8 Manila cops face arrest

A Manila judge effectively ordered yesterday the detention of eight Manila lawmen by issuing a warrant for their arrest for the killing of two Muslims in Quiapo at the height of the Metro Manila bombings last year.

The lawmen, all members of the District Police Intelligence Unit, are now expected to be "restricted" at the Western Police District (WPD) headquarters as ordered by WPD director Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon Jr. once a warrant for their arrest for murder is issued.

Judge Rodolfo Ponferrada of Manila Regional Trial Court branch 41 released the warrant about 10 a.m. yesterday although it was signed Friday. The killings occurred on the night of June 8.

"They would now have to petition the court for bail that could only be granted after the prosecution has presented its evidence," said Manila Branch 41 clerk of court Roman Ortiz. Ortiz said the process alone could take at least three months.

The Department of Justice earlier recommended no bail for the policemen after finding sufficient evidence to indict them for murder. The charge is a heinous crime punishable by death.

Ordered arrested were Senior Police Officer 4 Wilson Tibor, SPO4 Remigio Estacio, SPO3 Edgardo Abaga, SPO4 Julian Siriban, SPO2 Eduardo Ramos, PO3 Randy Dimayuga, PO3 Ronald Hernandez, PO2 Philip Malindog and PO1 Ignacio Garlan. The accused have maintained self-defense in the killing. Tibor is the outspoken president of Manila’s Finest Brotherhood Association.

The eight lawmen were charged with the slayings of overseas Filipino worker applicants Esmael Omar and Samin Akmad. Omar sustained 14 gunshot wounds, some of them in the back while Akmad was also shot repeatedly.

At the time of the killings, the military was intensifying operations against Muslim rebels in Mindanao. The military operation was linked to the mall explosions in Metro Manila allegedly as a diversionary tactic of the Muslim rebels.

The death of Omar and Akmad sparked outrage in the Muslim community in Quiapo, Manila.

Charges against a ninth policeman who participated in the operation, SPO4 Benedicto Rodriguez, on the other hand, were dismissed due to insufficient evidence placing him along Arlegui street in Quiapo, Manila at about 6:15 p.m. of June 8.

Rodriguez is said to have merely tipped off the location of the victims to his colleagues during the supposed operation to apprehend terrorist bombers.

The policemen-accused are said to have cut the path of the victims on board two cars before the shooting erupted.

"The number of gunshot wounds sustained by Omar and their points of entry belie respondent’s theory of self-defense," said DOJ State Prosecutor Peter Ong in his eight-page resolution. The lawmen said Omar, armed with a caliber .38 pistol resisted arrest while Akmad tried to hurl a grenade at them. – Jose Aravilla