Caloocan court junks rape charges vs. Bulacan mayor, others

A Caloocan court has dismissed the rape case against Pandi, Bulacan Mayor Enrico Roque and others after the complainant failed to repeatedly appear before the court.

In a two-page order, the Caloocan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 121 provisionally dismissed the charges against Roque, Pandi Councilor Jonjon Roxas, and government employee Roel Raymundo Jr.

“In view of the repeated failure of the private complainant to appear despite notice and on motion of the defense counsel, let this case be provisionally dismissed with the express conformity of the accused,” the RTC said.

According to the court, the private complainant failed to appear despite the personal service of the subpoena sent to her.

The return of the subpoena shows that she “cannot be located.”

A document from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shared by Roque’s camp also showed that the complainant did not have a record of birth, marriage, or death in the PSA database.

Meanwhile, the court ordered the jail warden of the Pandi Municipal Station to release Roxas and Raymundo unless they are being detained for other lawful causes.

Roque was released from detention in December 2024 after the court granted his motion to quash his arrest warrant.—AOL, GMA Integrated News