NCRPO open to investigation on theft gang leader's death

MANILA, Philippines – The National Capital Region Police Office expressed willingness yesterday to appear before any probe body tasked to investigate allegations that they summarily executed car theft gang leader Ivan Padilla.

“My men have strictly followed police rules of engagement and we are open to any investigation,” said Superintendent Leo Francisco, head of the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operations unit (RPIOU).

Francisco directed all RPIOU operatives involved in the five-minute running gunbattle with Padilla in Makati City on Monday to appear before any probe body once they are properly summoned. The RPIOU chief issued his reaction amid TV reports that relatives of Padilla are seeking the help of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate his death as they strongly suspect he “was summarily executed.”

Francisco stressed that it would be next to impossible to summarily execute Padilla as he was with a companion, a certain Mark Inducil, at the time of the gunbattle.

He said even Inducil verbally testified that Padilla opened fire at the RPIOU operatives who cornered them while on board a stolen vehicle along Gen. Luna St., in Makati City.

“Inducil’s statement will absolve us of the allegations that we summarily executed Padilla. We will also present other evidence like the autopsy report on his body,” he said. But reports showed that Padilla’s family insisted he was “executed” while being rushed to the hospital and Inducil already separated from him.

Francisco admitted that Padilla was still breathing when his operatives rushed him to the Ospital ng Makati City where attending doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Two other gang members Dale Alimagno, 22, and Glenn Castillo, 31, were arrested by RPIOU operatives while they were about to sell the Toyota Camry of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo to a prospective buyer for P225,000 in Quezon City Thursday last week.

Aside from the vehicle of Romulo, police tagged Padilla’s gang as behind the carjacking of the Volvo of the father of actor Derek Ramsey and other car theft cases in Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces.

In related developments, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday said it will initiate an investigation on the death of suspected carjack leader Ivan Padilla after he engaged in a shootout with policemen in Makati City Monday morning.

CHR Commissioner Jose Manuel Mamauag said they were prompted to step in and probe the circumstances surrounding Padilla’s death after they received an e-mail sent by Padilla’s mother Malou asking for the commission’s help. “Sana pwede kaming lumapit sa CHR para ma-imbestigahan ng maayos ang pagkamatay ni Ivan. Marami pa akong mga tanong,” said Malou in the e-mail that was sent to the office of Mamauag by a TV network. Mamauag said Malou sought the help of a friend who got in touch with the TV network and the latter in turn, sent the message to the CHR.

Mamauag explained that the commission will have to engage first in documentation. “We will be requesting the PNP chief to help us provide the papers needed in the investigation like spot report, hospital records of Padilla and other pertinent documents. We will also be conducting an ocular inspection of the crime scene.”

He added they will request for a copy of the footage of the incident taken by a TV network so that they would be able to assess if violation of human rights were committed by the involved policemen or police officers.