Gabriela-Southern Tagalog condemned and expressed concern over a new rape case involving police in the Cavite province. An alias “Lieutenant Edward” raped a 34-year-old female detainee inside the police station in Noveleta, Cavite on September 4.
The victim said the suspect also raped her when she was imprisoned in June in exchange for a lighter charge.
The group stated that police personnel unsurprisingly lead in raping women. Despite presenting the institution as a “protector” of the people, it remains a defender of the ruling class, just like the military.
It said this is not the first case of police raping women and children. Using their authority, cases of violence against women became rampant, permitted and enforced by the state, including catcalling, groping, sexual harassment, sexual and physical abuse, trafficking, and blackmail.
On July 27, 2020, CAFGU member Leoven Julita illegally arrested “Belle,” a 15-year-old girl in Quezon province. Belle was brought to a military camp in Lopez, where soldiers mentally and physically tortured and repeatedly raped her.
In 2018, Manila Police District’s Police Officer 1 Eduardo Valencia raped a 15-year-old girl in exchange for the release of her imprisoned parents. In the same year, he also raped an 11-year-old girl in Sampaloc, Manila while conducting a “war on drugs” operation in the area.
“It is infuriating that amid the people’s worsening poverty driven by state corruption and oppression, from then until the current US-Marcos Jr regime, authorities exploit the people’s poverty to further trample on the rights of women,” the group explained.
“GABRIELA Southern Tagalog challenges the US-Marcos regime: if it is sincere in ending violence against women and children, it must begin within the ranks of the AFP-PNP, which has a long history of violating the rights of Filipino women and children,” Gabriela ST stated.
