Suspects in sex attacks on dentists subjected to drug test

MANILA, Philippines - The principal suspects in the spate of sexual attacks and robberies involving dentists in Metro Manila and neighboring areas and his cohorts were tested for drugs Monday, police said yesterday.

Personnel from the Southern Police District Scene of the Crime Operations (SPD-SOCO) took urine samples from Albert Galang de la Cruz, 31, and Ronald Policarpio, who are now languishing in jail.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Alan Purisima ordered the drug tests to determine whether De la Cruz and Policarpio are drug dependents.

“Some of the victims claimed De la Cruz made them witness him playing with his organ or been sexually molesting them, which is not a handiwork of a person with a stable mind,” he said. “So I ordered them be subjected to a drug tests to determine whether they are taking illegal drugs.”

Purisima said the SPD-SOCO told him the result of the drug tests on De la Cruz and Policarpio will be out in five days.

The suspicion that De la Cruz and Policarpio were into illegal drugs was bolstered by the recovery of a sachet of shabu from each of them at the time of their arrests.

Senior Superintendent Conrado Capa, NCRPO’s intelligence chief, said Policarpio yielded a sachet of shabu during his arrest in Barangay Silangan, Quezon City last Aug. 24, while the same amount of shabu was also found in De la Cruz’s possession at the time of his arrest Sunday in Pilar Village, Las Piñas City.

De la Cruz and his wife, Marife Borinaga, and their two children were living in the Las Piñas City house, said Capa.

Chief Inspector Ferjen Torred of the NCRPO’s regional intelligence division (RID) said De la Cruz was living with another woman in Barangay Silangan, Quezon City when he met Policarpio last March. When he had a quarrel with the woman, De la Cruz moved in at one of the vacant rooms in Policarpio’s residence.

It was then when De la Cruz convinced Policarpio to tag along and act as a “lookout” during his attacks against dentists. Policarpio admitted taking part in two robbery operations.

De la Cruz owned up 19 of the 23 recorded cases involving dentists but he vehemently denied raping or molesting his victims. At least 14 of the cases occurred in Quezon City while the rest were in areas where De la Cruz, a native of Sta. Ana, Pampanga, has a relative.

“He’s striking at dental clinics in areas he is very familiar with,” said Torred.

It was Torred who traced Policarpio through his wife, Mary Joy Basiwang, who works as a bartender in Singapore. Using a postpaid cell phone stolen from one of their victims, Policarpio called up his wife three times and the call showed up on the billing statement.

Torred took advantage of the evidence, befriended Basiwang, whose profile picture showed her with a man identified as Ortiz Demonyito, who later turned out to be Policarpio.

After his arrest, Policarpio led Torred to De la Cruz who tried to put up a fight by pulling out a fan knife and a tear gas canister.

Meanwhile, four more victims went to Torred yesterday to file complaints against De la Cruz, who was charged Monday with resisting arrest, possession of illegal drugs and illegal possession of a deadly weapon before the Las Piñas City prosecutors’ office.

Torred said two of the complainants were from Las Piñas City while the remaining two others were from Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. With the additional four complainants, there are now 27 cases against De la Cruz and Policarpio, Torred said.