Two cops linked to the death of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz were found to have intentionally killed the teenager after an investigation by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“The entry of the bullet and the position of the victim shows that he was intentionally killed,” PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) Insp. Gen. Alfegar Triambulo told ABS-CBN on Wednesday.
This new information moved the PNP-IAS to recommend the dismissal of PO1 Jeffrey Perez and PO1 Ricky Arquilita, the two cops present during the incident.
Arnaiz was found in a morgue in late August more than 10 days after he went missing. Police initially said that Arnaiz was killed in a shootout after allegedly robbing a taxi driver in Caloocan but the driver said in a statement that he turned over the Arnaiz to the police station.
Triambulo said this statement is consistent with their findings. In September, an investigation by the Public Attorney’s Office revealed that the crime scene was probably been staged.
PNP-IAS also recommended a one-rank demotion for Chief Inspector Fortunato Ecle, the head of the Caloocan Police Community Precinct 2 who Perez and Arquilita are under.
However, the dismissal of the two police officers will cause the PNP to stop investigations on the death of 14-year-old Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman, Arnaiz’s companion who was found dead in Nueva Ecija, eight days after Arnaiz was found.
According to Trimabulo, they have stopped processing de Guzman’s case against the same two officers because once the dismissal is approved, the case would be moot.
There is currently a pending criminal complaint against the officers and the driver after relatives of Arnaiz and de Guzman filed a double murder complaint against them in September. According to GMA News, they were also charged with torture and planting of evidence.
Apart from Perez and Arquilita, 58 other Metro Manila cops face dismissal, including 15 police officers from Caloocan who illegally raided and stole from a home in September.
In September, more than 60 Caloocan City police personnel were relieved of their duties and underwent retraining following the publicized controversies linked with the city’s police force.
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