UPLB condemns rape-slay of female college student

MANILA, Philippines – Students and faculty members of the University of the Philippines have not only condemned the murder of a third year student whose body was found near the campus earlier this week but have also banded together in cyberspace.

Students and faculty members from UPLB, whether they personally knew the victim, identified by authorities as Given Grace Cebanico, have taken their call for justice to popular social networking sites such as Twitter where they included the hashtag #JusticeforGivenGraceCebanico in their tweets, on Facebook where they sent out prayers for the victim and replaced their profile photos with ones that urged for the murder case to be solved, the suspects brought to justice.

UPLB Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Dr. Virginia Cardenas told Inquirer.net in a phone interview that they “condemn this act of killing an innocent, promising young lady. We are saddened by the incident… (and) are working to intensify security not only within campus but also in (neighboring) communities.”

Cardenas said that they were working closely with law enforcers in solving the case and assured the victim’s family that “justice will be served.” She said that although the incident happened off campus, they were still thinking of ways to ensure the security of their students by building more dormitories to “contain students within campus.”

Cardenas added that they were also coordinating with barangay captains in neighboring communities as well as the law enforcers covering areas easily accessible by their students. She reminded the students that security would also “start from them,” and advised students to avoid “opening themselves to opportunities of hazards.”

“Los Banos is a heterogeneous community, maraming dayo dito,” the vice chancellor cautioned students.

Cebanico’s body was found last Tuesday, sprawled in a canal along the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) Road, Barangay Putho-Tuntungin, near the boundary of the university campus and the International Rice Research Institute, police said.

Authorities believed that the victim was raped before being killed, detailing that her hands were bound behind her and her mouth was gagged with a handkerchief and covered with tape. They said she had bruises, a stab wound in her back, and sustained a gunshot wound to the head, said Cruz.

Laguna police said that they have found good leads and were conducting follow-up operations on the case of the murdered college student. They however asked the media not to disclose information on their follow-up operations, saying they wanted to capture the suspects as soon as possible, before they released information.

Laguna police chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz however assured the public that they were following a good lead on the case and would work to bring the suspects to justice soon.