The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has indicted a man who they say verbally abused a teen.
Noel Capote Andrino was arrested under Republic Act 7610 (the Anti-Child Abuse Law) because the girl he verbally abused was 17-years-old.
The prosecutor’s office said that Andrino committed the acts of child abuse, cruelty (or exploitation) by verbally abusing the girl in the presence of several other people. He is said to have called her many names including “whore”.
The girl, whose name has been withheld due to her age, is a second year college student – the complaint said that Andrino approached her aunt and asked where she was last October 30th.
The young woman’s complaint said that Andrino wanted to talk to her aunt about a mobile phone and that he wanted to date the young girl.
However, when the news of the cell phone and some other undisclosed information was presented to the aunt, the name calling started and the neighbors intervened – telling Andrino to “just go home.”
The young girl and her aunt reported the incident to the local police who rushed to the scene and arrested Andrino under rule #113 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedures which give the police the right to arrest someone even without a warrant based on the idea that the offense had just been committed and the arresting officers have probable cause to believe the offense, based on personal knowledge, that the person committed the crime.
In a resolution by the Cebu City’s Prosecutor’s Office – it said “in the instant case, the arresting police officer had reasonable mind or suspicion that the respondent had just committed the crime.”
