VACC offers legal aid to slain student's family

By Paulo DS Papa

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has pledged legal assistance to the bereaved family of Roselle Bandojo, a 17-year-old high school student who was found dead and in a state of decomposition in a grassy, abandoned lot at the corner of Acacia Street, Barangay Liboton, Naga City on July 28, 2023.

Days before her lifeless body was discovered, Bandojo was reported missing after she went out to buy food items at a convenience store along Peñafrancia Avenue, Barangay Peñafrancia, in the same city.

On August 25, 2023, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), together with the Philippine National Police and the victim’s family, filed documents before the City Prosecutor’s Office, lodging robbery and homicide complaints against Enzo Purisima, then 23, a pedicab driver from Molave Street, Barangay Liboton.

Purisima was later arrested on December 14, 2023, during an anti-illegal drugs buy-bust operation in Barangay Peñafrancia. He is currently detained after being charged for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

However, the prosecutor’s office dismissed the complaint against him due to insufficient evidence linking him to the killing of Bandojo.

On July 23 last year, the victim’s family said that a petition for review filed by the NBI before the Department of Justice remains pending and has yet to be acted upon.

On June 1 this year, the VACC announced its assistance to the family in their pursuit of justice, aiming to help expedite the resolution of the case and secure conviction of the suspect in Bandojo’s killing.

The Bicol Mail made efforts to reach the Bandojo family for comment, but they declined interview requests as their residence remained closed to media inquiries.

Sulpicio Alferez III, principal of the Camarines Sur National High School where Bandojo studied, said in an interview that the school administration has been seeking updates on the case but expressed disappointment over its slow progress.

Alferez also said that authorities tasked to pursue the case appeared to have made limited progress in securing a conviction.

He added, however, that he remains hopeful that the involvement of VACC will help advance the pursuit of justice, which has remained unresolved for nearly three years.

Meanwhile, VACC volunteer Atty. Caloy Cortez Jr. currently serves as legal counsel for the Bandojo family.