Pasay cop pleads not guilty to rape charge

MANILA, Philippines—A policeman on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to a charge he raped the wife of a man he and a colleague had arrested and from whom they allegedly tried to extort money.

Pasay Police Officer 1 Jonathan Castro pleaded not guilty to the crime of rape before Judge Pedro de Leon Gutierrez of the Pasay Regional Trial Court’s Branch 119.

Castro, along with a fellow officer at the Pasay City Police Community Precinct 10, PO1 Marvin Panaga, also faces a charge of robbery-extortion, on the basis of a complaint filed by a Pasay City couple who accused the two of arresting the man on trumped-up drug charges and then demanding P40,000 for his release last Jan. 26.

The couple alleged that because the wife managed to pay only P14,000, Castro sexually molested her in a police car to make up for the shortfall.

The robbery complaint against the two policemen was remanded to the city fiscal after Gutierrez granted the motion of Panaga’s lawyer, Jesus Fernandez, that a preliminary investigation be held first.

Castro’s counsel had earlier waived his right to a preliminary investigation at the city prosecutor’s office.

Gutierrez ordered the city prosecutor’s office to submit the results of the investigation within 30 days.

The pretrial conference on the rape charge against Castro was set to Feb. 20.