Manila poll bet nabbed for child rape
A 67-year-old engineer who is running for councilor in the fourth district of Manila was arrested Thursday for allegedly raping a 15-year-old high school student.
Officers of the Manila Police District (MPD) women and children’s protection desk apprehended Rodolfo Astorga in an entrapment operation while he was with the girl and her 17-year-old female friend in his apartment along Casañas street at around 5 p.m.
An MPD source said a pimp had been supplying Astorga with minors and the girl’s female friend was among his alleged victims.
The girl, a seventh grader at a school in Maypajo, Caloocan City, told police she and her friend went to the España Tower condominium to meet up with her mother on Oct. 10.
She said that when she passed by Astorga’s unit, she asked to use the bathroom. Astorga allegedly groped her while her friend was left outside the unit.
The girl said Astorga later gave her P1,500, from which her friend took P400. She said she was too afraid to tell her mother.
She said she sent a text message to Astorga on Nov. 5, telling him she left her watch at his unit.
The girl said her female friend accom- panied her when she went to claim her watch. This time, Astorga allegedly pulled her into the room as soon as she knocked on the door, then raped her.
She said Astorga again gave her P1,500, from which her friend took P300.
While the girl did not tell her mother about the alleged assaults, she told a male friend about them. The male friend told her mother, who filed a complaint with the MPD.
A source at the MPD said a medical certificate indicated that the girl may have been raped.
Astorga, a former barangay kagawad, refused to talk during the investigation. The girl said the suspect sent her a text message offering her P30,000 to drop the charges.