Pandi Mayor released from detention

PANDI, Bulacan— Pandi Mayor Enrico Roque was released from detention on Monday after a court granted his motion to quash the arrest warrant issued against him for two counts of rape.

Roque walked free from the Caloocan Police District detention facility in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City, at noon and returned to his residence in Pandi.

Judge Rowena Alejandra of Caloocan City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 121 approved the motion to quash the arrest warrant, which Roque’s camp had filed last Wednesday. The warrant, issued on Nov. 11, also named Pandi Councilor Jonjon Roxas and municipal driver Roel Raymundo as co-accused.

The charges stemmed from a police complaint filed by a woman on April 10, 2019, alleging that Roque and two others raped her at the mayor’s house on Langit Road, Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, four days earlier.

Roque argued that the arrest warrant violated his constitutional right to due process, citing discrepancies in the address provided by the complainant. He said the complainant erroneously claimed he was her neighbor in Bagong Silang, despite Roque, Roxas, and Raymundo neither owning houses nor residing in Caloocan City.

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The Caloocan Provincial Prosecutor’s Office filed the rape charges against the three on May 20 this year.

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Supporters and close political allies gathered outside the police station to welcome Roque upon his release.

Roque was arrested last Tuesday at his Amana Water Park Resort in Pandi while hosting a Christmas party for senior citizens.

The mayor dismissed the charges as politically motivated, noting that he is seeking his final term in the May 2025 elections.

READ: Pandi mayor, councilor arrested for rape complaints – NCRPO