2 Rizal lawmen in slay try on witness charged

MANILA, Philippines - The Calabarzon police has filed criminal and administrative charges against two policemen nabbed for the slay try on a pregnant woman, a witness in an extortion case against them, in Laguna last Thursday.

Charged with kidnapping with frustrated murder before the Pagsanjan municipal trial court were PO2 Mario Natividad and PO1 Antenor Mariquit, both assigned to the Cainta, Rizal police.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., Calabarzon police director, vowed to institute administrative proceedings to dismiss Mariquit and Natividad from the police service for attempting to prevent the 22-year-old witness from testifying in the extortion case against them in court.

“We have an airtight case against the two policemen. We will ensure their conviction in court,” said Pagdilao.

The two policemen are presently detained at the Pagsanjan municipal jail. A prosecutor recommended P200,000 bail for each of them.

The witness, who is four months’ pregnant, was snatched last week and brought to Pagsanjan town where she was stabbed 24 times and shot in the thigh. She was thrown in a ravine and left for dead.

The victim, however, managed to climb up the cliff. Passengers of a jeepney spotted her and brought her to the hospital.