A panel of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the indictment of an alleged communist leader for nine counts of rape for allegedly sexually abusing his subordinate in the group.
The DOJ said the resolution issued by prosecutors last February 2 recommended the filing of information for nine counts of rape against Joel Caliliw, a known leader of rebel group Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF).
“The informations for three (3) counts of rape shall be filed in the Regional Trial Court of San Jose, Nueva Ecija and the informations for six (6) counts of rape shall be filed in the Regional Trial Court of Umingan, Pangasinan,” the DOJ said, in a statement.
Caliliw is detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) provincial jail in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya.
It can be recalled that the complaint against Caliliw was filed by a female complainant, who was identified as “Lady Miranda,” a former member of the CPP/NPA/NDF cadre.
“The filing of these charges arose from the ordeals suffered by complainant from Joel Caliliw who sexually abused her without consent, through force, violence, and intimidation and who took advantage of his authority over her as vice platoon commanding officer thrice in March 2018 at Carrangalan, Nueva Ecija and at least six times in April 2018 at Umingan, Pangasinan,” the DOJ statement said.
“Respondent Caliliw’s alibis, denial of allegations of rape, and imputing blame on ‘Lady Miranda’ are self-serving and deserves no weight in law. Instead, the unequivocal statements of ‘Lady Miranda’ and the fact that she was able to positively identify respondent Caliliw as the culprit are given more credence,” it added.
Two rape cases had earlier been filed against alleged CDP/NPA/NDF squad leader and vice commander Rey Dela Peña also on the complaint filed by ‘Lady Miranda.”
“The cases against Dela Pena were filed with the Regional Trial Courts of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija,” the DOJ said. Dela Pena is detained at the police station in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.