NEWS
Dismiss ... from p.2
4 Coeds...
women's desk of the Argao police, said
her office would file charges of acts of
lascviousness in relation to Republic
Act 7610, or the Anti-Child Abuse Act
against the teacher since one of the
complainants is 16 years old.
The teacher would also be charged
with acts of lasciviousness based on
the complaints of three other students,
Catipay said.
Two 18-year-old coeds said they
were maliciously touched by their
teacher, who allegedly ran his fingers
on the garter of one of the girls' under-
wear which was protruding above her
waistline.
The fourth complainant, 19-year-
old Angel (not her real name), said the
teacher tried to get near her to pursue
lewd designs while they were alone in
his office. She was there to discuss her
grade. She was able to run out of the
room.
Catipay said she learned that the
parents and guardians of the students
talked to officials of the Office of the
Ombudsman in the Visayas based in
Cebu City about filing an administra-
tive case against the teacher.
CEBU DAILY NEWS called up the CSC-
ST-AIFC office yesterday to talk to the
teacher but was told by Henedina Bajo,
the school's human resource officer,
that he had already left the office.
Bajo said that although the school
had not received any complaint from
the students, the management would
act on it in order to protect the image
of the school and its students.
On Tuesday, according to student
Judith, they had a meeting with the
teacher and school campus director
Pedrito Pontillas inside the guidance
office.
The teacher reportedly apologized
to them but Judith said she did not feel
his sincerity.
Judith said she could forgive him
but would still pursue the filing
charges to prevent him from sexually
harassing other students.
According to Judith, she and three
other female students were told by
their teacher to see him in his office
about 7 p.m. on Monday.
When it was her turn, she sat on a
long bench inside the office. The
teacher then told her that her
midterm grade was 3.1. The passing
grade is 3.
She said she was surprised because
she knew that her grade was 2.6.
“Mibarug siya sa akong atubangan,
tapos migakos siya nako. Nagtuo lang ko
nga mi-unong siya sa akong kaguol, then
mura naman og misobra, kay mi-kiss
naman siya, gikuptan ang akong na-
wong mi-kiss siya sa akong agtang, sa
aping, sa lips napod sunod.
Milingiw ko kay mura kog nauwaw
nga nahadlok, nga wa ko kasabot sa
akong gibati (He stood in front of me
then he hugged me. I thought he was
just sympathizing with my grief. But
then he went overboard becuse he
kissed me. He held my face, kissed my
forehead, my cheek and then my lips. I
THURSDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2008 | CEBU DAILY NEWS
from p.1
looked away because I felt ashamed at
the same time afraid. I didn't know
what to feel),” Judith said.
Judith said she stood up but the
teacher embraced her tightly and
kissed her again. Then, according to
the girl, the teacher held both her
hands and placed them on his waist.
She tried to run to the door but Du-
ran chased her and held her hands
again.
“He said `we have to talk' and he
kissed me again. He said `I don’t know,
I don’t know.' He said he did not know
what he felt, that he wanted a commit-
ment from both of us. I was trembling
in front of him and I cried.”
“He took my hands and placed them
around his waist. I was feeling bad. He
kissed me repeatedly and told me
'don’t cry...don’t cry'...He said he didn't
want me to cry because my other class-
mates might notice it,”she said.
But she kept on crying, prompting
the teacher to allow her to leave the of-
fice.
She said she told her close friend
and board mate what happened. On
Tuesday, she told her parents.
Judith said it was the second time
the teacher had called her for a meet-
ing.
The first time was a day after their
midterm exam. She said the teacher
touched her and her classmates' arms
but they just ignored it, thinking that
he was just being brotherly.
Another complainant, 19-year-old
Angel said she was the first one called
inside the teacher's office on Monday
night.
Angel said the teacher asked her if
she knew her grade for the
midter m.
She said her grade was 2.7 but the
teacher told her that it was 3.1.
“He asked me if I wanted to increase
my grades, if I wanted to pass the fi-
nals,” Angel said in Cebuano.
The teacher then went near her but
Angel quickly left the office.
Angel was smarting from her last
encounter with her teacher.
She said that after their midterm ex-
am in January, Duran called her and
told her that she had a failing grade.
“He touched me and wiped off my
sweat. I thought nothing of it because
to me, he was just my teacher”, Angel
said.
The next day while she was sitting
on the stair, the teacher sat close beside
her and asked her if she could give him
massage.
Out of fear, she said she told Duran
that she didn’t know.
Angel said a classmate also com-
plained that her Duran touched her
underwear, which was seen over in the
waistline of her jeans.
Angel’s aunt, a former vice mayor in
one of the southern towns, said the
teacher should be fired as teacher.
“Manyakis gyuyd na siya”, the aunt
said.
Angel’s uncle is also a police offi-
cer.
ize the registration of im-
ported vehicles, instead of
delegating it to the region-
al offices.
Raul Aguilos, LTO 7
Director, in a separate in-
terview, said that he has
yet to receive any order
from the central office.
