Paranaque tanods arrest man accused of raping 15-year-old cousin

Alert barangay tanods arrested a 26-year-old man shortly after his first cousin, who is only 15 years old, complained that she had been raped by the man in Parañaque City over the weekend.

The suspect, Marvin Repalda, denied the allegations when he and the complainant were presented yesterday to Mayor Edwin Olivarez, who praised the barangay tanods for swiftly acting on the complaint.

Repalda has undergone inquest proceedings before the City Prosecutor’s Office which recommended no bail based on the complainant’s sworn statement and a medico-legal report as well as the girl’s birth certificate showing that she is a minor.

“It is now up for the courts to decide on your innocence or guilt,” Olivarez told the suspect. “You will be accorded all the rights to defend yourself and present evidence to disprove the accusations of your cousin.”

The alleged rape took place in the girl’s house in Silverio Compound, Barangay San Isidro on the night of August 22. The girl reported the incident to the barangay the following night which led to her cousin’s immediate arrest.

San Isidro Barangay Chairman Eusebio “Kabayan” Japlos said the complainant’s parents were not around that night because her father is serving time at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa where her mother is also working as a vendor.

In her sworn statement, the girl said she and Repalda’s live-in partner along with two other friends had a drinking session in their house on the night of August 22. Around midnight, she said she got drunk and started throwing up so she went to their bathroom downstairs.

She claimed that her cousin followed her inside the bathroom where she raped her.

Repalda denied the allegations and said the girl has a boyfriend whom he said was probably the one who had sex with her on the night that the alleged rape happened.

Public Information Office

City Government of Parañaque

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