Police: No abduction, no rape of anti-drug agent’s daughter

Was she really abducted and raped, or did the daughter of an anti-drug operative just have a drinking spree with friends last weekend? The supposed abduction drew outrage Monday from anti-narcotics and other public officials, but the Cordillera Autonomous Region police, citing testimonies by the girl’s acquaintances, said Tuesday the girl was neither abducted nor raped. "If we base [sa] testimony ng kasama na teenager, walang abduction, walang rape at saka yun po walang sinabing sinaksakan ng droga [If we base our findings on the testimonies of the teenagers seen with her before she was supposedly kidnapped, there was no abduction and no rape, and she was not forced to take drugs]," Cordillera regional police head Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestaño said in an interview on dzXL radio. On Monday, a national broadsheet’s banner story said the girl was abducted and raped, triggering outrage among government officials. While Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) head Dionisio Santiago vowed a Mexico-style war against drug rings, lawmakers found reason to push harder moves to revive capital punishment for drug traffickers. But Pestaño said that even if there was no abduction or rape, this does not mean the government should take back its all-out war against drugs. "Wala namang masama roon if (tuluy-tuloy na ipatutupad ang) total war ... we in the law enforcement agencies gusto ang masinsinang kampanya laban sa drugs. Pero yung basehan ng incident na yan, we’re just very objective about it, yan ang tinitignan natin," he said. [We see nothing wrong with a total war on drugs. We in the law enforcement agencies want a total campaign against drugs. It’s just that we are very objective about this particular incident.] Pestaño said a reconstruction of events based on the regional police’s findings showed the girl knocked off school after finishing a make-up class at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Some friends fetched her and they had a drinking spree at the house of another friend. "Mga bandang 7 p.m., nalasing ang dalagita. At pagka lasing, di nila ma-control dahil patumba-tumba sa sala set, patayo, parang… walang control sa sarili niya, so they decided to bring her home [At about 7 p.m. the girl got drunk. When she could not control herself and repeatedly collapsed, her friends decided to bring her home]," Pestaño said. "Samakatuwid if we base all the facts sa salaysay ng 4 [na] teenager na kasama niya roon wala talagang kidnapping, walang rape [If we base our findings on these, there was no kidnapping or rape]," he added. He said the local Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency office had requested the girl’s parents for the girl to undergo drug test procedure.

PDEA unsure For his part, Santiago said he assigned an agent to look into the matter, but they cannot conclude anything because the details were still “sketchy." "Ang connection ko lang is through the agent…I was relying fully on the report. Very sketchy ‘yong nakukuha nila [My only connection was through the agent. The reports he was getting were very sketchy]," Santiago said in an interview on Unang Hirit Tuesday. He said he is likewise relying on the PNP’s findings and the statements of the girl’s parents. But with the lack of information at hand, Santiago said he is in a bind because he could not yet answer the public‘s questions. "Ako medyo na naiipit. Di ako makapagbigay ng intelligent answers [I’m in a bind, I cannot give intelligent answers]," he said. In a separate statement released to the media on Tuesday, Santiago said that the reported abduction and rape of the anti-dug agent’s daughter would not deter the PDEA in its fight against illegal drugs. But he added that threats and dangers persist in their field of work. "We will not cower, we will not abandon our responsibilities. More than anything, it only strengthens our resolve to pursue our mandate because such adverse reactions from drug syndicates just prove we are doing our job," he said. - with reports from Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV