PAO tells CHR: Step back from QC shootout probe

MANILA, Philippines - The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) on Friday requested the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to inhibit from the controversial Quezon City shootout and to suspend its investigation on the incident. In a radio report, PAO lawyers said they had already sent a letter to CHR chairperson Leila de Lima, requesting the agency to step back from the investigation, allegedly plagued with “bias, impartiality, and pre-judgment." The PAO, headed by its chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, stepped into the case after the Justice department directed the agency to extend counseling services to all policemen with ranks of police officer 3 or higher embroiled in legal battles. In a press conference, Dr. Paul Ed Ortiz, a medico-legal from the Philippine National Police (PNP), contested the findings of CHR-commissioned forensic expert Raquel Fortun that claimed the three suspects died from multiple gunshot wounds in unusual spots in the body. Fortun said she doubted if suspects Rolando Batapa, Romeo de Guzman and Alfredo Pimentel really died while shooting it out with policemen because the victims sustained gunshot wounds mostly at the back parts of their bodies. The three were killed on February 17 after reportedly engaging members of the Quezon City Police District Anti-Carnapping Unit and the Highway Patrol Group in a firefight on EDSA corner NIA Road in Quezon City. Fortun’s report indicated that suspect De Guzman died after being shot at the back of his head and body. Meanwhile, Batapa’s jaw was crushed after being hit by a bullet. He died from excessive blood loss. Ortiz contested Fortun’s findings that two of the three suspects sustained gunshot wounds in their heads, adding that police investigation showed that only one did. Rub-out, not shootout In a report by GMA reporter Claire Delfin, Acosta insisted – as the QCPD did – that the shootout happened in a legitimate police operation. “This is not a rub-out. This is a shootout. This is a legitimate police operation," said Acosta, who recently made it into the headlines as the lawyer who helped Aquino-Galman murder case convicts get executive clemency. “Unfair naman sa kapulisan natin na kung sila dahil sila na nga ang gumaganap ng kanilang tungkulin ay sila pa ang mabibilanggo [It’s unfair for our policemen to get jailed for performing their tasks]," Acosta added. PAO’s forensic consultant Dr. Erwin Erfe said the policemen did not use excessive force in the police operation, adding that there was “no immediate fatal gunshot wounds" on the suspects. “If there was intention to kill them immediately, I would expect that the gunshots would be made at the crucial areas of the body like the head, the chest, the heart and the neck," Erfe said. “But in this particular case, the last shot that Batapa sustained was on the left part of the left shoulder. Apparently this was the shot made to incapacitate Batapa," he added. Fortun had indicated that the suspects could have been shot at close range as manifested by the absence of markings near their gunshot wounds. In response, Erfe said policemen were trying to drag Batapa out of the vehicle to take him to the hospital but the latter fired shot twice, forcing authorities to return fire. In its own investigation, the QCPD found that Police Officer 3 Randy Barrameda and SPO1 Frederick Torres both violated the rules of engagement when they participated in the operation in plain clothes. Barrameda was also found to have committed grave misconduct for firing at an already immobile suspect. Ancar head Inspector Angelo Nicolas was recommended to be charged for neglect of duty, even as the Napolcom had already ordered the preventive suspension of 29 officers involved in the police operation. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV