CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 35-year-old man from Argao, a southern Cebu town, is facing rape charges after he was accused of allegedly molesting his 14-year-old daughter.
Police Senior Master Sergeant Vivian Tamayo of the Women and Children Protection Desk of the Argao Police Station said they were just awaiting the reply for the inquest proceedings after they filed the case to the prosecutor through email today, May 22, 2020.
The alleged molestation was reported last Wednesday, May 20, after the relative, who visited the girl at her home learned about it, and reported it to the police.
Tamayo said the girl told the relative that her father had allegedly molested her at dawn that day.
The father was arrested after the police received the report about the alleged molestation.
Aside from the rape case filed against the father, Tamayo said that they were also investigating other relatives of the victim and people at a school after they received reports that these people had known about the abuse when the girl told them about her situation last March.
“Nisumbong na daw ni siya pag March unya wala lang mo tuo dayun iyang kaliwat,” Tamayo said.
(She reported what happened to her last March and her relatives did not believe what she told them.)
“Gi imbestigaran namo apil ang mga tawo nga iyang gisultihan unya wala dayun mohatag og aksyon like sa school, gi ingnan siya (the victim) nga pa reporton sa police unya siya (the victim) kuno ang ni ingon nga dili kay ma ulaw siya pero at least man lang ba ang taga school na lang unta ang ni tawag namo,” said Tamayo.
(We are investigating the people whom the victim had informed about her situation and yet did not do act on it like her school. She (the victim) was told instead to report it to the police, but the victim told them that she would not do it because she was ashamed to report it. At least, these people at the school should just have called us and told us about it.)
According to the investigation, Tamayo said that the girl had been allegedly molested since she was still 12 years old or a year after her mother left.
As of this time, the girl according to Tamayo is undergoing counseling with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and will for the meantime stay with relatives, who reported the incident.
Tamayo is encouraging the public to immediately report to the police if they know someone who is going through an abuse./dbs