1 of 2 accused in slay of UPLB student owns up to crime

SAN PEDRO CITY—Relatives of slain University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student Given Grace Cebanico are drawing near the closure of the more than four-year-old case after one of two accused owned up to the crime on Tuesday.

During his arraignment on Tuesday, Lester Ivan Rivera, a former bank security guard in Los Baños town in Laguna province, reentered another plea, this time admitting guilt.

He is facing three counts of rape with homicide and a count of theft. The court scheduled the case’s promulgation on April 19.

“Definitely, this is good news, a development. We were sort of expecting it to end like this because we have strong evidence,” said Cebanico’s father, Jun, in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Cebanico, a junior computer science student at UPLB, was raped and killed near the campus in October 2011.

Police arrested a suspect, tricycle driver Percival de Guzman, after the killing. Rivera later surrendered to the police in Pampanga province.

Cebanico’s death sparked public outcry, prompting UPLB officials and the Los Baños government to enforce tighter security measures in the campus and key areas in the town.

De Guzman is detained at the Los Baños municipal jail while Rivera had been transferred to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City two years ago after he was convicted of theft in a separate case filed by his security agency.

Rivera was sued by his employer after he used a gun owned by the security agency in shooting Cebanico. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

De Guzman’s camp, meanwhile, is scheduled to present its final witness on March 3 during the continuation of the hearing at the sala of Judge Alberto Serrano of the Calamba City Regional Trial Court Branch 92.