By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
It seems Fabel Pineda, the 15-year-old girl who was shot dead after she and her 18-year-old cousin filed sexual assault complaints against two police officers from San Juan, Ilocos Sur, will get their justice after all.
Fabel and her 18-year-old cousin attended a party last June 27 and got drunk. At 1 a.m. the following day, Police Staff Sergeants Randy Ramos and Marawi Torda, both of the San Juan municipal police, arrested them for violating curfew. Instead of taking them to the precinct, the police officers took the girls to a beach. There, Torda reportedly molested Fabel while Ramos allegedly raped the cousin.
The girls filed cases against the two cops with the Cabugao town police. On July 2, they returned to the police station to follow up on them. Sensing danger, Fabel requested a police escort on her way home but was refused. She was killed several minutes later by gunmen riding tandem on a motorcycle.
The suspects, of course, were Torda and Ramos. They were arrested, charged with murder and sexual abuse, and detained. They also face dismissal from the service.
Brigadier General Bernard Banac, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson, said all personnel of both the San Juan and Cabugao police stations were relieved to undergo a refresher course. The Cabugao police chief and his cops were also slapped with obstruction of justice charges.
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While seemingly Fabel and her cousin will receive justice, we also need to ask ourselves why this and other similar cases are happening. We need to address the root of the problem. Yep, you guess it right. It is the rape culture pervading in society. It is not endemic to the armed services.
The PNP refresher course for the San Juan and Cabugao police is well-meant, and it should teach the idea that rape is a product of toxic masculinity, the practice of which should cease. Behaviors such as objectifying women and catcalling are part of it that justifies men as sexual pursuers and view women as sexual conquests.
It should not be about telling women not to wear skimpy clothes or not to drink liquor on a date, just like the much-criticized Angono police social media post two years ago. It should be more of finding ways to shatter the environment that allows for rape to occur.
I believe the keyword is consent. The Tordas and Ramoses should learn that getting drunk is not an invitation for sex. Neither flirting nor wearing tight clothes means a woman is asking for it. Instead, it is getting a vocally affirmative confirmation — a definitive “yes” — from someone who wants to have sex with you. It needs to be a mutual desire, not pressured.
If a man still needs to convince a woman to have sex, he probably shouldn’t do it with her. It may just end up in rape.
As long as we acknowledge that rape is not a woman’s problem but squarely that of a man’s, then we should be on the right track.
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