Report: Maguindanao gang-raped nurse undergoes surgery

Florence, the victim of gang rape in Maguindanao in September, successfully underwent surgery as doctors installed a steel plate to support her broken jaw. Radio dzRH reported on Wednesday afternoon that the surgery, conducted at a Davao City hospital on Tuesday morning, took four hours to complete. The report quoted doctors as saying they had to "repair" the victim's jaw because she could not chew her food properly. Dr. Leopoldo Vega, medical director of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), said the nurse may have been hit in the jaw with a hard object. However, the dzRH report said that while the victim was "happy" when she had visitors, there were also times when she was depressed. Vega said the victim can be discharged within a week but will likely stay in a safe house for her security. Waiting for Florence's statement On October 27, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the statement of Florence would speed up the process of identifying the perpetrator. However, Acting Assistant Regional Director Arnel Dalumpines, of the NBI Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARRM), said they could not yet take the statement of the victim because of her health condition. “We are still waiting for the go signal of the doctor before we could take her statement. Hopefully, she recovers soon," Dalumpines said. While waiting for the testimony of the victim, the NBI has been building up the case by gathering evidence, both testimonial (statements of witnesses) and forensic (scientific). –VVP, GMANews.TV