Home #JusticeForChristineDacera: 3 suspects arrested, 9 others at large in rape-slay of flight attendant

#JusticeForChristineDacera: 3 suspects arrested, 9 others at large in rape-slay of flight attendant

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Trigger Warning: Reader discretion is advised.

As people eagerly welcome and celebrate the New Year, Christine Angelica Dacera, a 23-year-old flight attendant from General Santos City, was found unconscious in an empty bathtub of a hotel room in Makati City. She was later declared dead at a hospital.

Two days after discovering her body, the Makati City police filed with the prosecutor’s office on Monday a provisional charge of rape with homicide against 11 men, who were with Dacera, occupying two adjacent hotel rooms in Makati City, at the time of her death. 

So far, the authorities have arrested three suspects, including John Pascual Dela Serna III, 27; Rommel Daluro Galido, 29; and John Paul Reyes Halili, 25.



Meanwhile, nine other persons who were also with the victim during her stay at City Garden Hotel in Makati City are currently at large. They were identified as Gregorio Angelo de Guzman, Louie de Lima, Clark Jezreel Rapinan, Rey Englis, Mark Anthony Rosales, Jammyr Cunanan, Valentine Rosales, a certain Ed Madrid; and a certain Paul.

Based on initial investigation, the victim and the suspects were at a New Year’s Eve party at the hotel. At past noontime of January 1, Dacera was found unconscious in the bathtub of her hotel room. Hotel personnel tried to revive her before she was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead.

Makati City police chief Col. Harold Depositar told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the charge filed was provisional as the prosecutor’s office would be waiting for the autopsy findings and the toxicology report on Dacera, which the Makati City police would submit on Tuesday.

Depositar said that only three of the 11 respondents in the charge have surfaced while the others have made themselves scarce.



“Only three of them were Dacera’s friends. The others were practically strangers to her, as they were only known to her three friends,” Depositar noted, adding that everyone in that New Year’s party with Dacera was included in the charge.

Asked for the initial basis of the rape with homicide charge, Depositar said: “The victim had lacerations and sperm in her genitalia.” He added that there were also bruises, contusions, and scratches on her arms and legs.

He said that Dacera’s death may have initially been found to be natural – from an aneurysm – but there were apparently factors that contributed to it.



In a statement, the victim’s employer, PAL Express, vowed support for the family of Dacera in their cry for justice.

“We are extending support to the flight attendant’s family at this most difficult time,” PAL Express said. “Our desire is for the truth to come out in the interest of justice.”

#JusticeForChristineDacera

After the news broke out, netizens took to Twitter to seek justice for the death of Dacera and some celebrities also slammed the suspects.

As a result of the outcry, #JusticeForChristineDacera, #StopVictimBlaming, #ProtectDrunkGirls, and Rape Is Rape trended in Twitter Philippines.

Dacera was born and raised in General Santos City.

In 2017, Dacera graduated cum laude at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao Davao City where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies. The same year, she became a member of the university’s The Honor Society of the Phi Kappa Phi.

In May 2019, she started working as flight attendant for the Philippine Airlines. She had her last flight as PAL stewardess on December 28, 2020.

Dacera was also a finalist in the Mutya ng Davao 2019 beauty pageant.

Condolences to the bereaved family.

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