Masbate village chief faces drug, sexual abuse raps
A village chief of Masbate City is facing multiple charges for use of illegal drugs alongside cases for possession of illegal firearms and violation of the antiviolence against women law, police said on Sunday.
City police spokesperson PO3 Zandro Cabintoy said on the phone on Sunday that the cases were filed against Tito Ibaya, 42, chair of Barangay Mapiña, Masbate City, on Saturday after he was caught forcing a woman to take drugs with him before engaging in sexual acts inside a lodging house in the city in the evening of Jan. 22, a Wednesday.
A combined team from the city police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) barged into Room 3 of Glorietta Lodging House at Barangay (village) Nursery, Masbate City, following an anonymous tip from an informant that Ibaya was holding the woman against her will inside the room.
DSWD
The woman has been placed in the care of the city’s Social Welfare and Development Office, Cabintoy said.
Cabintoy said the woman, 24, testified that an armed Ibaya held her against her will, forced her to take drugs before physically and sexually abusing her.
He said it was not yet clear if it was the first time that the victim was subjected by Ibaya to such abuse.
Charges for violations of Republic Act No. 8294, or illegal possession of firearms, RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act and RA 9262 or the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act were filed by the police against Ibaya on Saturday, Cabintoy said.
‘Shabu’
Cabintoy revealed that the raid led to the recovery of three small plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) and other shabu paraphernalia .
A .22-cal. black widow gun of North American Arms brand without serial number loaded with five live ammunition, a digital weighing scale, five cellular phones and P470 in cash were also found in the possession of the arrested barangay captain, Cabintoy said. Shiena M. Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon
