Former Nueva Ecija mayor pleads ‘not guilty’ in rape case

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga—The former mayor of Pantabangan town in Nueva Ecija province pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges of rape, human trafficking and child abuse filed by a former beauty pageant contestant in his town.

Former Mayor Romeo Borja Sr., who was arrested in Umingan town in Pangasinan province on Feb. 8, appeared in his arraignment at the Regional Trial Court Branch 61 here on Wednesday.

Borja, who was Pantabangan mayor from 2007 to 2013, was charged with rape, child abuse and trafficking in persons. He lost in his reelection bid for a third term in May 2013.

The charges were filed in the Department of Justice in March last year by a 17-year-old local beauty pageant contestant.

The victim, who represented Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija’s Miss Teen Tourism pageant in 2011, claimed that Borja raped her several times from May 2011 to November 2012.

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