MANILA: The National Police Commission (Napolcom) dismissed from service a patrolman over reports that he raped a woman while she was unconscious at a motel in Manila.
In a statement on Monday (May 4), Napolcom said the patrolman was administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer following the purported incident.
The commission identified the implicated patrolman as Joshua Mendoza.
Napolcom maintained that Mendoza had been found guilty “based on substantial evidence, including eyewitness testimony, medico-legal findings, closed-circuit television footage and the consistent and corroborated account of the complainant.”
“There is absolutely no place in the police service for this kind of violence and moral depravity,” Napolcom Commissioner Rafael Calinisan stressed in the statement.
“Exploiting a woman who is unconscious is not just a crime, it is a grave assault on the dignity of the uniform and a betrayal of public trust,” he added.
The complaint was filed at Napolcom last January by the victim, who only identified herself as “Anna.”
She claimed that, a month prior, supposedly at Mendoza’s request, she had joined him and some of his friends for drinks, but she had fallen unconscious and awoke at the motel with him allegedly raping her.
At a briefing with Napolcom, the group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption shared security footage supposedly showing Mendoza supposedly carrying Anna into the motel
Mendoza was assigned to the Manila Police District (MPD).
MPD spokesperson Maj. Philipp Ines previously told the Inquirer that the impacted officer had been on absence without official leave since the purported incident and that a criminal complaint had been filed against him.
Mendoza surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation two weeks after the victim lodged her complaint at Napolcom.
Mendoza’s camp has reportedly denied the accusations against him, claiming the sexual encounter was consensual. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
