CEBU CITY, Philippines — The three San Fernando police officers who were accused of rape said they have CCTV footage and an incident report that could help prove their innocence.
Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) director Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano said that the three cops have pieces of evidence to counter the rape allegation against them.
Aside from CCTV footage and an incident report showing they were responding to an operation at the same time the complainant said she was raped, Soriano said the three also have witnesses who can attest that they were responding to a traffic incident in the town.
“Mayroong CCTV ang police station na tunay ngang dinispatch sila ng kanilang chief of police kasi mayroong traffic incident around 8 p.m. na sinasabi ng complainant. Mayroong mga witnesses, yung MDRRMO at DOH [ personnel] na kasama nila doon sa area of incident,” Soriano said.
(There is a CCTV footage from the police station that proves they were dispatched by their chief of police to a traffic incident at 8 p.m., which the complainant said was the time she was raped. There are also witnesses—MDRRMO and DOH personnel, who went with them at the area of the incident.)
The three cops were mulling countercharges against the woman, who is under the custody of the Women and Children’s Protection Center (WCPC), for falsely accusing them of rape.
Read: 3 San Fernando cops cry foul: We were falsely accused of rape
But Soriano said the countercharges prepared by these three police officers are currently on hold after a relative of the woman went to their office and told them that the complainant is currently under medication.
Soriano said the three are still under camp restriction and were disarmed pending the investigation.
Initial investigation showed that the woman was allegedly left behind at a convenience store in this southern Cebu town, which is about 38 kilometers from Cebu City, by her cousin while they were on their way to Negros. She sought help at the San Fernando Police Station at about 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 8.
The woman claimed that instead of helping her, the three policemen at the station allegedly raped her near the vicinity of the station.
/bmjo