Female cop allegedly raped by superior

Sexual harassment allegations have been hounding the Philippines’ police force and the latest case involves a female cop who was allegedly raped by a higher ranking official.

Reports state that Police Officer (PO) 3 Jernie Ramirez, 29 years old, of the Puerto Princesa City Police Station (PPCPS) in Palawan was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping a female police officer.

The woman is ranked PO1 while Ramirez has a PO3 ranking and is an assistant instructor in the force’s Joint Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center in the city’s Barangay (Village) Santa Lourdes, Sun Star reported.

According to the victim, the incident happened at 2:30am on Monday when she and another officer were on duty, Puerto Princesa City Police Chief Ronnie Cariaga told Sun Star. 

Ramirez then allegedly told her to come with him to the maritime trooper course, where he pushed her inside a restroom and tried to kiss her, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Sun Star reported that the victim said her superior threatened her before bringing her to a room on a building’s second floor where she was allegedly raped.

The victim reported the incident to her course director, leading to Ramirez’s arrest, GMA News reported. He is now detained at the PPCPS and faces rape charges.

Following reports of the incident, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) spoke out against harassment in the police force.

“It is appalling that such transgression was recently committed by a police officer towards his subordinate,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement yesterday.

She also said that cases like this impact the credibility and ability of the police to protect women.

A number of sexual harassment allegations within the PNP have been brought to light in recent weeks.

Late last month, three PNP Academy cadets were found to have allegedly forced two male freshmen to perform oral sex on each other as punishment.

Also last month, a cop accused of raping a drug suspect’s daughter defended himself by saying that it’s a common practice by police officers.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde has been on the defensive about the issue and denied earlier this month that there is rampant sexual abuse of female suspects.

He’s been trying to save face so much that yesterday, he even slammed the popular TV show Ang Probinsyano, saying that the show’s portrayal of corrupt cops was inaccurate.