6 cleared in rape of nurse: Suspects to file illegal arrest charges

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – The six suspects in the gang-rape of a volunteer nurse in South Upi, Maguindanao have been cleared of the crime.

They are to file charges of illegal arrest and detention against the rank and file of their municipal police.

Angelito Rasalan, a senior lawyer of the Public Attorney’s Office here, said his six clients implicated in the rape of Florence (not her real name) are now preparing charges against the policemen that hauled them to jail on suspicion they were the same men that gang-raped the victim.

“They were arrested without warrants at a time, or situation when warrantless arrest could not be applied to them,” Rasalan said without elaborating.

The six were freed Oct. 13 by Maguindanao’s provincial fiscal, Akil Balt, for lack of evidence linking them to the crime.  

All of the six men – Rustom Sangclap, Gleen Saldoa, Michael Candelario, Jeffrey Fernandez, Darwin Escalona and Eugene Biscara – are now back in South Upi.

The rape victim is still undergoing medication at the Davao Medical Center. The head injuries she sustained in the attack left half of her body paralyzed.