According to Chief Inspector Rene de Jesus, chief of the Manila Police District’s detective beat patrol unit, suspect John Paul Catalina, 34, abducted a teenager – a student in Manila – last Friday and held her for four days in inns and motels. He let her go last Monday outside a church in Tondo.
Catalina was caught when he contacted the girl, unaware that the police was already waiting for him.
De Jesus said Catalina was a Sigue-Sigue Commando gang member who went around befriending young girls in school campuses by showering them with gifts until he earned their trust.
He introduced himself as Mark Villanueva and a student of the University of the Philippines.
Last Friday, Catalina went to his victim’s school in the afternoon to fetch her and offered to bring her home. But the girl vehemently declined and Catalina became furious and threatened to hurt her.
Terrified, the girl went with Catalina and was taken to an apartelle and raped repeatedly. She was later brought to several inns and motels where she was repeatedly raped for the next three days.
Finally, last Monday, Catalina left the teenager at the gates of a church in Tondo. She went home and narrated her ordeal to her parents, who then went to the police.
The break came when Catalina phoned the girl, who – upon instructions from the police – pretended that she had begun to like him. She asked to meet with him at the church where Catalina left her.
Police officers pounced on Catalina when he showed up. He now faces non-bailable charges of abduction with rape. De Jesus suspects that Catalina had other victims and he is hoping that others would come forward to press charges.