Caloocan student details ‘rape, threats’ in raps filed vs teacher

“He told me to bring him the test papers. When I arrived at the library, he told the library staff to leave us alone for a one-on-one.”

This was how a 15-year-old student recounted the prelude to the sexual abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her Math teacher on a Caloocan City campus Tuesday morning.

The teacher, 32-year-old Rex Alejandro, has since gone into hiding, according to the chief of the Caloocan police.

A complaint for rape was filed against Alejandro on Thursday by one of his students at Kasarinlan High School on Tuna Street, Barangay 28, Dagat-dagatan.

Accompanied by her parents, the Grade 10 student said her alleged ordeal happened around 8 a.m. of March 15. Alejandro, she claimed, made her stick her tongue out so he could kiss it, fondled her breast, before forcing himself on her.

The teacher then warned her not to tell anyone what happened or he would tell her parents of her “experience” with her ex-boyfriend, she said.

The girl said the suspect finally left her alone in the library after three hours. Two of her friends, who had been looking for her all morning, found her crying as she rushed out.

She said they went to the toilet out of fear but they were spotted by Alejandro, who “followed” them and again made a threat. That’s the last time she saw the teacher, who never reported for work the following day.

The three students then went to the Caloocan Police Community Precinct 2, where the complainant made an initial report.

In an interview with the Inquirer, the complainant’s mother said she, her husband and her sister-in-law went to the school in the afternoon of March 15 to confront Alejandro but were told that he had already left the campus.

The school principal, Julie Danao, gave them Alejandro’s home address in Caloocan but asked them to wait for the investigation before making a move against the teacher, the mother said.

The sister-in-law, meanwhile, noted that the school did not report the complaint to the barangay but immediately removed Alejandro’s photo from the faculty room.

The student’s father said the rape complaint was filed Thursday in the city prosecutor’s office.

A manhunt for Alejandro, a father of two, has been launched after investigators failed to find him at his known address, according to Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante, chief of the Caloocan police.

Rita Riddle, superintendent of the Caloocan Division of City Schools, said Education Secretary Brother Armin Luistro had called up her office after reading the earlier Inquirer report on the case and asked the school to extend assistance to the complainant.

“Our priority is the welfare of the student. We will make sure that she is shielded from ridicule, harm and scrutiny. To be fair to Miss Danao, the school principal, she immediately reported the incident to the division,” said Riddle, who added that her office had launched its own probe. “As of now we are not siding with anyone but the interest of the child is being prioritized.”