2 cops, school owner’s son charged for cop’s death

MANILA, Philippines - Two policemen and a son of the owner of a school in Pasig were charged with homicide yesterday for the death of a policeman responding to trouble at the school.

Police Officer 2 Herbert Agpalo, Police Officer 1 Alvaro Palor and Emerson Aries Go were charged before the Pasig prosecutor’s office based on the sworn statements of a security guard, a maintenance worker and a driver of the St. Gabriel International School as well as a policeman who joined Palor and Agpalo in responding to the trouble, Pasig police chief Senior Superintendent Mario Rariza said.

He said the Eastern Police District’s Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) office has yet to submit the autopsy report on the body of Senior Police Officer 1 Fernan Clemente.

“We have to file the homicide charges so as to beat the 36-hour reglamentary period for filing cases in court. The autopsy report and the video footage of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera would follow,” Rariza said.

He clarified that the initial SOCO report stated that Clemente sustained seven gunshot wounds, not 52 as earlier reported, including the shotgun pellets retrieved from Clemente’s face.

Clemente was playing basketball near the school when the school’s guards asked him to help them pacify Go, who was armed with a shotgun and creating trouble.

Rariza said Clemente was approaching Go when the latter started shooting. Clemente fired his handgun in the air twice to prevent Go from chasing him.

The victim was rushing out of the school’s gate with his gun pointed toward the ground when the CCTV camera caught Agpalo and Palor shooting in his direction, police said.

Both policemen claimed they mistook Clemente as the suspect as he was holding a firearm while rushing out of the school gate in civilian clothes, Rariza said.

A third policeman responded to the scene along with Agpalo and Palor but he did not fire his gun, he added.

The lawman is among the four witnesses of the Pasig City police against Agpalo, Palor and Go.