By: Jennifer P. Rendon
FOR ALMOST 24 hours, members of Janiuay Police Station trudged several villages of Janiuay, Iloilo looking for the suspects who allegedly raped and killed a 19-year-old student.
But all along, the real suspect was lurking right under their noses.
“It appeared that the person who masterminded the rape-slay turned out to be the father of the first suspect we took in custody,” Police Captain Dadje Delima, Janiuay police chief, said.
The suspect, Rene (not his real name), 42, was arrested Sunday evening while on his way to the police station.
(We are withholding the suspect’s real name because his son, who is a minor, is also involved in the case – editor)
No less than his 15-year-old son Nonoy (also not his real name) tagged Rene in the rape and murder of Ronalyn Bravio.
Rene insisted on his innocence at first, but at around 11 a.m. Monday, he admitted to the crime, according to authorities.
Before his arrest, Rene was just outside the Janiuay police station while his son was in police custody on suspicion that the latter assaulted the victim.
“Gin-ako n’ya nga naluyag s’ya sa biktima (He admitted that he romantically liked the victim),” Delima said.
When asked why he did not pursue his feeling for her, Rene claimed he knew the victim’s family will be against it since they are relatives.
“Maybe, it was more of an obsession on the part of the suspect,” Delima said.
The suspect is estranged from his wife for eight years already. His wife is working in Manila and chose to only get in touch with Nonoy and his 8-year-old brother.
Rene even claimed that he could see his wife in Bravio.
But it could also be attributed to the possibility that the suspect had a habit of peeping on his female neighbors.
In the words of his son, “man-an man ran sa amon to nga nagapanglingling tana (Everybody knows that he peeped on our neighbours).”
There was also an instance when the suspect allegedly tried to enter the victim’s house late at night.
But Bravio’s sibling was alerted and called out the suspect’s name.
For two weeks, the suspect, who is a habitual drinker in the area, did not buy liquor himself. He instead sent his son to buy liquor for him.
FALL GUY
Police took Nonoy in their custody few hours after the body of Bravio was discovered around 6:50 p.m. Saturday.
Nonoy then named a certain Raymart Estoque, an 18-year-old Grade 10 student from Barangay Canawili, Janiuay, as the alleged mastermind.
He later modified his statement and added two more cohorts in the gruesome act.
Bravio, a Business Management student in a private college in Iloilo City, was found naked in a rice field. Her boyfriend, a resident of Barangay Patong-Patong, Janiuay, discovered her body. Her hands and legs were hogtied.
She was rushed to Dr Ricardo Ladrido Memorial District Hospital in Lambunao town where she was declared dead around 7:12 p.m.
Delima said the victim suffered a stab injury on her abdomen, hematomas on her forehead and right eye, and hymenal laceration.
There was also indication that she was strangled.
Nonoy initially denied any involvement in the incident but later named three more suspects who allegedly took turns in raping the victim.
He then pointed to Estoque as the one who stabbed, strangled, and hit the victim on the head.
Delima said they went to Estoque’s house at 1 a.m. Sunday but his father claimed that the boy did not go home. The father also assured that he will order his son to surrender.
True enough, Estoque voluntarily turned himself in to the Janiuay police at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“He was taken aback when he saw Nonoy but he appeared to have no grasp of the gravity of the crime being attributed to him. He was even smiling,” Delima said.
Estoque vehemently denied the accusations against him and claimed that he does not even know Nonoy.
After Estoque’s arrest, Delima said they went on to look for the two other suspects.
“But we couldn’t find them at the place where they allegedly resided,” he said.
It was then that investigators doubted Nonoy’s claims.
After some questioning, he pointed to his father as the real suspect who killed Bravio.
TIRED OF LYING
Nonoy said his father forced him to make stories and implicate three other youngsters in Bravio’s death.
He claimed he was tired of lying and his conscience was bogging him.
Nonoy claimed that Rene waylaid Bravio after the latter bought bath soap at a store.
The suspect covered her mouth and dragged her to the rice field.
Nonoy said his father summoned him and asked for his help. The father then stabbed the victim once with an ice pick before sexually molesting her.
Rene later told Nonoy to also rape the victim.
At that time, Bravio was too weak to resist. But she managed to scar the teenager on the back, face, and arms.
After the rape, Rene took a branch of a mahogany tree and struck the victim on the head thrice. He then strangled her with a rope and tied her limbs.
Rene allegedly planned to bury the victim but Nonoy resisted, telling his father to allow someone to find Bravio’s body.
It was Bravio’s boyfriend who later discovered her body. She had been talking to her boyfriend over the phone while on her way home.
But after sometime, her boyfriend could no longer contact her until he decided to drive to Abangay to check what happened to Bravio.
Along with the victim’s cousin, they began looking for her until she was found naked in the rice field.
Nonoy even went with them in looking for the girl.
Delima said they are preparing charges for rape with homicide against Rene.
Nonoy might become a witness against his father, he added.
