The authorities have a person of interest in the sexual assault case that happened inside the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines (UP), said the Quezon City Police District this Tuesday.
A UP student was the victim of a sexual assault while passing through Ylanan Street to Commonwealth Avenue on Saturday night.
QCPD Director Nicolas Torre urged those behind the crime to surrender.
“Better come forward and surrender. Siguro ang kaso nila ngayon, less serious physical injuries. Pero kapag hinintay pa nila, tumatagal-tagal pa ito, baka lalo pa maging seryoso ang kanilang problema. Better to surrender to authorities,” said Torre.
Torre considers what happened to be an “isolated case”.
It is said that the QCPD personnel, along with the UP police, have also conducted an inspection at the scene of the crime and found some CCTV cameras that can be used to trace the person behind the crime.
“I think UP campus is still a very safe community… This incident is, I can consider as isolated. Nangyari lang ito dahil nagkaroon ng confluence of events. Hindi naman ito normal na nangyayari,” said Torre.
The UP police are said to be on heightened alert to ensure that the incident does not happen again.
The UP police are also in contact with the Philippine National Police to speed up the progress of the investigation.
Person of interest in UP Diliman sexual assault incident identified
“Pinapa-heightened alert ang mga guard. Kailangan nasa labas lang sila the whole evening ’till morning,” said Jonathan Bandugan, a member of the UP police who first responded to the incident.
The UP police also asserted that there was enough lighting on the roads and that the crime happened at the time of an event on campus.
The QCPD has also previously said that it is ready to provide security assistance if requested by the UP.
The UP Diliman Police functioned as the major police force on campus until January 2021, when the Department of National Defense (DND) unilaterally abrogated the 1989 UP-DND agreement.
According to the agreement, the national government’s law enforcement authorities, including the PNP and the military, are not permitted to access any of the UP campuses, including the main campus in Diliman, without prior notification.
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