Palace: No whitewash in probe of shooting

MANILA, Philippines — There will be no whitewash in the investigation of the shooting death of unarmed civilians by a group of policemen and barangay watchmen in Mandaluyong City Thursday night, Malacañang said yesterday.

This developed as the police have formed a special task force to investigate a possible overkill in the shooting incident that left two people dead and two others wounded.

“The nation can rest assured there will be no whitewash,”  Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in Filipino over state-run Radyo Pilipinas.

The fatalities – Jonalyn Ambaon and Jomar Hayawon – were passengers of a utility van that police reportedly mistook for the getaway vehicle of gunmen being chased by village watchmen or barangay tanods at the corner of Shaw Blvd. and Old Wack Wack Road, Barangay Addition Hills.

Wounded were Ambaon’s partner Eliseo Aluad and driver Danilo Santiago.

Ambaon was being taken to hospital for a bullet wound in the head sustained earlier after an altercation with a group of a certain Abdurakman Alfin over a parking space. Hayawon was one of the workers who volunteered to accompany Ambaon to the hospital.

Police said they were misled into shooting at the utility van by the tanods.

Andanar said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are looking into the culpability of the Mandaluyong policemen and the tanods for the killings.

He noted that National Capital Regional Police Office director Oscar Albayalde has relieved Mandaluyong City police chief Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran Jr. and 10 others in relation to the incident. City deputy for administration Supt. Enrique Agtarap replaced Villaceran.

“What’s important here is to have an impartial, a fair investigation not only of the policemen but also of those who gave them the tip,” Andanar said.

“If I am not mistaken, it’s the tanods who gave the tip that turned out to be wrong,” he said.

He said it’s normal for policemen to depend on tanods for information.

“Of course the police rely on people at the grassroots. And who are at the grassroots, the barangays, right? Barangay tanods are the ones on the ground, so when they give information, the Philippine National Police follow them,” Andanar said.

He pointed out that barangay officials and tanods are usually police assets.

“So, therefore, the investigation of the PNP and the DILG should be up to the barangay level so the problem can be easily pinpointed – from barangay all the way to the chief of the Mandaluyong police,” Andanar said.

He described the incident as possibly the “pikamapait” (most bitter) case to cap the year.

Task group

Albayalde, in an interview, said special investigation task group (SITG) Ambaon has been formed to probe a possible “overkill” in the police response to the information provided by the tanods.

“We wanted to know what went wrong with the incident from the moment Ambaon was loaded in the vehicle and until they were fired indiscriminately by the pursuing tanods and policemen,” said Albayalde in an interview.

The SITG Ambaon is headed by Senior Supt. Florendo Quibuyen, the deputy chief for operations of the Eastern Police District (EPD).

Albayalde said PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has instructed him to leave no stone unturned and to make sure those found culpable are punished.

“The instructions of the CPNP was to let the axe fall where it may. So we need to uncover the truth so only the guilty would be punished severely,” said Albayalde.

The three survivors of the shooting incident claimed that they were shouting at the policemen to stop the shooting as they were taking a gunshot victim to hospital.

When confronted by Albayalde and Chief Supt. Reynaldo Biay, EPD director, on Friday, the policemen claimed they did not hear the pleas of the victims.

According to Biay, the policemen pursued the Mitsubishi van on board two mobile cars and three motorcycles.

“The wrong information provided by the tanods that the suspect in Ambaon’s shooting are inside the vehicle is OK,” Albayalde stressed.

“But why the policemen continue firing at the vehicle while the occupants are shouting that they are bringing to the hospital a wounded person is what we want to know,” he said.

The NCRPO chief pointed out that the vehicle, on which found were 36 bullet holes, yielded no firearm.

The EPD crime laboratory has started conducting ballistic examination on the caliber 9mm and caliber .45 pistols surrendered by the 10 policemen, who are under restrictive custody.

“We want to know who among them fired their handguns,” said Albayalde.

Because of the incident, Albayalde relieved the 10 policemen from the Police Community Precinct 1 (PCP1) in Barangay Addition Hills.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), for its part, lauded the PNP’s decision to suspend the 10 policemen involved in the shooting.

