Incidents of rape reported to the Catanduanes police decreased by more than 30 percent in the first six months of 2024 but this favorable development was overshadowed by a huge, 157 percent surge in the number of violent crimes against women and children.
A recent report rendered before Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) showed that rape cases involving children dropped to 19 this year, compared to 24 in the first half of 2023, while those committed against women fell from the previous six (6) cases to just one from January to June 2024.
However, overall data on violence against women and children stated that for the same period, VAWC incidents reached a total of 67, or an increase of 41 cases from the 26 recorded last year.
Of the 67 cases, 25 of the victims were women while 42 were children, the Catanduanes Police Provincial Office reported.
The capital town of Virac accounted for 39 of the VAWC cases or 58 percent, with the rest coming from San Andres (9), San Miguel (7), Viga (3), Bato (3), Baras (3), Bagamanoc (1) and Gigmoto (1). Only the Caramoran and Pandan police stations recorded zero cases. There is no available data as to the specific criminal offenses as of press time.
On the other hand, the 19 rape cases involving children as victims came from Virac with seven (7), San Andres with four (4), San Miguel with three (3), Viga and Baras with two (2) each, and Gigmoto with one (1). The lone woman rape victim is a resident of Bato town, the report said.
The police disclosed that criminal cases have been filed in 18 of the sexual assault involving minors, with the 19th case, committed by a 14-year-old Child In Conflict with the Law (CICL) considered solved. A similar case has been filed in court by the lone woman victim.
In the profiling of the 20 rape cases, the police determined that majority (12) of the cases occurred in far-flung barangays while only eight (8) were committed in urban areas.
Thirteen of them were perpetrated in the suspect’s house, five (5) in the victim’s residence and two in grassy places.
The sexual assaults were carried out between 6 PM to 11:30 PM and involved 19 pupils and students as well as one housewife ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old.
The suspects, on the other hand, were aged 30 to 55 years-old and were either an abaca stripper (5), farmer (2), businessman (2), teacher, fisherman, construction worker, vendor, tricycle driver, student and four unemployed individuals.
As to their relation to the victims, the suspects were either an uncle (5 cases), neighbor (5), father (4), stepfather (2), step grandfather (1), minor, chatmate, and acquaintance.
The CatPPO report identified as factor contributing to the occurrences of rape the familiarity of the victim with the suspect, meeting up with a boyfriend, and engaging in a drinking spree, with the suspect taking advantage of the victim weakened by alcohol intoxication.
In response to the considerable increase in VAWC incidents, the Catanduanes police has vowed to strengthen an all-out advocacy campaign on laws protecting women and children in partnership with other agencies, stakeholders and non-government organizations.
It has conducted RED Teaming to capacitate and assess the ability, decision making and readiness of investigators and other personnel, through the close supervision of the chief of police, in handling women and children who are victims of abuse.
Case conferences are being constantly conducted to identify gaps in understanding why incidents occur, the reason for case dismissal, follow-up of archived cases, and filing of unsolved cases, it added.
Close collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team is also being done for the prevention and solution of rape cases.
Among the best practices formulated in the campaign is CATPPO IMPLAN 01-2018 on OPLAN KASALI KA for “Karahasang Sekswal Ating Labanan, Isumbong sa Kapulisan,” a strategy plan of the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) to address cases of sexual abuse.
“It involved community- and school-based activities formulated by the Provincial Police Office with the purpose of having a unified activity concerning advocacy and intervention programs for all victims of sexual abuse,” the police stated.
The different police stations in the 11 municipalities are also running their own intervention programs: Project ALFA (Alagang Familia) of Baras MPS which seeks to reduce the number of abused women and children and educate the community to prevent such abusive incidents in a proactive approach while building up the image of the PNP personnel as trustworthy, dependable and professional service providers;
OPLAN ALISTO (Kababaihan Ating Gabayan at Protektahan, Upang Karahasan Maiwasan) of Bato MPS, which involved extensive, deliberate, intensified and focused social investigations, police operations and interventions in coordination with the local government unit, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, other law enforcement agencies, NGOs, the religious sector, force multipliers, business entities, AFP counterparts, the community and other stakeholders;
Movement Against Rape and Lascivious Act (MARLA) of Caramoran MPS, which is focused on raising awareness, advocating for policy changes, and empowering communities to prevent and respond effectively to the crimes, through the promotion of gender equality and provision of support for the creation of a safer and more inclusive society;
Pandan LGU’s Adopt a Child Victim of Sexual Abuse, which seeks to provide a healthy home to abused children, with basic needs and financial assistance provided in collaboration with the LGU;
LINGAP KAPWA (Labanan at Iwasan Natin Gawin Ang Pang-aabuso, Kababaihan Alagaan at Proteksyunan Wag Abusuhin) policy of San Andres MPS to address sexual abuse;
OPLAN Serbisyong MALASAKIT (Mamamayan Ating Labanan Anumang Sekswal o Abuso sa Kababaihan o Kabataan, ito’s Ipaglaban sa Tulong ng Kapulisan) strategy of the San Miguel police;
Project PEACE (Promore and End Abuse Against Children Everywhere) Starts With Me, the Viga MPS’ bid to create multitude awareness on ending child abuse, rape and other social programs relevant to the vulnerability of children through sustained, productive interaction with them; and
Virac MPS’ Oplan Sagip Abuso, which vows to sustain the proactive and reactive efforts to address the occurrence of incidents by encouraging the community, other government agencies and stakeholders to unite with the local police by constructing a partition or enclosure within the house as one of the interventions to minimize, if not totally eradicate, crimes against women and children.
In an interview with the Tribune, PLt. Col. Ma. Cecilia Zuñiga said the increased number of reported VAWC cases can be partly attributed to the awareness campaign being conducted by the police in the community, in schools as well as in barangays.
Male adults are also among those invited to the village-based campaign, she disclosed, as they are most likely to commit violence against women and children and are thus warned of the stiffer penalties against such crimes, the chief of the PPO’s Provincial Investigation and Detection Unit stated.
Some of the cases occurred years ago, including one child who said the sexual abuse perpetrated against her started a decade earlier and that she didn’t know how to report the matter to authorities.
The incidents are usually reported by the young victim to either their teachers or barangay officials, with the child then requesting that she would not return home, asking to stay with a relative.
PLt. Col. Zuñiga bared that mothers do not usually interfere in such cases, fearing that her husband, the family’s only breadwinner, would leave them.
One rape case was dismissed when it was found out during preliminary investigation that the elderly woman had a relationship with her son-in-law, whom she sued for rape after the latter refused to go on with the sexual congress.
Another young female was victimized by her chatmate when she met up with him while another child was taken advantage of by her own teacher.
The police officer, under whose office the WCPD operates, ruled the declining moral values in the family as shown by the remorseless and beastly deeds being committed by fathers against their own daughters without regard for their welfare and future.
Zuñiga said that the police need the greater participation of other stakeholders, like the LGUs, the community and concerned government agencies, in the campaign to reduce and end VAWC.