2 suspects to be charged in UPLB rape-slay case

MANILA, Philippines—Charges of rape with homicide will be filed against the two suspects in the rape-slay case of a University of the Philippines Los Baños student, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said Friday.

Tricycle driver Percival de Guzman and bank security guard Lester Ivan Lopez Rivera will be formally charged Friday for the rape and murder of Given Grace Cebanico, said CIDG chief Director Samuel Pagdilao Jr.

Police said that Cebanico,  a third year Computer Science student at UPLB, was abducted and killed while on her way back to her dormitory in Umali Subdivision, Los Baños, Laguna from a group meeting late Monday.

On Wednesday, Cebanico was found dumped in a canal near the IPB Road in Barangay Putho Tuntungin, in Los Baños. Police said that she was gagged, her hands handcuffed behind her and that she was bruised all over. She was also shot by the suspects, they said.

Police said that 38-year-old De Guzman, who was arrested on Thursday, has admitted to the crime, telling investigators they took turns in raping the victim before killing her.

Rivera, a security guard of the PS Bank branch in Los Baños, surrendered to police in Floridablanca, Pampanga at around 7 a.m. Friday, Laguna police director Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said.

Meanwhile, UPLB students and faculty members, mostly wearing white, came in droves to an indignation rally inside the sprawling campus Friday to call for justice and offer prayers and candles for the slain college student.