|
By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
OFFICIALS of the Polytechnic University of the
Philippines (PUP) should be held liable for the alleged gang rape of
a female freshman within its campus on June 25, Senate Majority
Leader and Independent Sen. Kiko Pangilinan said Saturday.
“It is the responsibility of school officials
to secure their students, and to have this heinous crime happen
under the PUP officials’ nose is enough to make them
accountable,” he said.
The 16-year-old victim Anne (not her real name)
alleged that she was made to drink liquor, and was possibly drugged,
following an initiation rite of a non-accredited school
organization.
Authorities then caught three PUP students (one
of them a girl), who are all minors and Anne’s classmates and were
subjected to questioning. They are currently under the custody of
the Manila Youth Rehabilitation Center.
The police, however, are looking for six other
suspects.
Pangilinan said that PUP officials are either
unaware of the existence and activities of the organization, or are
aware but complacent.
“Either way, these officials have failed to
perform their duties that caused this crime,” he added.
Earlier, Commission on Higher Education Deputy
Executive Director Julito Victriolo said that PUP officials could be
held liable should investigations find them guilty of failing to
perform their duties.
Pangilinan also supported the proposal of the
Department of Education to give additional funding to state
universities and colleges (SUCs) not only to improve their equipment
and curricula but moreover to beef up their security.
“It is time we explore more of these
measures to really improve the condition of our SUCs,” he said.
PUP president Dr. Dante Guevarra said that they
are ready to face any probe by the police or the Commission on
Higher Education on the gang rape case, noting that they only have
45 security guards to watch over 15 buildings with 500 classrooms
inside a 10-hectare campus.
|
