPD Anonas police station.

But the QCPD Anonas Station has yet to file charges of abduction and attempted rape against Rosales for the rape try on the pre-teen girl.