NCCA urged to probe alleged sexual assault at Iligan workshop

Over 800 people are urging the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to investigate the alleged sexual assault that took place during a writing workshop in Iligan earlier this year.

The individuals signed an open letter calling for a "thorough and independent inquiry" into the incident by the NCAA, together with the the Commission on Human Rights and the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).

The petitioners said the NCCA has funded the Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW) through the years, while the MSU-IIT sponsored and provided the venue for the workshop.

The letter also urged the Ombudsman to "investigate the unjust and improper handling of the survivor’s complaint by the workshop organizers, who are also professors of a state university."

Victim breaks silence

In a Facebook post on August 5, writing fellow Tiny Diapana alleged that she was "sexually taken advantage of" by a panelist and keynote speaker of the INWW, which she attended in May.

She said that during the last night of the workshop, she along with several other writing fellows and workshop panelists were all drinking and celebrating the closing ceremony.

Diapana only recalled bits of pieces of what transpired that night, as she blacked out numerous times.

"The next thing I know, I’m downstairs outside the doorway of my room. Someone’s kissing me – it’s the workshop’s keynote speaker and panelist (KS). We enter the room," she wrote.

She said she blacked out again, but vaguely remember a few of the sexual things that happened. She woke up naked and alone in her room at 6 a.m.

"I don’t remember giving him my consent. Not once during the night. What’s more, intoxicated individuals CANNOT give consent.That’s in the law. A writer of his stature should have known that," she said.

Panelist denies allegations

Keynote speaker and panelist Timothy James Dimacali, who was rumored to be behind the assault, denied the allegations against him in Facebook post on August 4.

"I vehemently deny all of the recent statements made against me, accusing me of sexually assaulting someone during an event where I was a speaker," he said.

"I acknowledge the seriousness of the allegation and I understand that any sexual misconduct should be condemned. But this incident has created so much turbulence that my personal life and my reputation have already severely suffered," he added.

Dimacali also said he will defend himself "with legally admissible proof before the proper forum."

Asking for justice

The open letter circulated online a couple months after the alleged incident took place.

Diapana said that she had already attempted to take up the issue with the workshop director, even sending a letter, along with affidavits of her witnesses, asking for justice.

According to the open letter, it was apparent that the workshop director and the organizing board, Mindanao Creative Writers Group (MCWG), Inc., failed to handle the case in a manner expected of them.

"Instead of providing the survivor with the necessary support, assurance, the slightest 'feminist solidarity,' or at the very least an apology, she appears to be more concerned with protecting the reputation of the keynote speaker and the workshop, as evidenced by the content of her official statement," it said.

"However, the workshop director sent my lawyer a letter dismissing my request," she said. "According to the director, this was simply an issue between me and my assaulter because 'it was done behind closed doors and nobody heard anyone screaming, being dragged down the stairs, or trashing about.'"

'Very unfair'

But the workshop director Christine Ortega cried foul over the criticisms thrown against her and the workshop due to the way she handled the complaint.

"That is very unfair," she told GMA News Online. "I think I handled it very well. First of all, the thing happened after the workshop, not during, and I was not aware of it. I was not personally aware of what happened," she said.

Ortega says Diapana called her 11 days after the workshop closed and opened up about a "possible sexual assault." Diapana had also sent her an incident report.

"I told her 'If true, we do not condone this. We would like to cooperate with you but the best thing to do is to consult your lawyer because we are not lawyers here,'" she said.

After the lawyer got in touch with Ortega, she said she began the investigation by talking to the witnesses.

"I talked to these people and I gathered that it was consensual. Kasi they said there was no struggle naman. They were seen later on petting, kissing in full view of the other fellows. That's why I said, it's like this. Maybe it's consensual and it's between two people behind closed doors," she said.

Ortega said she did not agree to ban Dimacali, as requested by Diapana in her letter, because "he was just a guest" and that would mean casting judgement that he is guilty.

"Only a court of law could do that. So I said, file the case, the two of you. File the cases. Kami we will just cooperate with you, that's all," she said.

She maintained that she handled the issue well, because she acted "promptly."

"What have we done for her, we tried to help her, we assured her that we will help you and you go to a lawyer. We have done our parts already. And besides if there was really rape, she could have talked to me, she could have run to my room, we could have gone to the police, the hospital," she said.

Ortega also said she's "OK" with the petition urging the NCCA to probe the incident.

"If they want to express their support for Tiny, fine, and they have already crucified me and the workshop...it's fine. It's okay with me and everybody else here. But we are surprised because there is so much venom, so much anger. What have we done?" she asked.

Ortega added that the NCCA already got in touch with her.

"They sent me a letter [saying] just to send the report. I just sent the report to them...last night or this morning," she said.

Sought for comment, NCCA chairman National Artist Virgilio Almario said, "I signed a letter this morning (August 8, 2019) asking for a full report from Iligan (organizer)."

"So far, we cannot comment anything about the case until receipt of said report," he added. 

(Disclosure: Timothy James Dimacali is a former scitech editor of GMA News Online. He resigned in 2017.)

—JST, GMA News