Elder sister of girl who wrote Marcos among rape victims of barangay kagawad’s son

The sister of a young girl who wrote to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to report the alleged abuses of a barangay official in her community in Tinambac, Camarines Sur is a person with disability (PWD) who was allegedly raped by one of the local official’s sons.

According to Emil Sumangil’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, the rape victim being referred to by the 11-year-old letter-writer is her elder sister.

A source familiar with the cases told GMA News that the letter-writer’s sister was allegedly raped twice – on November 17, 2022 and February 14, 2023.

The sister was then aged 22 and has an intellectual disability.

“She was coming home from school. She was about 50 meters, I believe, from her house and then she got raped. She was raped twice. The first rape was at gunpoint and then the second not at gunpoint,” the source said.

The letter-writer’s sister got pregnant and was later forced by the suspect to abort the child.

“They kidnapped her through one of the tauhans (men) and they took her from Tinambac to Montalban kung saan pinaraspa ‘yung child (where the child underwent an abortion),” the source alleged.

The suspect is the son of a barangay kagawad in their community who is now behind bars. The source said a case for rape has been filed against the suspect, but the kidnapping case has not been filed.

The informant alleged that another son of the same barangay official allegedly raped another young girl in 2018.

“The kagawad, he has these sons, two of them have raped children in our community,” the source claimed.

Camille Dowling, director of the mission that took in “Mau,” the letter-writer, as well as her sister and her mother, spoke to her classmates about her plan to submit a petition on the alleged abuses of the barangay official’s sons to authorities.

The petition was signed by 201 residents and was successfully submitted to local officials in Tinambac. 

“Maglalakad po ako ng 14 kilometers. I’d like to ask for your permission. And then what she did was she walked out with a sign that said, ‘I just want to go to school and not be raped,’” Dowling said.

“Mau” was six years old when she and her family was first sheltered by the non-profit Christian missionary group based in Tinambac. Her mother works as a cook at the shelter.

She later thought of writing to Marcos to report the alleged abuses of the girls in their community, including the abuse inflicted on her own sister who has an intellectual disability.

“This is their idea. So I think napagod lang po talaga ‘yung mga children (the children got tired of it) and they wanted to stand up for ‘yung kanilang mission (their mission). I am not surprised sa kanyang (at her) love and bravery. We’re very proud of who she is,” Dowling said.

The letter was posted on the non-profit group’s social media page. The President commented on the post and said he has ordered the deployment of policemen to their community.

Marcos said the heart-felt letter of “Mau” brought him close to tears and made him “very angry,” adding that policemen will protect “Mau” and her sisters and will find anyone who hurt them.

He also assured that the letter-writer will be able to continue studying and reading for as long as she wants.

Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has deployed a specialized police team to the young girl’s community to assist her and to investigate the allegations.

Nartatez later said the barangay kagawad’s son who allegedly sexually abused the letter-writer’s sister has been behind bars since 2023 over concerns of alleged harassment, community safety issues, and a previous rape case.

The accused is facing a rape case filed in 2023 and is detained at the Tinangis Penal Farm.

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian vowed that the government will extend financial assistance to the families in the young girl’s community, as well as psycho-emotional counselling, and support for legal assistance. — JMA, GMA News