Another cop accused of rape

MANILA, Philippines—Another woman has accused a policeman of raping her inside a police station.

A report submitted by Quezon City Police District (QCPD) head Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele to Director Nicanor Bartolome of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) identified the policeman as Police Officer 1 Rodrigo Bajog.

According to Mantele, Bajog has not reported for work since Februar 22—the day the rape supposedly took place—prompting him to order a manhunt.

The complaint against Bajog was filed by a woman who was detained for estafa from February 4 to 26 at the QCPD Station 12 in Eastwood, Libis, where the policeman was assigned. She has since been released on bail.

Mantele said that summary dismissal proceedings against the policeman had been initiated based on the pre-charge evaluation conducted by the District Investigation and Detective Management under Supt. Feliciano Balingasa.

Criminal charges were also filed against him with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

Mantele added that four police officers assigned to QCPD Station 12, including the station’s night staff desk official on duty at the time of the alleged rape, would undergo questioning.

“We want to know how this criminal act happened inside the police station [and] the extent of possible lapses by those on duty,” he said.

In his report to the NCRPO chief, Mantele said the rape happened at 1:20 a.m. on February 22.

Based on the complaint the alleged victim filed with the station’s Women’s Desk, she was asleep in her cell when Bajog, who was dressed in a pair of shorts and seemed to be drunk, woke her up and told her to follow him.

She said she tried to ask him where they were going but he drew his gun, pointed it at her chest and told her to shut up.

The woman claimed Bajog pulled her by the hand and took her to the police station’s conference room on the second floor, which was empty.

At gunpoint, he told her to remove her clothes while he stripped off his shorts and then raped her.

Earlier this year, a woman vendor who was arrested for vagrancy accused Police Officer 3 Antonio Bautista, a member of the Manila Police District, of raping her inside the police headquarters on December 31.
Bautista was later charged in court.