DOJ to file rape charges vs. CPP-NPA leader

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 14, 2022): DOJ to file rape charges vs. CPP-NPA leader (By Benjamin Pulta)

Department of Justice (File photo)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will file multiple rape charges against Joel Caliliw, a leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

In a statement on Monday, the DOJ said a panel of prosecutors recommended the filing of nine counts of rape against Caliliw in a February 2 resolution.

Complainant “Lady Miranda”, a former CPP-NPA-NDF cadre, accused Caliliw of sexually abusing her thrice in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija in March 2018 and at least six times in April 2018 in Umingan, Pangasinan while he was their platoon’s vice commanding officer.

Caliliw’s alibis, denial of allegations of rape, and imputing blame on “Lady Miranda” are self-serving and deserve no weight in law, the DOJ said.

“Instead, the unequivocal statements of Lady Miranda and the fact that she was able to positively identify respondent Caliliw as the culprit are given more credence,” the DOJ said.

The DOJ previously found probable cause for two counts of rape committed against “Lady Miranda” by another CPP-NPA-NDF squad leader and vice commander, Rey Dela Peña, filed at the Regional Trial Courts of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.

Miranda, 24, was an out-of-school youth when she was recruited by a militant-activist group 10 years ago.

“They used the issues of education and poverty to lure me,” she told the Philippine News Agency in an interview last year.

She admitted she used to be the spokesperson in community rallies where recruitments took place.

“When I turned 18, I formally became part of the CPP-NPA, and that is when the sexual abuses started,” she added.

A year after, she started suffering from mental health issues and was allowed to consult with doctors.

After months of waiting for her former comrades to check on her, she decided to go home.

She credited government agencies, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, for helping her restart her life.

She first worked at a golf course and in 2020, she landed a job as a social worker in a non-governmental organization for former rebels.

She found a partner in a former rebel and they now have a child.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169747