SPD files charges vs suspect in molestation of Makati high school student

MANILA, Philippines - The Southern Police District (SPD) has filed a case for acts of lasciviousness against a suspect in the alleged molestation of a 14-year-old Makati high school student.

SPD Spokesperson Superintendent Jenny Tecson said the victim appeared before the Makati Police headquarters last November 13 and positively identified Jarin Hidalgo, 34, of  M. H. Del Pilar St. Brgy. Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, as the one who molested her.

Tecson said the victim admitted to police that she was never forced by the suspect to board Hidalgo’s van but agreed to go with him after the suspect promised to return her shortly after she gives him directions going to Rockwell Center.

Tecson said the victim has contradicted her earlier statement where she claimed that she was forced to board the van and was able only to later escape after the van stopped at a gasoline station along J.P. Rizal St. Tecson said the victim however still admitted that the suspect  touched her private parts while inside the van.

Hidalgo, a family driver, was arrested by Makati Police last November 13 while driving along Makati Avenue.

Police sources said Hidalgo was arrested after a review of footage from close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) revealed the license plate of Hidalgo’s vehicle.

Chief Superintendent Henry Ranola, SPD director, earlier refused to identify the suspect. Ranola only identified the suspect as the driver of a Mitsubishi Montero which was used in abducting the victim as she was walking along Kalayaan Avenue last November 3.

Police sources earlier said the victim identified Hidalgo as one of two men who had snatched her and forced her inside the van at about 10 a.m.

The victim claimed that the suspects kissed and touched her private parts while inside the van.

According to the victim, she was able to escape from her abductors after the suspects stopped at a gasoline station.

The girl said the van passed Burgos Street in Makati to Manila, then pulled up at a gas station at J.P. Rizal Street at about 3 p.m.

While the driver was using the gas station's comfort room, the girl seized the chance to flee. She was eventually reunited with her mother at the Manila Police District's Station 9.