Rape cases jump in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Rape cases jumped in the first five months in this city, according to police officials who attributed the spike to the long hours of power outage and the proliferation of illegal drugs.

PO2 Chrizel Quinon of the city police’s Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) said 56 cases of sexual attacks had already been reported from January to May, or close to half of the 118 cases for the whole of 2014.

Incestuous rape topped the list of crimes with 31 cases and victims aged 5 to 17 years, said Insp. Icelle Maraviles, WCPD chief. Seven of the girls were allegedly raped by their fathers, 12 by relatives or boyfriends, six by neighbors and six by strangers.

Cause for alarm

Dr. Ederlinda Fernandez, president of the Women’s Studies Association of the Philippines, said “any incident of rape should already be a cause for alarm, more so if as records show, the crime is on the rise.”

“The numbers do not tell the whole story though as sexual violence incidents remain largely unreported due to the stigma associated with the victim,” she said.

Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, city police director, cited brownouts and drugs as the reasons for the rising incidence of rape. “The power outages provided avenues for offenders and the lack of parental supervision compounds this. Children are walking by themselves in the dark,” he said.

Fatima Pir Allian, program coordinator of the Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Women for justice in the Bangsamoro), agreed that darkness had really contributed to incidents of sexual assaults.

“After the siege (by Moro rebels of the city in 2013), there were stories of rape happening in the darkest corners of the evacuation centers in the city,” Allian said. “The story of rape is not just lust but also power—having sex by overpowering the victim.”

With “someone from the security sector claiming that brownout is one of the reasons why we have an increased number of rape in our city, it should now become one of the top priorities of city officials,” she said.

“Enough of the ping-pong way in dealing with who is at fault in the power crisis,” she added.

Casimiro said the police were helpless about the power outages, which would last up to five hours in some areas during night time.

Zamcelco’s debts

The situation stemmed from the unpaid debts amounting to P402 million, which have been accumulated by the city’s power supplier, Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, from the government-owned Power Sector Assets and Liability Management Corp., he said.

Many girls face the risk of sexual assaults because they are left on their own by their working parents, Casimiro said.

Based on the quarterly monitoring of the WCPD, rape cases more than doubled to 42 from January to March from 16 reported in the same period last year.

Casimiro said the police had intensified its patrol activities and hotlines had been posted in villages.