By Jennifer P. Rendon
The refusal of a 16-year-old girl to a man who insisted to bring her home cost her her life.
The victim, Rose (not her real name), was found dead hours after she was reported missing at Barangay San Lucas, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
With clothes still on, her body was concealed in a bunch of grass when found around 5:30 p.m. of Aug. 16, 2020.
The assailant, 30-year-old Bernard Bumacod, who hails from Laguna province and temporarily residing at Barotac Viejo, made an extra-judicial confession that he choked Rose to death.
“He later admitted to us that he also sexually molested the victim,” Police Captain Ken Albert Lepsia, Barotac Viejo police chief, said.
It appeared that the victim was sexually assaulted after she was choked.
Citing the autopsy result, Lepsia said the victim died of asphyxiation by manual strangulation.
SUSPECT’S NARRATION
Bumacod said he saw Rose descending from the foot of the bridge going to the creek past 10 pm Saturday.
He said the girl appeared to be drunk based on her unsteady steps.
Bumacod, who resides under the bridge, offered to bring her home for fear that she might drown in the creek.
Rose lived more than a kilometer from where the incident happened.
Earlier that day, she went out with her friends to buy food at a burger joint.
It was surmised that she drank liquor with her friends prior to the incident.
While walking, she allegedly told her friends that she would pee beneath the bridge.
But calling her out, Rose’s friends decided to leave her, thinking that she would still go for a stroll.
Lepsia said the creek and the bridge have been a common “tambayan” or rendezvous for youngsters in the area.
Last week, they apprehended the girl, her sister, and another friend for loitering late at night.
Meanwhile, Rose allegedly declined Bumacod’s offer to bring her home, but the latter insisted.
This irked Rose who assaulted the suspect by scratching him.
Bumacod said he wasn’t able to think logically after he was attacked. He strangled the defiant teen until she lost consciousness and eventually died.
Bumacod said he then raped her.
He said he tried to bring her body to the other side of the creek but could not hold up to the current. He just decided to cover her with a bunch of grass.
At around 2 am, he confessed to a friend that he strangled a girl. His friend tried to call another friend to ask for help.
When their other friend did not answer, Bumacod’s friend tried to look for the suspect, but the latter was no longer at his house.
The friend later reported the incident to the police.
Lepsia said Rose’s family reported around 8 am Sunday that the girl was missing.
On Sunday afternoon, Bumacod called his friend asking for help since he had no money. He left Barotac Viejo with only P200 which he spent on food and transportation.
Bumacod had no identification card which he could use in the event his live-in partner in Metro Manila would send him money.
He instructed his friend that he would be waiting at Barangay Buntatala, Jaro, Iloilo City.
“At that time, his friend was already with us,” Lepsia said.
The suspect was arrested at around 4 pm Sunday. He was made to locate the body of the victim at 5:30 p.m.
The suspect claimed that he deeply regretted what he did.
Bumacod said it was not his intention to kill her.
He also asked for forgiveness from Rose’s family.
