Who took torture video? NCRPO wants to know

MANILA, Philippines – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is trying to find out who took the video of a robbery suspect being tortured by Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug of the Asuncion police precinct in Tondo, Manila.

NCRPO chief Director Leocadio Santiago said yesterday members of Task Force Asuncion are focusing on unmasking the person who took the video and convincing him to testify against Binayug.

Santiago said Binayug might know who took the video but he remains uncooperative in the task force’s investigation of the incident. Binayug earlier said he would only talk about the incident in the proper forum.

The NCRPO has charged Binayug; Superintendents Rogelio Rosales and Erneste Tendero Jr.; SPO3 Joaquin de Guzman SPO1 Rodolfo Ong; SPO1 Burt Tupaz; SPO1 Dante Bautista; PO1 Nonito Binayug; PO1 Rex Binayug and several John Does with violating the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla, Task Force Asuncion commander, claimed that administrative charges were filed yesterday against Rosales, Tendero, De Guzman, Tupaz, Bautista and Nonito Binayug, bringing to 17 the number of policemen facing these charges.

Rosales and Tendero, the commanders of Stations 1 and 11 of the Manila Police District (MPD) respectively, and four of their co-accused were ordered relieved from their posts Tuesday by Santiago.

“Since we have finished filing cases against the suspects, we are now conducting follow-up operations, including the establishment of the identity of the video taker,” Rongavilla said.

The video showed Binayug, in white shirt and shorts, torturing robbery suspect Darius Evangelista in the police precinct, with several persons watching and one of them apparently sending text messages on his cellular phone.

The torture video was aired during a television news program, triggering worldwide condemnation.

According to Rongavilla, they were not yet able to determine who were in the police precinct at the time the video was taken.

“We have not yet established the identities of the personalities inside the police precinct at the time. Our investigation right now is focused on that angle,” he said.

Rongavilla suspects that the video taker is also a policeman since Binayug did not object to him witnessing the torture.

He said they also want to know why the video was sent to a television station. “Maybe there was a quarrel, grudge or hard feelings between Binayug and the video taker. All of that will surface in our continuing investigation of the incident,” Rongavilla said.

Rosales was the commander of the Station 11 in Binondo at the time of Evangelista’s torture and Tendero headed Station 2, which has jurisdiction of the Asuncion precinct.

Binayug, De Guzman, Ong, Bautista, Nonito Binayug and Rex Binayug were identified by witnesses as the men who fetched Evangelista from Station 11 and brought him to the Asuncion precinct, where he was tortured.

According to Rongavilla, Binayug and 11 men at the Asuncion precinct were subjected yesterday to psychiatric and drug tests.

It was not known whether Rosales, Tendero, De Guzman, Tupaz, Nonito Binayug and Bautista would also undergo psychiatric and drug tests.

Rongavilla said a joint team from the NCRPO, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Health and the National Bureau of Investigation have established the burial site of a burned skull believed to be that of Evangelista.

According to Rongavilla, they are coordinating with the Manila City Hall to exhume the skull and subject to it to DNA testing.

If the skull is confirmed to be that of Evangelista, Rongavilla said they would file murder charges against the 17 suspects.