MANILA, Philippines - Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta expressed doubt that the courts will actually take as evidence an ABS-CBN video she said only provided “partial coverage” of an encounter that led to the death of three suspected car thieves last Feb. 17.
“Unless it’s a complete replica of the (entire police) operation, I don’t think it will be accepted in court,” she said in an interview with reporters last Friday.
Acosta also said the news crew “had no footage of the chase that started in Mandaluyong. (What it presented was) not a complete picture of the event.”
The footage, repeatedly played by ABS-CBN in its newscasts, has implicated policemen from the Highway Patrol Group and the Quezon City Police District’s anti-carjacking and car theft unit, in the encounter.
Commission on Human Rights chairwoman Leila de Lima branded the encounter as a “rubout,” but Acosta said it was a “shootout” and accused De Lima of “bias and partiality” and showing “obvious hostility” against the 29 policemen involved in the encounter.
Private lawyer Jose Ramon Remollo, who represents two of the 29 policemen, said they “are not ready to admit the (ABS-CBN) footage as evidence,” citing the television network’s refusal to release an authenticated copy of the raw footage taken by its news crew.
Acosta noted that the video was “taken more than 20 meters away” from the actual site of the encounter.
“The camera crew even said they could not hear what the policemen or the suspects were saying (at the time the footage was being taken) during the clearing operation,” she said, adding that the footage only took a “posterior view of the incident.”
Acosta said the newscasts did not state that suspect Rolando Batapa, who was being pulled out of the vehicle as shown in the footage, was brought to a hospital by the police after the incident.
Acosta and the other lawyers representing the policemen have called on the CHR to stop its investigation on the allegations of a rubout, citing De Lima’s “prejudgment” of the case.
The lawyers are also set to file a motion for reconsideration before the National Police Commission to lift its suspension order on the policemen, saying the policemen did not commit any grave offense and observed the rules of engagement during the operation.