Dubious complaint leads to court's junking of rape charges vs Pandi mayor

PANDI, Bulacan—Rape charges against Mayor Enrico Roque and two others have been provisionally dismissed by a Caloocan court, citing lack of evidence as well as suspicious evidence and identity of the complainant.

Caloocan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 121 Presiding Judge Rowena Violago Alejandria provisionally dismissed rape charges against Roque, Pandi Councilor Jonjon Roxas and Rogelio Raymundo Jr. after the complainant, whose identity and whereabouts seem dubious, failed multiple times to attend the hearings.

Roque earlier said the filing of charges was "politically motivated."

The court found that the complainant, who was identified as Mikaela Mariano, never existed based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records. The address she provided could not be located, and the medico-legal she presented turned out to be fake.

"When the case was called, there is still no appearance on the part of the private complainant...despite personal service of the subpoena sent upon her. The return of the subpoena sent to said private complainant shows 'cannot be located.' The record further shows that this is the second time that the private complainant failed to appear despite notice," it said.

"Wherefore, in view of the repeated failure of the private complainant to appear despite notice and on motion of the defense counsel, let this case be provisionally dismissed with the express conformity of the accused," Alejandria said in her order dated February 25, 2025.

On Dec. 17, Roque, Roxas and Raymundo were arrested during a Christmas party that they hosted for the city's senior citizens at the resort he owned here.

Members of the Northern Police District (NPD) served them an arrest warrant based on charges filed by Mariano in April 2019.

On Dec. 23, Roque and the two others were ordered released following court's granting of their motion to quash the arrest warrant after "argu[ing] they did not receive a copy of the complaint...thereby effectively denying them their opportunity to be informed of the facts and circumstances of the charges", another court order read.

On Jan. 22, the court also issued a motion to withdraw information, stating that it was insuffiecient to justify further legal action against Roque et al or their indictment.

The court ordered Roque et al's immediate release and the eventual dismissal of their case due to lack of evidence and serious discrepancies in the allegation.

According to the order, the complainant was served subpoena twice, but the failed to attend the hearings.

Roque decried the filing of charges, which he called a fabricated case and "an intentional attack on his name and reputation".

He also viewed the case as a violation of his constitutional right to due process and a demonstration of the potential injustice within legal system.