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NEWS

4 Coeds... women's desk of the Argao police, said her office would file charges of acts of lascviousness in relation to Republic Act 7610, or the Anti-Child Abuse Act against the teacher since one of the complainants is 16 years old. The teacher would also be charged with acts of lasciviousness based on the complaints of three other students, Catipay said. Two 18-year-old coeds said they were maliciously touched by their teacher, who allegedly ran his fingers on the garter of one of the girls' underwear which was protruding above her waistline. The fourth complainant, 19-yearold Angel (not her real name), said the teacher tried to get near her to pursue lewd designs while they were alone in his office. She was there to discuss her grade. She was able to run out of the room. Catipay said she learned that the parents and guardians of the students talked to officials of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas based in Cebu City about filing an administrative case against the teacher. CEBU DAILY NEWS called up the CSCST-AIFC office yesterday to talk to the teacher but was told by Henedina Bajo, the school's human resource officer, that he had already left the office. Bajo said that although the school had not received any complaint from the students, the management would act on it in order to protect the image of the school and its students. On Tuesday, according to student Judith, they had a meeting with the teacher and school campus director Pedrito Pontillas inside the guidance office. The teacher reportedly apologized to them but Judith said she did not feel his sincerity. Judith said she could forgive him but would still pursue the filing charges to prevent him from sexually harassing other students. According to Judith, she and three other female students were told by their teacher to see him in his office about 7 p.m. on Monday. When it was her turn, she sat on a long bench inside the office. The teacher then told her that her midterm grade was 3.1. The passing grade is 3. She said she was surprised because she knew that her grade was 2.6. “Mibarug siya sa akong atubangan, tapos migakos siya nako. Nagtuo lang ko nga mi-unong siya sa akong kaguol, then mura naman og misobra, kay mi-kiss naman siya, gikuptan ang akong nawong mi-kiss siya sa akong agtang, sa aping, sa lips napod sunod. Milingiw ko kay mura kog nauwaw nga nahadlok, nga wa ko kasabot sa akong gibati (He stood in front of me then he hugged me. I thought he was just sympathizing with my grief. But then he went overboard becuse he kissed me. He held my face, kissed my forehead, my cheek and then my lips. I

THURSDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2008 | CEBU DAILY NEWS

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Dismiss ... from p.2 from p.1 looked away because I felt ashamed at the same time afraid. I didn't know what to feel),” Judith said. Judith said she stood up but the teacher embraced her tightly and kissed her again. Then, according to the girl, the teacher held both her hands and placed them on his waist. She tried to run to the door but Duran chased her and held her hands again. “He said `we have to talk' and he kissed me again. He said `I don’t know, I don’t know.' He said he did not know what he felt, that he wanted a commitment from both of us. I was trembling in front of him and I cried.” “He took my hands and placed them around his waist. I was feeling bad. He kissed me repeatedly and told me 'don’t cry...don’t cry'...He said he didn't want me to cry because my other classmates might notice it,”she said. But she kept on crying, prompting the teacher to allow her to leave the office. She said she told her close friend and board mate what happened. On Tuesday, she told her parents. Judith said it was the second time the teacher had called her for a meeting. The first time was a day after their midterm exam. She said the teacher touched her and her classmates' arms but they just ignored it, thinking that he was just being brotherly. Another complainant, 19-year-old Angel said she was the first one called inside the teacher's office on Monday night. Angel said the teacher asked her if she knew her grade for the midter m. She said her grade was 2.7 but the teacher told her that it was 3.1. “He asked me if I wanted to increase my grades, if I wanted to pass the finals,” Angel said in Cebuano. The teacher then went near her but Angel quickly left the office. Angel was smarting from her last encounter with her teacher. She said that after their midterm exam in January, Duran called her and told her that she had a failing grade. “He touched me and wiped off my sweat. I thought nothing of it because to me, he was just my teacher”, Angel said. The next day while she was sitting on the stair, the teacher sat close beside her and asked her if she could give him massage. Out of fear, she said she told Duran that she didn’t know. Angel said a classmate also complained that her Duran touched her underwear, which was seen over in the waistline of her jeans. Angel’s aunt, a former vice mayor in one of the southern towns, said the teacher should be fired as teacher. “Manyakis gyuyd na siya”, the aunt said. Angel’s uncle is also a police officer.

