An animal rights group posted a clarification on its Facebook page that reported a dog allegedly gang-raped recently in Barangay San Pedro, Puerto Princesa City.
In a post in its page dated January 9, the Strategic Power for Animal Respondents (SPAR)-Philippines rectified an earlier claim regarding a person linked to the alleged animal cruelty incident in Barangay San Pedro.
SPAR through founder Sherrie Hinojales-Matthews expressed regret towards Ralph Deo I. Estropia for tagging him on Facebook as one of the suspects in the depraved behavior perpetrated on a dog by still unidentified members of a gang.
“Ralph has a video na wala siya, ginamit ang profile niya. Another name is coming out na circulated sa FB Gabriel Lastimosa. Gabby pala and the raretrip account has the same profile. Therefore, another angle,” said Matthews in a chat to Palawan News.
On January 9, SPAR posted in its social media page an erratum explaining there appears to be a personal feud between Estropia and Lastimosa which is now under investigation.
“There was a personal feud which is under investigation now as per the neighbor. They have leads and that is something to look forward to. However, it doesn’t stop here; we will have Norman Marquez to investigate the very details. SPAR would like to apologize to Ralph and to the entire family,” SPAR’s erratum stated.
SPAR said the animal abuse was “a bothering report” that should stop.
Estropia denied to Palawan News also Thursday that he was the perpetrator of the perverted act on the dog, claiming he has no idea about it as he is, in fact, now living in Bataan.
He said he only knew about him being linked to the incident from the social media and through his sister.
“Wala po talaga akong idea about sa post na ito, wala talaga akong idea. Kung tutuusin, nalaman ko lang ‘yong nangyayari na ganyan sa social media sa kapatid ko lang. Nagulat na lang ako,” he said.
Estropia also appealed to the public to help in the search for Lastimosa whom he alleged as the hacker of his FB and who used his profile picture.
He appealed to residents of the city and the province, including authorities, to help look for the real culprit and to save him from the embarrassment of being accused in a crime he did not do.
He said netizens can also help by stopping the spread of his stolen profile photo.
“Siguro siya yong nagnakaw ng facebook account ko, yong sinasabing Gabby na ‘yon at ginagamit yong profile picture ko tapos nagulat naman ako doon. Ang pangalan na Gabby, siya yong poser tapos profile picture ko ‘yong ginagamit nya. Nagulat ko roon sa gang rape [ng aso],” he pointed out.
On January 9, SPAR alerted residents in Palawan about the animal cruelty incident after it was reported to them.
The post showed the alleged stolen profile photo of Estropia.
The post has been taken down since by FB.
Matthews said their local investigation will be also be assisted by the Palawan Animal Welfare Foundation (PAWF), and that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will help locate the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the account used.
