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John Unson - Philstar.com
October 28, 2026 | 6:28pm
South Upi, a hinterland town in Maguindanao del Sur, also touted as the "little Baguio" of the province, is about 60 kilometers south of Cotabato City, the capital of the Bangsamoro region.
Philstar.com / John Unson
Content warning: Rape
COTABATO CITY — The mayor of South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur has offered a P50,000 cash reward to anyone who can help identify the person who raped a 10-year-old ethnic Teduray girl.
South Upi Mayor Helen Benito-Padua told reporters on Wednesday that the relatives of the slain Grade 4 elementary pupil, Teduray tribal leaders and investigators from their municipal police force are cooperating in putting closure to the incident.
South Upi, a hinterland town in Maguindanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro region, is a bastion of the indigenous, non-Moro Teduray tribe.
Benito-Padua said she is ready to pay P50,000 to anyone who can help the police identify the culprit in the rape and murder of her 10-year-old constituent, found in Sitio Lower Tambel in Barangay Romongaob lifeless by relatives who searched for her on Monday, after she sought permission to look for edible root crops in the area the day before and failed to return home since.
Barangay officials and investigators from the South Upi Municipal Police Station told reporters that relatives of the Teduray girl found her totally naked, tied to a tree in a standing position.
Physicians who examined her body said there are clear indications she was raped and strangled, causing her death.
Captain Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Wednesday that there are persons of interest in connection with the incident, but declined to identify them, while efforts to validate their involvement in the crime are still underway.
