Complainant of Rape Case Against Barangay Chairman Ask for Reinvestigation

By: Aurell P. Arais

Malaybalay City - Barangay Captain Ciriaco Ganahon Jr. of Patpat, Malaybalay City is not yet finally freed from his ordeal as the complainant of rape case against him filed a motion for reconsideration and or reinvestigation.

The complainant (name withheld) through her counsel , filed a motion for reconsideration last January 22, 20007 against the resolution handed down by the office of the city prosecutor dismissing the case against the said barangay captain.

Earlier, the investigating prosecutor handed down the resolution dismissing the case on the underlying reason that the admitted sexual intercourse between the complainant and respondent, if there was indeed any, was agreed by them and was therefore consensual hence there is no probable cause.

The respondent was also ordered released from detention.

But the complainant expressed her disappointment over the haste of which the preliminary investigation was conducted which lasted only for less than an hour and the resolution was not reflective on her testimony.

The complainant strongly disputed the resolution of the prosecutor and asserted that it was not indeed a consensual sexual act.

The complainant said that she sustained injuries at her back caused by the hardness of the stones and cement of the road and injuries at her knees and arms caused by the force and the dehumanizing treatment of respondent depicting that it was not consensual.

The victim alleged that she was terrified during the rape incident as the respondent was holding a gun.

If a reinvestigation of the case will be granted the complainant further ask for involvement of a female prosecutor in compliance with section 4 of Republic Act No. 8505, otherwise known as “Rape Victim Assistance and Prosecution Act of 1998”.


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