DIDM Family Conference

Law & OrderDETECTIVETheAtlas! It must be the sweetest victory for thefemale victims of a serial rapist dentist when JudgeDinnah Aguila-Topacio of the Manila Regional TrialCourt Branch 42, found the accused serial dentistrapist, ALBERT GALANG DELA CRUZ, @ALDRINMALIWAT, 32 years old, guilty for thecrime of robbery with rape when hetook the valuables of a Paco-baseddentist before raping her inside thevictim's clinic on May 26, 2011. Heshall also serve a maximum of 40years in prison (reclusionperpetua without parole) and payhis victim some P193,000 for thevaluables he stole as well as a total ofP105,000 worth of moral andexemplary damages.The judgment comes ata time when the worldcelebrates InternationalWomen's Month in March2012. The conviction finishesthe year-long manhunt by the police detectives andinvestigators at the National Capital Region thatstarted between 2010 and 2011 and involvedprofessional organizations such as the PhilippineDental Association (PDA).The dedicated tracker teams of NCRPOtasked to go after the serial rapist dentist finallyended when they arrested the elusive convict (he wasin fact, has already spent 5 years in jail on robberycharges), in August last year near his home in LasPiñas City. Although DELA CRUZ claimed to have analibi for the times during which the crimes werecommitted, he was positively recognized by two ofhis female victims during the meeting organized byPDIR ALAN LM PURISIMA, RD, NCRPO and PDAOfficials. In fact, Tracker Team Officers vividlyrecalled how the NCRPO Conference Room was filledwith outburst of emotions and outcry when he waspresented to PDA Officials and members of themedia.The so-called serial rapist dentist preyed onwomen dentists before he was caught by the saidTracker Teams. DELA CRUZ was also facing chargesfor having committed sexual crimes against 23 other5April - June 2012Volume 1Issue No. 2Celebrating Women's Month with the Conviction of a Serial Rapist Dentist..serving the best time of his life in jail for 40 yearsFacial Composite of DELA CRUZdentists throughout the Philippines between 2010 and2011. The investigators in NCRPO theorized that DELACRUZ was focusing on dental offices in less-populatedarea and committed his crimes throughout the less busyoccasions. His modus operandi was to pose as a clientand asked for teeth cleaning or filling done. When hesensed that the dentist was alone, he forced hisvictim to comply by poking a hand gun to createhis sufferers compliant.A l s o p r e s e n t d u r i n g t h epromulgation were the other dentists whohad been victimized by the convicted rapist.Some of the victims cried upon hearingJudge Aguila-Topacio's decision. A sigh ofrelief and joy was also felt by members ofthe Tracker Team from NCRPO whopainstakingly worked on the serialrapist dentist case. But the effortundertaken by our police detectives willnot end from this conviction, a lot ofdetective work still needs to be done asPDA Executive Officials expressed fearfor its members since for them, DELA CRUZ is just a “tip ofthe iceberg.” There are still victims who opted tokeep silent for fear of their lives and privacy, there arestill unreported cases of women dentists in the countrywho were being robbed and sexually abused in theirclinics.The investigators from NCRPO expressed theirstrong desire to help the PDA's plight and will not stoptracking down other dentist rapist like DELA CRUZ toensure that they will rot in jail and expect swift deliveryof justice for the victim and the family of the victims.