ize the registration of imported vehicles, instead of delegating it to the regional offices. Raul Aguilos, LTO 7 Director, in a separate interview, said that he has yet to receive any order from the central office. Aguilos said that he will abide by any order from his superiors since the central office is spearheading the investigations against LTO officials allegedly involved in the scams. The director said all the registration heads in C e n t r a l Vi s a y a s w e r e busy preparing their reports to be submitted to the House committee on

good governance as to the exact number of vehicles registered in their districts in 2006 and 2007. He s a i d l e g i s l a t o r s were directing the registration heads to correct some errors in the data in the motor registration because the figures from the central office and the records of LTO Central Visayas did not match. Mea nw h i l e , D e p u t y Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said that the anti-graft office will be asking the LTO central office to furnish them copies of their findings. Ap o s t o l s a i d t h a t a

fact-finding inquiry has been conducted by their office after the Cebu Auto Dealers Association complained about the discrepancy of data in the cars that they sold in 2006 and those registered by the LTO over the same period. He said that they will also ask the House committee on good governance to provide them w i t h p e r t i n e n t d o c uments relative to the inquiry on car smuggling. “We are not favoring anyone. We will file the necessary case against the officials concerned if the evidence warrants,” he said.

nasa custody ng government yun, medyo may mali ang pagkuha (The issue now is if the removed lampposts are part of the contract. And if they were removed when they were under the custody of the government, then there's something wrong there),” he said. A Fabmik representative, lawyer Romeo Fuentes, earlier met with Agustinito Hermoso, DPWH Central Visayas legal officer, and told Hermoso that he authorized the removal of the lampposts. Fuentes said that the lampposts were removed b e c a u s e t h e y we re n o longer part of the contract. Mandaue City Administrator Briccio Boholst, in a separate interview, said the

city government is prepare the report with the affidavits of some personnel who informed them of the removal of the lampposts in August 2007. Boholst said the statements of their personnel revealed that the representatives of Fabmik were responsible for removing the lampposts. He also said that he will also verify from the engineering department who prepared the programs of works of the decorative lampposts installed in Mandaue City to determine if the 44 alleged missing lampposts were part of the contract for the streetlighting project for the Asean meeting. / C O R R E-

killings and enforced disappearances or threats. With the orders to return the writ to the CA, the respondents including the President would file a written return together with supporting affidavits, which among others will contain their lawful defense to show that they did not violate or threaten with violation to right to life, liberty and security of the aggrieved party. Both petitions will be heard on Feb. 28. Yanoc claimed that her son, Reynold, 18, was taken by the 61st Infantry Battalion (IB) on Dec. 7, 2007. Contrary to the assurance, the military did not bring

back her son. She last saw her son on Jan. 25, when soldiers escorted him to barangay Talalac in Sta. Catalina town, Negros Oriental. Arante, for her part, said seven soldiers took her husband Flaviano, 53, forcibly for no apparent reason. The soldiers, she said, wanted to “borrow” her husband for two days, after which he would be returned. Arante said their daughter, Annie, was able to visit Flaviano on Jan. 27, during which her husband was able to whisper to his daughter that he was mauled. / C H I E F

NBI... from p.2 graft office will also ask the Commission on Audit ( C OA ) i f t h e m i s s i n g lampposts were part of the contract between the contractor and the DPWH for the streetlighting project intended for the 12th Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. He said that until now, no Fabmik representative notified the Ombudsman's Office of being responsible for the removal of the lampposts. The anti-graft office is looking into the regularity of removing the lampposts despite a pending case to avoid setting a precedent. “Ang issue ngayon if part ba sa contract o hindi ang na-remove na lampposts. If kasama sa contrata yun at

S P O N D E N T J O L E N E R . B U L A MBOT

Writ... from p.2 Truya, is the first case governing the rule on the Writ of Amparo in the Visayas. Ya n o c a n d A r a n t e claimed that the military took their kin on suspicion that they were involved with communist rebels. They said, however, that the two men that the military took were “mere farmers.” The writ approved by the Supreme Court in September 2007 is a remedy available to any person “whose right to life, liberty and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee.” The writ covers extralegal

O F R E P O R T E R S S U Z Z A N E S A LVA - A L U E TA