RPAs Face Raps over Teener’s Rape

Long accused of being a paramilitary unit of government and protector of landlords and politicians in Negros in central Philippines, members of the Revolutionary Proletarian ARMY (RPA) are now accused of abducting and raping a 15-year-old restaurant worker in Silay City.

By Karl Ombion
Bulatlat.com

Young rape victim: Latest to suffer under the hands of the RPA
Photo by Karl G. Ombion

BACOLOD CITY – Fifteen-year-old Mary Grace (not her name) works as a helper in a restaurant in Silay City, 15 kms. north of this city, to earn for her schooling. She may not be able to make it to school when it opens next week.

Mary Grace was abducted on May 11 allegedly by a local unit of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA) led, according to reports, by Jecky “Ka Maitan” Casiple, from where she works and brought to a fishpond in Talisay City. It was by the fishpond, where the RPA reportedly maintains a safehouse and an armory, where she was beaten up and raped three times from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. allegedly by Rafael aka “Arnold” Dolaca. Dolaca is said to be a member of Casiple’s unit which operates in Silay-Talisay.

Doctors at the Talisay City health office confirmed that Mary Grace was a victim of sexual abuse, reporting that she bore marks of lacerations on her sex organ and traces of sperm cells.

But her family has been visited by alleged RPA members and warned that they would be harmed if they revealed the incident to the press and the public.

Members of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) and Gabriela-Negros have given sanctuary to Mary Grace and her family and vowed to bring to court the perpetrators of the crime.

“Criminals and gangsters”

Butch Lozande, NFSW regional spokesperson, last week said “the rape of a minor proves once more that the RPAs are nothing but mere criminals and gangsters.”

RPA was founded a few years ago by a faction of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Visayas led by Stephen Paduano aka Carapali Lualhati. Lualhati claims to head the RPA, which has been accused by Negros-based militant groups of serving as a mere paramilitary unit of government and a protector of sugar landlords and politicians.

NFSW itself has accused the RPA of being behind the killing of Tay Isidro Trabajador, one of its leaders-organizers in northern Negros and the shooting of a Selga, another NFSW organizer in Silay.

Ma. Rina Amacio, Gabriela-Negros secretary general, said "it is high time that the RPAs are condemned and subjected to the full force of the justice system, because their crimes against ordinary civilians are piling up."

Meanwhile, Guillermo Barreta Jr., spokesperson of KMU-Negros, assailed the provincial government and police for not taking actions against the alleged abductors-rapists. Instead, he said, they “continue to coddle the RPAs in the same breadth that the group provides protection to several gangsters, criminals and drug syndicates in the region.”

He also slammed Paduano for issuing a press statement defending his operatives, and challenging the victim, her family and the militant organizations to present evidence in court.

"Paduano and his gang have long become not only protectors of big landlords and compradors, but also as plain thugs and criminals, victimizing everyone without choice, so long as they can satisfy their vices and caprices," Barreta said.

No warrant has been issued for the arrest of the perpetrators of the rape at presstime. Bulatlat.com

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