Lawyer denies rape

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu-based lawyer-broadcaster Juril Patiño yesterday denied allegations he sexually molested a 13-year-old girl and considered the filing of formal complaint against him as a chance to clear his name.

The girl, who had been reported missing since Friday, was also found safe Thursday midnight in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City by a staff of local radio station dyHP.

Recent photographs on Facebook hinted the radio station’s workers on the whereabouts of Jessa (not her real name). The images were enlarged to determine where they were taken, and it eventually led the team to Umapad, said dyHP station manager lawyer Ruphil Bañoc.

Bañoc said radio station personnel, accompanied by Jessa’s parents, went to the area and found the girl in the company of her friends.

The girl was turned over yesterday morning to Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor on police matters, who in turn assisted the parents in reporting to the police in Barangay Punta Princesa that she was no longer missing.

She was then brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center for stress debriefing before facing the media at a press conference inside the National Bureau of Investigation-7’s office before noon.

Jessa’s parents earlier reported that she had disappeared last week. It turned out she had been staying in the house of her mother’s sibling in Mandaue for several days without her family’s knowledge.

Reporters tried to ask why she had decided to leave home but the girl, covering her face with a yellow sweater, was advised to refrain from issuing any statement and remained silent throughout the interview.

Her mother, though, told the media that they are determined to press charges against Patiño.

“Dili ko mo-back out. Padayunon gyud nako. Nangita ko’g hustisya sa akong anak (I won’t back out from the case. I will really pursue it. I’m seeking justice for my daughter),” said the mother.

The NBI-7 already endorsed its rape complaint before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday afternoon. The raffle, scheduled for Monday, will determine the prosecutor who will handle the complaint.

Don’t condemn

In a separate interview, Patiño urged the public to not to impose judgment upon him right away, saying he is still innocent unless proven guilty.

He also welcomed the report that the girl had been found.

Coming from a simple family, he had to work hard to earn what he is today – a lawyer – so he said he is not inclined to waste all his efforts by committing the act.

“Kung ang pamilya sa bata gusto sa kamatuoran, ako usab gusto masayod usab sa tinuoray nga panghitabo tungod kay dili nako mahimo ilang alegasyon,” he said.

In due time, he is confident the truth will eventually come out.  Nonetheless, he admitted that the accusations have already affected him.

“Dili ko puthaw ug dili sab ko robot. Mao ako angkunon nga nahasol ug apektado gyud ko sa mga pasangil batok kanako. Apan malipayon ko nga  anaa nako ako mga kabanay, pamilya, higala ug ako asawa nga hugot nga nisuporta nako ug wala gayud ko gikomprontase sa ako asawa kay sayod siya nga dili nako mahimo ang pamasangil,” Patiño told The FREEMAN. Patiño and his wife tied the knot just last June 10. Before their wedding, they had been in a relationship for seven years.

Despite what he’s going through, he said he is happy that his wife is “100 percent supportive” of his battle.

Patiño said he has decided to stop going on air for now to focus on the case against him. He previously anchored a program at the Brigada News FM.

Girl’s claims

Based on Jessa’s interview with the Parian police last July 13, she went last July 4 to Brigada News FM radio station where her mother’s employer worked to supposedly ask money for her school project.

But when she arrived at the station, Patiño allegedly entertained her because her mother’s employer was reportedly out of town. Her mother worked as a laundrywoman for a program host at the radio station, who also happened to be the suspect’s colleague.

When Jessa learned the person she was looking for was not around, she allegedly asked P7 from the lawyer for her fare back home.

She decided to leave but the suspect allegedly told her to come with him in his car to get money.

When she rode, the suspect then maneuvered the car from the radio station to Zamora Street in Parian, downtown Cebu City. While inside the car, the suspect allegedly took off her clothes and raped her.

Jessa claimed that the suspect gave her P200 in cash and allowed her to leave after.

Patiño yesterday begged off from answering in detail the girl’s accounts as appearing on the police blotter, explaining that he has not received a copy of the complaint.

Reward

Tumulak, meanwhile, said the Cebu City government has identified four people eligible to receive the P100,000 cash reward offered for the information that led to the finding of the girl.

“The informants will receive P100,000. Ila nang bahinon,” he said.

Bañoc, however, said that dyHP’s stand on the reward is firm: “Kami sa dyHP, dili mi modawat og reward.”

It was dyHP personnel who also assisted Jessa’s family in reporting the alleged rape incident to the police.

Tumulak said if the informants will not accept the money, he will recommend to the mayor to give it instead to the girl’s family.

“We, the city government of Cebu headed by Mayor Tommy Osmeña, we do not want to touch on the merit of case. We are here to support the family,” said Tumulak.

For his part, Senior Inspector Dexter Basirgo, chief of Parian police, said the NBI-7 is welcome to coordinate with them in deepening its probe.

“Sa pagkakaron wala pa’y person sa NBI nga ni-contact sa atoa aron pag-coordinate sa relatives sa bata. Ang amo ra mahatag kay kaning pag-report nila sa atoa station unya ang medical certificate tua na nila. Di ma-file (ang charges) kung wala ang certificate,” Basirgo said.

The medical certificate reportedly showed that there was a laceration on the girl’s private parts. — with Jean Marvette A. Demecillo and Mae Clydyl L. Avila (FREEMAN)