DOJ concerned on naming of marshal

The marshal of the Department of Justice (DOJ) who’s accused of repeatedly raping a 21-year-old woman placed under the Witness Protection Program was identified by the Guadalupe police in Cebu City.

But officials of the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program in Central Visayas voiced concern over the police’s decision to disclose the marshal’s identity which had been revealed in media reports since last Tuesday evening.

The marshal was identified as Romelo Pabroa, a resident of Carcar City.

“We’re afraid that his (Pabroa) role as marshal…may place his life and his family’s safety at risk,” said Asst. Regional State Prosecutor June Elmido.

Chief Insp. Andres Bayarcal, chief of the Guadalupe police precinct said in a radio interview that they withheld Pabroa’s name pending the victim’s filing of the complaint against him.

Elmido, the DOJ’s witness protection program director in Central Visayas, said Pabroa lives in the area where most of their critical cases are based.

The victim earlier sought police assistance in her complaint against Pabroa.

Elmido said they revealed Pabroa’s name to the Guadalupe police investigators who visited his office at the Palace of Justice last Tuesday.

“We told Pabroa that he must face the accusations against him,” Elmido said.

Pabroa was suspended for three months without pay after he was accused of raping the victim 36 times inside a government safehouse in barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

Elmido said the woman should undergo rehabilitation and treatment.

In 2008, the victim, then 16 years old, was allegedly raped by her uncle.

Three years later, she purportedly fell victim to a gang rape at least 10 separate times.

She was placed under the custody of the DOJ’s witness protection program after she allegedly received threats from the mother of the first person who raped her. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Correspondent Chito Aragon