THE Senate minority bloc has filed resolutions seeking an investigation into the killing of a 17-year-old boy in a mistaken identity case by members of the Navotas City Police Station last August 2.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III filed Resolution No. 736 last August 15 while deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros filed Resolution No. 742 last August 16 seeking probes on the incident.
PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. welcomed the Senate move that he said should improve the 228,000 police force and protect the innocent.
Pimentel said the case of Baltazar “is only one of the many operational lapses committed” by the police that resulted in the death of several individuals.
“Leaving the matter uninvestigated amounts to permitting wanton abuse of police authority, sanctioning selective justice which unduly favors police personnel, and standing by as public trust towards our police force is eroding,” Pimentel said.
Aside from Baltazar, he cited the cases of Johndy Maglinte, 16, who was shot dead by the police on June 16, 2021 while in handcuffs in Laguna, and Gilbert Dalogdog Ranes, 34, who died after being beaten by the police while under custody on December 9, 2022.
He said using “unnecessary force” just to effect the arrest of a suspect “is never justified.”
Based on reports, Pimentel said Baltazar showed no indication of being a threat to the pursuing cops, hence the use of firearms was not justified. He added what the Navotas City cops did violate Police Operational Procedures.
“The use of a firearm is justified only if the offender poses an imminent danger of causing death or injury to the police officer or other persons. The use of a firearm is also justified under the doctrines of self-defense, defense of a relative, and defense of a stranger,” he said, quoting the Police Operational Procedures.
“However, one who resorts to self-defense must face a real threat to his life and the peril sought to be avoided must be actual, imminent, and real. Unlawful aggression should be present for self-defense to be considered as a justifying circumstance,” he added.
Members of the Navotas City Police Station were hot on the trail of a suspect in a shooting incident when they spotted Baltazar and his friend on a boat on a river in Barangay North Bay Boulevard South Kaunlaran.
Reports said the cops instructed Baltazar and his friend to surrender, but Baltazar jumped into the river, while his friend hid in the boat.
The cops shot at Baltazar, who was hit in the head and was left to drown. Reports said his body was retrieved some three hours later.
Baltazar was laid to rest last Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan, PNP public information office chief, said six cops involved in the operation were disarmed and placed under restrictive custody at the Northern Police District headquarters in Caloocan City and were charged with “reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.”
Aside from the six cops, Navotas police chief Col. Allan Umipig and 22 other cops were also relieved and are facing administrative investigation in connection with the incident.
Hontiveros, in her resolution, said the government must exert all efforts to prevent a repeat of this “tragic incident, in the guise of law enforcement.”
“The police officers claimed it was a case of ‘mistaken identity’, but even if the victim had been a suspect, the circumstances fail to justify such excessive use of force,” she said.
PROBE WELCOMED
In an ambush interview at a shooting range in Marikina City for the opening of the four-day Chief PNP Cup 2023 shooting competition, Acorda said: “We welcome any move by the legislative (body), especially in the aid of legislation. I believe in their wisdom also (in the conduct of such inquiry).
“If there is a need for further changes in the law, it’s better so that we can be given more teeth or given further protection,” said Acorda.
Acorda added the probe is also welcome “if our community, the innocent ones, will be given enough protection also. I think that’s the objective of our lawmakers.”
Acorda said the PNP, under his watch, is not resorting to the “quota system,” where police units are asked to meet a certain number of accomplishments during a given period.
He made the clarification amid speculations that the quota system may have forced policemen to become reckless in their conduct of operations, leading to recent abuses, including the killing of Baltazar.
“Under my leadership, I don’t impose (a) quota system…That’s not possible because, again, we don’t (to) impose a quota system,” said Acorda.
Asked if the quota system in the PNP existed in the past, Acorda said: “There were pressures before but not quota (system).”
Acorda said he is not pressuring police commanders to produce accomplishments because “whenever there is pressure from us to make accomplishments, policemen are resorting to shortcuts and sometimes the conviction rate is low.” — With Victor Reyes
