A male owner of a resort in Pamilacan Island off mainland Baclayon has been accused of sexually assaulting a British tourist who was staying in one of his establishment’s cottages.
The 29-year-old female victim whose identity was withheld by authorities reported to police that suspect Gwendolyn Baugbog, owner of Nita’s Nipa Hut, groped her while she was snorkeling at around 4 p.m. on Sunday.
According to Baclayon police chief Sr. Insp. Raymund Halasan, Baugbog was guiding the victim as she was snorkeling when he suddenly grabbed her hand and placed it on his genitals.
The victim swam away from Baugbog but he followed her then took both her hands and placed them on his waists as he touched her private part.
“Do you want this,” Baugbog reportedly said to the victim.
Halasan said that the victim was able to flee and lock herself inside her room for the rest of the day but Baugbog allegedly started to knock on her door at 1 a.m. on Monday.
Baugbog pestered the victim throughout the wee hours and threw a small rock at her room to wake her up.
“Nanuktok kono ang suspek sa iyang kwarto unya nagpa-iwag iwag ug flashlight, gi-buno pa ug gamay nga bato aron lang makamata hangtud nga namulong si Baugbog nga “can i sleep with you? Apan wala kini mogawas ug nag-pretend lang siya nga natulog,” Halasan said.
According to Halasan, nothing happened on Monday morning and Baugbog accompanied the victim as she returned to Baclayon’s central district.
The victim then looked for a place to check in in Tagbilaran City and asked help from the city’s tourism office which in turn assisted her in filing a report at a police station.
Halasan said that they invited the suspect for questioning at the Baclayon Police Station but he denied the allegations against him.
According to Baugbog, he only grabbed the victim’s hand due to the strong waves and nothing else happened after that.
Meanwhile, the victim was not planning on filing charges against Baugbog but she told authorities that she wanted to have the suspect’s resort shut down.
Halasan said that after the incident, they ran a background check on Baugbog’s business and found out that it was operating illegally as it had no business permit.
The case has been forwarded to the mayor’s office for proper action against Baugbog for the construction of the small cottages without a permit from the local government unit.
According to Halasan, Baugbog also previously surrendered under Oplan Tokhang as a drug user. (Allen Doydora)