Rape victim seeks legal assist

CANLUBANG, Laguna — A Canlubang high school student who was reportedly raped called yesterday on the Integrated Bar of the Philippine (IBP) and Philippine Trial Lawyers Association (PTLA) asking them to provide her with a lawyer in the preliminary hearing scheduled early next year.

The victim, ‘Camile’ (not her real name), said she is worried that the rape charges filed by police authorities on Oct. 18 will be ‘whitewashed’ in the prosecutor’s office due to the reported strong connections of the relatives of the suspects in Calamba City.

"We can not afford to have a good lawyer. We appeal for legal assistance from the IBP to help us with a counsel for my daughter’s case," Juliana Saliva, the mother’s victim, said. Saliva said she also appealed to the Department of Justice to monitor the case of her daughter and requesting to transfer the venue once the case will start this coming year.

The victim who was allegedly raped by five suspects in a vacant lot in Sitio Putol, Bgy. Canlubang, Calamba City on Oct. 8 continue to suffers mental anguish after she was receiving death threats from unidentified callers. — Ed Amoroso