Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro on Tuesday submitted his counter affidavit and presented 28 witnesses to refute the acts of lasciviousness and rape by sexual assault complaints filed against him before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Teodoro was accompanied by his wife, Marikina Mayor Marjorie Ann Teodoro, and his legal counsel, Alma Mallonga, for the first day of the preliminary investigation of the case.
According to Mallonga, the 28 witnesses came to the DOJ to show that ‘the incredible tale being presented by the complainants could not have even happened.’
Two female police officers who were assigned as Teodoro’s close-in security previously filed the complaint-affidavits against the lawmaker for alleged violations of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
In a statement on Sept. 25, the DOJ said one of the complainants claimed that during the early period of her assignment, Teodoro allegedly committed acts of lasciviousness against her.
Meanwhile, the other female police officer, who had earlier served as close-in security to Teodoro’s wife and was later assigned to the lawmaker himself, alleged RPC violations under Article 266-A(2) or rape by sexual assault, as well as Article 336 or acts of lasciviousness.
Teodoro had denied the accusations against him and filed perjury charges against the two police officers.
Mallonga told reporters that during Tuesday’s proceedings, they asked the two police officers for details about their affidavits, particularly the unidentified witnesses to the alleged crimes.
‘What’s surprising here is that they did not want to answer. The complainants refused to respond and said they needed a lawyer, which is strange . In our view, it shows that their story is purely fiction,’ the lawyer said.
The panel of prosecutors scheduled the next hearing on Oct. 28, with Mallonga expressing confidence that the ‘truth will prevail’ over the ‘sham complaints.’
‘False claims of rape, those fabricated stories about rape, harm everyone, especially the real victims of rape. That’s why we hope this will not happen again, and we are confident that the process will ultimately yield the justice that Congressman Teodoro deserves,’ Mallonga said. /gsg