Rape raps mulled vs Maguindanao massacre suspects

Some suspects in the Maguindanao massacre could end up facing rape charges on top of the 57 counts of murder slapped against them, a prosecution lawyer said on Thursday. This was after Chief Inspector Dean Cabrera of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory told the court that at least two massacre victims could have been raped or had sexual contact prior to their deaths. Private prosecutor Nena Santos, legal counsel for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, told reporters at the Quezon City Hall of Justice that they are studying filing additional charges of rape against the suspects who could have possibly raped Rahima Palawan and Leah Dalmacio. Santos said they would first ask for DNA samples from the partners of the two victims and have the samples tested to determine the sources of the seminal fluid discovered in the victims’ genitals. "We will file a motion allowing to subject [specimen] under DNA-testing," Santos said. Palawan's husband Muhammad Palawan had earlier claimed that he had not had any sexual intercourse with his wife since November 18, five days before the massacre. Dalmacio, meanwhile, is a single mom. In his testimonies on Wednesday and Thursday, Cabrera said that autopsies he conducted on the two women on November 25 showed the presence of seminal fluid in their genitals and underwear. Cabrera said these were "definite evidence that the victims had been sexually abused or had sexual contact" within the past three days before they were killed on November 23. If the tests show that the semen samples do not match those of the two victims’ husband or partner, Santos said the prosecution could end up upgrading the charges to a complex crime of murder with rape. "Pag-aaralan pa namin iyan [We will be studying that option]," Santos said. Asked who among the 196 suspects will be slapped with additional charges, Santos said: "Hindi pa namin alam. Titignan muna namin ang resulta ng DNA testing [We don't know yet. We will wait for the results of the DNA testing]." Currently, the suspects are facing 57 counts of murder in connection with the brutal killing of members of an electoral convoy and other motorists on a hilly portion of Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town on November 23, 2009. At least 82 suspects have been arrested so far, most of whom are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. Several others are jailed at the Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV