Fiscal clears 6 suspects in nurse's rape

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – For lack of evidence, the provincial prosecutor of Maguindanao has ordered the release of six suspects in the gang rape of a 21-year-old volunteer nurse in South Upi town more than two weeks ago.

This, as Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier had directed the authorities to continue questioning the six suspects on their alleged involvement in the crime.

Still in police custody is Melchor Fulgencio, who earlier had owned up to the crime but later claimed that he was merely forced to turn himself in.

Fulgencio surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao a week after the incident and admitted having supposedly raped the nurse along with a certain Edwin near the South Upi Municipal Hospital.

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) yesterday expressed disappointment over the release of the six rape suspects.         

“We think that there is evidence against one or two of the suspects. Not all of them should have been released… We are disappointed because now that they are all out, who will be responsible for what happened?” PNA president Dr. Teresita Barcelo said.

Barcelo said the PNA is now seeking an audience with De Lima to discuss the matter.

Maguindanao provincial prosecutor Akil Balt signed on Tuesday a resolution ordering the release of the six suspects for lack of evidence.

The inter-agency Task Force Florence, jointly led by the CIDG-ARMM and the National Bureau of Investigation-Region 12, immediately carried out Balt’s resolution.

South Upi residents had protested the arrest of the six suspects, as they were convinced they were mere fall guys and that the real culprits remained at large.

Local leaders in South Upi, some 50 kilometers southwest of this city, are also not convinced that Fulgencio, a former militiaman, could be the real molester.

The victim is now confined in a Davao City hospital. The head injuries she sustained in the attack left half of her body paralyzed. – With Sheila Crisostomo