Dental clinic rapist gets 40 years for Manila attack

MANILA, Philippines – A Manila judge sentenced yesterday afternoon a man to a maximum of 40 years in prison for robbing two dentists and raping one of them in a dental clinic in Paco, Manila last May.

Regional Trial Court Branch 42 Judge Dinnah Topacio also ordered Albert Galang de la Cruz, also known as Aldrin Maliwat, to return the jewelry and valuables he took from his victims or pay them P193,500.

She also told him to pay the dentist he raped P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 for moral damages, and P30,000 as exemplary damages. The judge also ruled that until De la Cruz has fully paid all the damages, he will be charged an interest rate of six percent per year.

De La Cruz is reportedly facing a total of 23 similar cases in Las Pinas, Quezon City, Bulacan, Mandaluyong City, and in Parañaque City.

In her decision, Topacio said the rape victim’s “credibility cannot be doubted because she had absolutely no motive to falsely implicate the accused. A married woman with a husband and children would not publicly admit that she had been sexually abused unless that was the truth.”

The judge dismissed De la Cruz’s claim that he was at home with his partner when the crime was committed, noting that he never presented his partner on the witness stand nor was a statement executed to back up his alibi.

De La Cruz was also caught lying through his teeth. He denied visiting any dental clinic or having a tooth filling, but when he was asked to open his mouth for examination, prosecutors found he had two new tooth fillings, one on his second lower right molar and the other on the last tooth on the lower right portion of his jaw.

The two victims also positively identified him. “Positive identification obliterates the defense of alibi and renders it powerless, especially where such identification is trustworthy and categorical,” Topacio said.

According to court records, De la Cruz entered the victims’ dental clinic at around 1:30 p.m. on May 26, 2011 and claimed he had a tooth that needed filling.

Another patient, an elderly woman with a child, came into the clinic and De la Cruz offered that they be treated first. The dentist denied his offer, and gave him a temporary filling for P200.

De la Cruz said he would stay in the clinic while waiting for his wife. When the woman and child left the clinic, De la Cruz locked the door and pulled out a gun, a tear gas canister and a kitchen knife.

He tied up the two dentists, one to the dental chair and the other to the staircase. He also gagged them with cotton and sealed them with tape.

De la Cruz looted the clinic, then raped one of the victims. He placed his loot in a paper bag and left the clinic at around 3:30 p.m.