Suspended were Police Community Precinct 1 commander Senior Insp. Cristina Vasquez and her men, PO2 Nel Songalia and PO1s Jave Arellano, Tito Danao, Bryan Nicolas, Julius Libuyen, Mark Castillo, Alberto Buag, Kim Tinbusay and Alfred Urbe.

“The commission is hopeful that the victims will get justice,” the CHR said in a statement in Filipino.

“We support the temporary relief of police officers involved in the shooting to give way to the investigation of the incident,” it added.

The CHR earlier said it would conduct a parallel probe on the incident.

“The objective of this investigation is to determine whether or not human rights violations were committed by the Mandaluyong police involved in the shooting and determine, if any, liabilities of barangay tanods involved,” CHR regional director for Metro Manila Diana de Leon said.

“We will specifically determine if there was excessive use of force on the part of the Mandaluyong police and was there due diligence employed by them during the shooting incident or were the rules of engagement under the PNP operational procedures followed or violated,” she added.

“I expect the proper authorities to expedite the investigation into this incident and hold the erring policemen accountable for this unnecessary violence,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said.

“The standard operating procedure followed by the police – ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ – must come to an end,” he said.

“The fatal shooting of innocent civilians and good samaritans at the hands of Mandaluyong City law enforcement authorities is a terrible tragedy, made sadder by its timing during the holiday season. My prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones during these trying times,” Gatchalian added.

Misled too?

Accused of giving policemen wrong information, Barangay Addition Hills tanods claimed they had been misled themselves by the people involved in shooting Ambaon earlier.

“It was an accident that nobody wanted to happen,” Kent Faminial, chairman of Barangay Addition Hills said.

Faminial said the three tanods involved have been suspended, with two of them –  Wilmer Duron and Erning Fajardo – now in police custody while the third, Gilbert Gulpo, remains at large.

Faminial said his people only acted on the information provided by a member of Alfin’s group.

“They were misled by a member of that group who told them armed men were inside the vehicle,” he said.

Faminial also blamed the people inside the van, saying they should have stopped when the barangay patrol vehicle was approaching them. “There was no chance for my people to verify,” he said.

On reports that the tanods started the shooting, Faminial said they were not allowed to carry firearms. “We never issued firearms to them,” said Faminial, who also appealed for understanding and fairness.

One of the tanods, Ernesto Fajardo, has reportedly issued a sworn affidavit claiming Guron and Gulpo brandished firearms during the shooting incident.

“He does not know why his two companions were carrying firearms,” a police official who declined to be named said in a phone interview.

The official said they were waiting for the results of the paraffin tests on the tanods and policemen involved in the shooting.

There are about 150 watchmen working in shifts in Barangay Addition Hills, which has a population of nearly 70,000 people.

Appeal for justice

Meanwhile, the families of Ambaon, 35, and Hayawon, 29, appealed to President Duterte for help in obtaining justice.

“I hope he can help us attain justice for my sister. She was a good person and was never involved in illegal activities,” 41-year-old Marnie said in Filipino yesterday in an interview at the wake for her sister at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Church in Addition Hills.

“We could not accept their explanation. They should have verified first who were the people inside,” she said. 

She added her sister tended a retail store at the time of her death.

“They should pay for their crime and never get out of jail,” she said, referring to the policemen and the tanods.

Hayawon’s loved ones also vowed to hold accountable the people responsible for his death. “We will file cases against them. My brother died for no reason,” Danny Boy Hayawon said in an interview.

Danny Boy and other members of their family went to the barangay hall of Addition Hills yesterday, seeking financial assistance to have his body released from a funeral parlor. They said the owner of the morgue is demanding P60,000.

“We don’t have that amount of money. We are simple persons,” Danny Boy said, holding back tears.

Hayawon, a resident of Antipolo City in Rizal, left a wife and three children – two boys and one girl. The eldest is 12 while the youngest is five.

“My brother’s wife is very distraught. She has been crying since the incident,” said Danny Boy.

“He was just helping an injured woman to a hospital,” Narding, an uncle of the victim, said. 

Mandaluyomg Mayor Menchie Abalos has assured relatives of the victims the city government would shoulder the hospitalization of the injured and the expenses for the burial of the fatalities.  – With Emmanuel Tupas, Marvin Sy, Janvic Mateo