9 teenage boys hunted for ‘rape’ of 5 girls in frat rites

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Nine boys, aged 14 to 16, are wanted by the local police for allegedly raping five girls, aged 12 to 15, in two separate initiation rites for their fraternity called "Wild Child."

SPO4 Teresita Ponseca, of the Women and Children’s Protection Desk of the San Fernando police, said the nine boys went into hiding after one of the five girls finally revealed to her family that she and her four friends were allegedly raped during initiation rites last Feb. 25 and 28.

The suspects and the victims are all from Barangay San Nicolas here. Because they are all minors, the police withheld their identities.

The disclosure made by one of the girls finally prompted the other victims to also reveal what allegedly happened during the initiation rites held in a vacant house along Maligaya street in Barangay San Nicolas.

The girls said the nine boys, who were their fraternity seniors, blindfolded them and then proceeded to sexually molest them.

Because their eyes were covered, the girls could not say who among the nine actually raped them. They said the boys threatened to harm them if they would reveal what happened.

"They invited us to join the fraternity to meet new friends but they abused us instead," one of the girls told investigators.

Mely Pangilinan, management services head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s regional office here, said once tracked down, the nine suspects will be brought to the DSWD rehabilitation center in Magalang town.

Pangilinan said they are covered by Article 172 of the Child Welfare Code, under which their court sentence, if they are convicted, would be suspended until they reach the age of majority.

She, however, said that if their record in the rehabilitation center is good, they could be allowed to resume normal lives with their families.

"This would depend on the recommendation of the DSWD. If their rehabilitation fails, the case would be brought to the court for dispensation," she said.

Meanwhile, the police are also hunting down a suspected lesbian who allegedly stabbed to death last Sunday her former girlfriend who had opted to live with a man in Mexico town.

Police said the suspect, Rosana Franco, confronted victim Annaliza Salamat at the apartment that she and her boyfriend, Marshall Cantapay, were renting in Mexico.

At the height of their argument, Franco allegedly stabbed Salamat in the left arm and left chest.