Aguilos said that he
will abide by any order
from his superiors since
the central office is spear-
heading the investiga-
tions against LTO offi-
cials allegedly involved in
the scams.
The director said all
the registration heads in
C e n t r a l Vi s a y a s w e r e
busy preparing their re-
ports to be submitted to
the House committee on
NBI... from p.2
graft office will also ask the
Commission on Audit
( C OA ) i f t h e m i s s i n g
lampposts were part of the
contract between the con-
tractor and the DPWH for
the streetlighting project
intended for the 12th As-
sociation of the South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Summit.
He said that until now,
no Fabmik representative
notified the Ombudsman's
Office of being responsible
for the removal of the
lampposts.
The anti-graft office is
looking into the regularity
of removing the lampposts
despite a pending case to
avoid setting a precedent.
“Ang issue ngayon if part
ba sa contract o hindi ang
na-remove na lampposts. If
kasama sa contrata yun at
Writ... from p.2
Truya, is the first case gov-
erning the rule on the Writ
of Amparo in the Visayas.
Ya n o c a n d A r a n t e
claimed that the military
took their kin on suspicion
that they were involved with
communist rebels. They
said, however, that the two
men that the military took
were “mere farmers.”
The writ approved by the
Supreme Court in Septem-
ber 2007 is a remedy avail-
able to any person “whose
right to life, liberty and se-
curity has been violated or is
threatened with violation by
an unlawful act or omission
of a public official or em-
ployee.”
The writ covers extralegal
good governance as to
the exact number of vehi-
cles registered in their
districts in 2006 and
2007.
He s a i d l e g i s l a t o r s
were directing the regis-
tration heads to correct
some errors in the data in
the motor registration
because the figures from
the central office and the
records of LTO Central
Visayas did not match.
Mea nw h i l e , D e p u t y
Ombudsman for the
Visayas Pelagio Apostol
said that the anti-graft
office will be asking the
LTO central office to fur-
nish them copies of their
findings.
Ap o s t o l s a i d t h a t a
nasa custody ng govern-
ment yun, medyo may mali
ang pagkuha (The issue
now is if the removed
lampposts are part of the
contract. And if they were
removed when they were
under the custody of the
government, then there's
something wrong there),”
he said.
A Fabmik representa-
tive, lawyer Romeo
Fuentes, earlier met with
Agustinito Hermoso, DP-
WH Central Visayas legal
officer, and told Hermoso
that he authorized the re-
moval of the lampposts.
Fuentes said that the
lampposts were removed
b e c a u s e t h e y we re n o
longer part of the contract.
Mandaue City Adminis-
trator Briccio Boholst, in a
separate interview, said the
killings and enforced disap-
pearances or threats.
With the orders to return
the writ to the CA, the re-
spondents including the
President would file a writ-
ten return together with
supporting affidavits, which
among others will contain
their lawful defense to show
that they did not violate or
threaten with violation to
right to life, liberty and secu-
rity of the aggrieved party.
Both petitions will be
heard on Feb. 28.
Yanoc claimed that her
son, Reynold, 18, was taken
by the 61st Infantry Battal-
ion (IB) on Dec. 7, 2007.
Contrary to the assurance,
the military did not bring
35
fact-finding inquiry has
been conducted by their
office after the Cebu Auto
Dealers Association com-
plained about the dis-
crepancy of data in the
cars that they sold in
2006 and those registered
by the LTO over the same
period.
He said that they will
also ask the House com-
mittee on good gover-
nance to provide them
w i t h p e r t i n e n t d o c u-
ments relative to the in-
quiry on car smuggling.
“We are not favoring
anyone. We will file the
necessary case against the
officials concerned if the
evidence warrants,” he
said.
city government is prepare
the report with the affi-
davits of some personnel
who informed them of the
removal of the lampposts
in August 2007.
Boholst said the state-
ments of their personnel
revealed that the represen-
tatives of Fabmik were re-
sponsible for removing the
lampposts.
He also said that he will
also verify from the engi-
neering department who
prepared the programs of
works of the decorative
lampposts installed in
Mandaue City to deter-
mine if the 44 alleged miss-
ing lampposts were part of
the contract for the street-
lighting project for the
Asean meeting. / C O R R E-
S P O N D E N T J O L E N E R . B U L A M-
BOT
back her son.
She last saw her son on
Jan. 25, when soldiers es-
corted him to barangay Ta-
lalac in Sta. Catalina town,
Negros Oriental.
Arante, for her part, said
seven soldiers took her hus-
band Flaviano, 53, forcibly
for no apparent reason. The
soldiers, she said, wanted to
“borrow” her husband for
two days, after which he
would be returned.
Arante said their daugh-
ter, Annie, was able to visit
Flaviano on Jan. 27, during
which her husband was able
to whisper to his daughter
that he was mauled. / C H I E F
O F R E P O R T E R S S U Z Z A N E S A L-
VA - A L U E TA