A rape-slay that shook the island town of Panglao town more than three years ago, finally reached the office of the provincial prosecutor implicating the brother of former mayor Doloriech Dumaluan as one of the suspects of the gruesome crime. It was a long and tedious route for a case so celebrated that even after three years, it was still the talk of the town since prominent names were dragged into the incident. Supported by at least seven affidavits where the affiants directly or indirectly knew the crime first hand, SPO2 Dominic Ragusta of the local Philippine National Police in Camp Dagohoy filed the complaint Friday against Engr. Teofredo Dumaluan alias Pingmay before the Provincial Prosecutor's Office. The case was docketed as I.S. No.07-5015. The case was for rape with homicide. It was approved for filing by Police Senior Supt. Eduardo Ingking, PNP provincial director. The accused was indicted by the rape and killing of Vivian Dumaluan, 17 and a house helper of the suspect. She was a distant relative of the Dumaluans. According to the information, the younger Dumaluan was implicated in the crime in conspiracy with one Narciso Maghamil alias Isot. Maghamil was earlier charged as the lone suspect of the case under Criminal Case No.12491 now pending before the Regional Trial Court Branch II.

AFFIDAVITS

The main support of the case was the affidavit of Ragusta, investigator of the case. A case would have been built shortly after the commission of the crime when the investigator (Ragusta) was transferred to the Dauis Police Station when Dumaluan was elected mayor in 2004. When the investigator was placed on detached service in Panglao from March 31,2007 to June 13 2007 , he was able to receive more information about the rape— slay of the young girl. Just as it became an election issue in 2004, the grim incident was also fodder to election cannons during the 2007 elections. In the 2007 mayoralty polls, the Dumaluan rape case was revived after the parents of the victim sought justice for their daughter. The issue was exploited to the hilt by the camp of then mayoralty candidate Benedicto Alcala. Alcala who went on to win the contest against Dumaluan was himself a victim of Dumaluan's insinuations that he had something to do with the rape case. Alcala was seeking reelection in the 2004 elections and was defeated by Dumaluan. While stationed in Panglao the second time around, Ragusta exerted efforts to locate a witness cracking the case wide open. He found a certain George Galo, 39, jobless and a resident of Libaong, Panglao. According to Ragusta, in his conversation with Galo, he divulged to him that Pingmay has a hand in the rape case. With that information from Galo in hand, the investigator informed Supt. Ingking about the witness' testimony. He then took a supplemental affidavit of Galo in the presence of the provincial police director.

In his own sworn statement, Galo told the investigator that in the evening of April 24, 2004 , he saw the young Dumaluan alias Pibngmay with a certain companion identified as Loloy Lapinig. The two, according to Galo, approached him and told him that Pingmay and his elder brother Dr. Dumaluan had an agreement that the “rape case was part of their game for the election”. Galo further narrated that there were witnesses who can corroborate his testimony. He was referring to the sworn testimonies of Victor Clemen, Randy Buntag, Daisy Mejia, Dinah Mejia, Florenda Lloren and Anastacio Dumaluan. This Dumaluan is said to be the grandfather of the victim. In his own affidavit, he confirmed that his grand daughter worked as house helper of Pingmay. The affidavit of Clemen detailed about what happened during a “miting de avance” in Panglao in 2004. Clemen who claimed to have helped prepare the stage for the meeting, confirmed that at about 10:00 on May 8, 2004 , the candidate for mayor Dumaluan showed publicly a video footage of the actual dead body of the young victim. This video showing supported the claim of Ragusta and Galo that the rape- killing would be used as an election issue against Dumaluan's mayoralty opponent—Alcala.

During the same occasion, Clemen quoted Dumaluan after showing the video footage “Louy ang bata nga gibuhatan sa ingon! Kung akong mahibaw-an ang gahimo niini, akong guyoron ug sakyanan ug akong ilibot-libot sa tibouk Panglao. (Pity the little girl, if only I new who did this heinous crime, I have him dragged by a vehicle and paraded him around Panglao). To Clemen's recollection no such dragging incident ever took place in Panglao more than three years since Dumaluan made the boast .The affidavits of Dinah and Daisy Mejia and Lloren dealt with what they saw early dawn of April 28, 2004. While talking by the roadside leading to the Dumaluan Beach Resort in Bolod, Panglao, they identified Pingmay as among the five men in three motorcycles. Two motorcycles were ridden by two men in tandem while Pingmay was alone in his bike. ‘They said they identified Pingmay as a brother of the former mayor. They also said the mayor's brother always passed their house.. Buntag for his part, who told the investigator that he was working at the Bagobo Beach Resort said he saw Pingmay and Lapinig entered into the establishment he was working with and talked to Galo. Galo was in the resort compound at that time. Buntag recalled that it happened on April 29,2004 , the time when the lifeless body of Vivian was found at the back of the Dumaluan Beach Resort. He said, while sitting idly at the resort, Pingmay arrived and talked to Galo.