The Cebu provincial prosecutor has dismissed a child abuse charge filed by the victim’s mother against a barangay captain in Tabuelan. I am not a lawyer. But as a journalist and a blogger, I just have to ask these layman questions below so I can make sense of the decision.
Lest I be accused of being one-sided, let us present the resolution of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor first and the complaint filed by the caretaker of the Nala Guest House.
Then, let us read the first page of the summary and background of the complaint.
Documents
Please bear with me. This will be a long read.
Omitted
The resolution penned by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Geovanni S. Omega and approved by Provincial Prosecutor Ludivico Vistal Cutaran dismissed a child abuse complaint filed by Juross Salpdan and his mother Kitty Salipdan.
However, the resolution did not mention details that I believe are vital.
The summary cited that Barangay Captain Felix Bicare Rubin managed the Nala Guest House that hosted the disco. He was not a mere guest.
On February 20, 2022, the Province of Cebu supposedly was still under pandemic alert Level 3. A curfew should have been imposed by the said barangay captain. However, the said minors along with 14-year-old Juross Salipdan paid the entrance fee and were allowed to enter. The said commotion that led to the mauling of Salipdan happened at 9:45 in the evening.
Linda Cemine, who identified herself as the caretaker of the Nala Guest House, arrived at the house of Barangay Captain Rubin at 10:45 to blotter an alleged violation of Salipdan. She was not asked why the disco was held at the height of the pandemic and why the minors were allowed to enter despite a curfew.
Questions
Thus, I ask the following questions:
- Is information that the barangay captain managed the Nala Guest House not important? Why omit this piece of information in the resolution?
- Is the context of the pandemic alert and the curfew not vital? Why are the prosecutors glossing over this information?
- The prosecutors stressed the responsibility of the parents vis-a-vis a minor child. How about the responsibility of a barangay captain hosting a disco in a guest house he manages?
- Is it not the duty of the barangay captain to refrain from hosting a disco and imposing a curfew?
- The blotter complaint signed by the caretaker Cemine showed the disco actually happened with the approval of the barangay captain who happened to be the Nala Guest House owner. Why did the prosecutors neglect to look into this?
- By dismissing the case, are the prosecutors depriving the child abuse victim of justice?
Appeal
I hope these layman’s questions will reach the prosecutors concerned and other proper authorities with the view of getting satisfactory answers in the interest of justice.
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