Charges poised vs Army soldiers, police officers for death of cop in mis-encounter

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 12): Charges poised vs Army soldiers, police officers for death of cop in mis-encounter

Criminal and administrative charges have been readied against military and police officials behind the botch encounter in an upland village here that recently killed a police officer and seriously injured another.

But relatives of the victims, who declined from being named, have said that no amount of criminal or administrative penalty can bring back the life of the young Philippine National Police (PNP) member who was killed in the incident.

Neither can the posthumous accolade be enough consolation for the family and loved ones of Police Officer (PO) 3 Rene Balaguer, 35, whose death in the hands of Philippine Army (PA) soldiers is casually described as an “unfortunate mis-encounter”.

Not even the fact that heads may roll and charges will be filed will console the grief of his widow, children, siblings, mother and father, especially with facts established that he died not in the hands of the enemy but of fellow uniformed men in government service.

Anyway, they said, it may be nice to hear that the PNP regional headquarters for Bicol based at Camp Gen. Simeon A. Ola here has announced that charges of homicide and frustrated homicide resulting from reckless imprudence were being readied to give justice to the victims.

That incident that took place in the upland Barangay Maslog here in early morning of last May 19 also seriously wounded PO2 Ronald Bondad, another member of the 16-man team from the Albay Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) sent to check on the reported presence in the area of an armed band said to be New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

The village was celebrating its barrio fiesta on the same day.

The Santos-Binamira Command, the local unit of the NPA operating in the Albay-Sorsogon area, has denied its involvement in the clash, saying in a statement released to local media outlets the following day that no NPA operative was around in the village on that day.

On the other hand, Police Senior Supt. Marlo S. Meneses, the PNP Albay provincial director, reported after the incident that the team from the PPSC encountered a group of NPA guerrillas in Sitio (sub-village) San Jose, Barangay Maslog, resulting in a 45-minute exchange of gunfire.

In the same report, Meneses said the NPA rebels were positioned at a vantage point when they fired at the police patrol team, resulting in the death of Balaguer and the wounding of Bondad.

The “rebels”, Meneses added, withdrew on sensing that reinforcing policemen were on their way.

Chief Supt. Victor Deona, PNP Bicol regional director, did not take Meneses’ report hook, line and sinker -- especially that the NPA has denied involvement.

He ordered Meneses to form a police panel to conduct an investigation, whose initial result established that, indeed, it was a mis-encounter between the PPSC team and a PA unit operating in the area.

However, the PNP Bicol chief has expressed that he was not satisfied with the investigation report since, according to him, it failed to come up with “relevant discussions” that would lead to the identification of those who were indeed responsible for the mis-encounter and acceptable recommendations toward the next course of action.

He said it was a sloppy investigation, being one-sided and indecisive as shown by its result that contained testimonies from the PPSC team involved but not from the side of the PA unit.

“As an investigating body, its members should have secured the testimonies of the Army soldiers involved in the botched clash,” Deona said.

He said that while the report on the investigation contained a recommendation, it was not decisive for suggesting tentative bases, saying the final decision will be in the hands of the police regional director.

Deona believes that “the report failed to arrive at a logical discussion that will arrive at a logical conclusion” as he turned over the case to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) under instructions of a “no whitewash” probe.

“I really wanted the investigation to determine who were responsible, what were the lapses that resulted in the mis-encounter and the civil and criminal liabilities of those involved as bringing justice to the victims is of paramount importance, although we know that it could no longer bring back the life of our fallen policeman,” he said.

Deona said that on his part, he has called on the PA commanders in the area — Col. Raul Farnacio of the 901st Infantry Brigade based in Barangay Villahermosa, Daraga, Albay, and Lt. Col. Perfecto Peñaredondo of the 21st Infantry Battalion based in Barangay Tula-tula, Ligao City for a case conference.

“In that conference, we arrived at an agreement that each will conduct investigations which will be consolidated and made basis for the filing of criminal and/or administrative charges against those who would be found out responsible,” he said.

Police Senior Insp. Malou Calubaquib, the PNP regional spokesperson, over the weekend said the CIDG has already concluded its investigation which recommended that criminal charges for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, chaos and serious physical injury be filed against members of the PA.

She declined to name those Army soldiers facing the charges pending the acceptance and confirmation by the PNP-PA joint conference of the investigation report.

On the part of the PNP, Calubaquib said, administrative charges will also be filed against commanders of the police team involved in the incident.

“Certainly, heads will roll once the liabilities of involved officials and personnel are determined through these charges. RD Deona wants to deliver the message that incidents like this mis-encounter resulting from severe lapses cannot be condoned, especially that it caused the loss of a policeman’s precious life,” she added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=781960