BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — Panic crept up among residents of Sitio Puting Bato in the coastal barangay of Agbanog in Pontevedra town after about 100 armed men were seen roaming around fishpond areas there last week.
The villagers including fishpond operators believed that the strange-looking armed men were members of the New People’s Army and that their presence could be related to a land dispute in the area.
They said the armed men were seen in the barangay on Thursday and were gone the following day.
Senior Supt. Domingo Cabillan, provincial police director, ordered the deployment of the local police and the Special Action Force to the barangay.
Measures have been in place to prevent any violence in the area, said the town’s mayor, Steve Contreras.
Contreras also advised the residents not to panic; the situation in the area was already under the police’s control, he said.
In another story, an 80-year-old man was facing a criminal charge for allegedly raping a 30-year-old woman.
Police arrested Dominador Acepcion of Brgy. Lawaan here after a certain “Nena” of the same village complained that the man, whom she treats as a grandfather, sexually abused her.
In fact, the victim’s aunt, Rosalinda Rico, caught the suspect raping her.
One time, the victim was getting food from their kitchen when Acepcion suddenly grabbed her, took her to a room and raped her, police said.
Authorities said the victim was reportedly suffering from a mental ailment.
