A complaint of alleged rape with homicide has been filed before the City Prosecutor’s Office against the estranged boyfriend of victim, Rodalyn Gamba, following the arrest from a hot pursuit that reached a far-flung area in sitio Sta. Ana in Poblacion, Impasugong, Bukidnon.
Rape with homicide
Police Senior Inspector Jacinto Mandal Jr., who heads the criminal investigation section of the Tagbilaran City Police Station, filed on Monday, the complaint of rape with homicide against Gamba’s estranged boyfriend, Cristino Luzano Maligmat, a 19-year-old driver-mechanic graduate of Bohol Technology Institute.
Maligmat, however, missed the commencement exercises late last week while he was in Bukidnon.
Mandal had seven witnesses in tow who issued testimonies that Maligmat was seen together with the victim the night before her body was found dumped on a bush in a vacant lot several meters from the roadside of B. Inting St. extension early morning on March 21.
The witnesses stated in their affidavits that Maligmat was seen on a motorcycle with the victim that night.
However, Maligmat continued to deny the allegation even with the witnesses’ positive identification of the motorcycle he was driving while the victim was on the backseat.
The investigators also used the exchange of text messages between the victim and her estranged boyfriend that led to the suspicion of his hand in the crime.
Maligmat’s mother was also quoted having said that her son had even sent her a text message that he wanted her to accompany him during the commencement exercises.
The hot pursuit for Maligmat clinched on March 28 in sitio Sta. Ana in the municipality of Impasugong, Bukidnon.
Mandal Jr. confirmed the arrest of Maligmat, who hailed from barangay Bicao, Carmen but served as stay-in worker for a family in Loon, together with his father, Cristino Maligmat.
The composite team from the Tagbilaran City police, Bukidnon Police Provincial Police, Police Regional Office (PRO)-7, PRO-10, intelligence officers, the Regional Public Safety Management Company (RPSMC) and the Impasugong Police Station conducted the hot pursuit after identifying the alleged assailants based on the testimonies of at least four eyewitnesses by then.
Now, investigators gathered seven witnesses against Maligmat already.
The authorities arrested Maligmat at 11:35 a.m. last Saturday, March 28, in a secluded area in sitio Sta. Ana of barangay Poblacion, Impasugong in the province of Bukidnon—which Mandal estimated to be about 100 kilometers from Cagayan de Oro City. Mandal said the arrest of Maligmat had been undertaken smoothly.
Mandal arrived Bohol with Maligmat last Sunday and turned him over to the city police station where he was detained at the lock-up jail.
He further narrated that, at first, they had a hard time tracking down the alleged assailant, being identified only by a nickname, Christian. He said the victim’s friends and relatives had no idea about his family name and address.
With the assistance of concerned citizens, the investigators traced the whereabouts of the alleged assailant’s father.
An undercover agent managed to get information from the father on March 22, a day after the victim’s body was found, that the possible assailant already fled to Bukidnon, and was further confirmed with the manifesto of passengers coming from Bohol.
Mandal said Police Provincial Director Dennis Agustin only sent him and another officer to Bukidnon and coordinated with PRO-10, the RPSMC, and the police forces of Bukidnon. The intelligence officer of PRO-10 happened to be Agustin’s former classmate and served as their link to the area.