AWOL cop arrested in cafe for alleged rape

A police officer who is on absence without leave (AWOL) since last year was arrested by his fellow cops in a coffee shop in Makati City for allegedly raping a woman in Samar province.

According to Marisol Abdurahman’s exclusive report on “24 Oras” on Thursday, Police Senior Master Sergeant Juda Jorda of Police Regional Office 8 (PRO-8) was arrested based on a warrant of arrest for rape case.

The rape accusation allegedly occurred in PRO-8, the report also said.

“Nag-AWOL na po siya since last year po mula nang labasan siya ng warrant. Dito po siya sa Metro Manila nagtago at nag-relax na nga po siya kaya siya ay ating nadakip,” said Southern Police District director Police Brigadier Kirby Kraft.

(He has been in AWOL since last year after the warrant was issued. He hid and relaxed here in Metro Manila, so we caught him.)

In an interview with GMA News, Jorda denied the allegations against him and said that he did not rape the woman.

He added that the woman's parents had just made up the accusations as they were not in favor of their relationship.

“Because hindi nila matanggap na ‘yung karelasyon ng anak nila is may asawa po, may pamilya,” the former cop said.

(Because they could not accept that their daughter is in a relationship with a married man and has a family.)

The suspect also said that the woman contacted him last week, “Tatakas siya kasi gusto niyang mag-resistance [she will run away because she wants to resist].”

Jorda, meanwhile, admitted that he went AWOL after being charged with the rape case.

He was dismissed from the police service last July and is currently detained at the Southern Police District.—Mel Matthew Doctor/LDF, GMA News