9 nurses leave Maguindanao town after Florence gang-rape

Nine volunteer nurses have been pulled out from a town in Maguindanao province after the gang-rape of their colleague in the area last week, the head of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) said Saturday. PNA President Dr. Teresita Barcelo said in a GMA News report that the volunteer nurses have left South Upi town in Maguindanao for safety reasons. She likewise expressed dismay that the health of the town’s residents would have to be compromised due of the pullout of the volunteer nurses. The provincial health officer of Maguindanao earlier warned of massive pullout of the 138 government nurses in the province following the gang-rape of their colleague last week. (See: 138 nurses may pull out of Maguindanao over rape incident)
A 21-year-old government nurse, who was nicknamed “Florence," was found naked and unconscious in a corn field in Barangay Timanan, South Upi town last Sunday after she was reportedly abducted and raped by a group of men. The rape victim has already regained consciousness, but is half-paralyzed due to head injuries she sustained during her ordeal, according to Barcelo. “Gising na siya pero may neurologic deficits nga. Definitely meron siyang paralysis of the right-side part of the body," she said in a television interview. (She’s already awake but there remain neurologic deficits. Definitely she suffers from paralysis of the right-side part of the body.) A former member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), Melchor Fulgencio, has already admitted to the crime. Six other suspects in the incident are already in the custody of the police. (See: Suspects in gang rape of nurse in Maguindanao nabbed) The government has already created a special task force, headed by Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, to look into the incident. De Lima said on Friday that the task force should not stop at Fulgencio and consider the case solved, but pursue other leads. (See: De Lima to head task force on Florence gang-rape) Mangudadatu wants deeper probe Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu agreed with De Lima’s approach, saying that police should not already set aside the rape case following the arrest of Fulgencio, who confessed to the crime but insisted that only he and one other man raped the nurse. Mangudadatu, whose wife, sister and nieces were murdered in a massacre in Ampatuan town in November last year, said that he finds it hard to believe that an old man could lead a group of men into committing the crime. “Natawa ako dun eh. Sabi ko nga, dapat mag-go deeper pa tayo sa investigation," he said in a separate interview. (I found that funny. Like I said, we should go deeper in the investigation.) The Maguindano governor added that the government should reconsider reviving the death penalty in the country to avert similar incidents in the future. “Dapat ma-prosecute talaga ang may sala. Kung may lethal injection, dapat iinject na lang. Sobra itong ginawa niya," he said. (The culprits should really be prosecuted. If we have lethal injection, then let’s simply inject it to him. What he did was really too much.)—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV