Batangas mayor facing rape, human trafficking charges surrenders to NBI

A mayor in Batangas province accused of rape and human trafficking surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday, according to Mark Salazar's report on QRT.

Jay Manalo Ilagan, mayor of Mataas na Kahoy town, has been charged with rape and human trafficking in 2014, the report said. An arrest warrant was issued against him by the Ormoc Regional Trial Court Branch 32.

The report said the complainant was a 19-year-old girl from Quezon City whom Ilagan allegedly brought to Ormoc, Leyte, in 2013 to work in a salon.
It was in Ormoc where the rape supposedly happened, the report said.

In December 2015, police operatives raided Ilagan's farmhouse but failed to arrest him. Instead, the raiding team found high-powered firearms in the property, prompting them to charge him with illegal possession of firearms.

The report said Ilagan surrendered to the NBI with the help of a mediator. He denied the rape charges and dismissed it as part of a demolition job by his political rivals in Batangas.

He will be brought to Ormoc on Tuesday to face the judge who ordered his arrest, the report added.

Ilagan first hit the headlines through a controversial tarpaulin showing his face with an arrow pointing at it and saying "This is where your taxes go."

A photo of the tarpaulin, dubbed by netizens as a layout failure, went viral on social media. —KBK, GMA News