The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) called on police leaders today to end a “pattern” of killings seen in the separate operations in Caloocan that killed 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos and 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz.
According to a report in Inquirer.net, Arnaiz,who is from Cainta, Rizal, and a 19-year-old interior design student at the University of the Philippines, was found in a morgue on August 28, more than 10 days after he went missing on August 17.
Police said he was killed in a shootout after robbing a taxi driver in Caloocan City, about 26 kilometers away from where he lived.
READ: Manila police say they shot a 17-year-old out of self-defense, CCTV shows otherwise
According to the police’s official account, Arnaiz hit the taxi driver in the back of the head with a pistol and took his wallet. The taxi driver then asked for help from police. The 19 year old then allegedly fired at police officers.
Arnaiz’ family, however, disputes this account. According to a report in GMA News, an autopsy revealed that his body bore handcuff marks, his eyes were swollen, and he “seemed to have been kneeling” when he was shot several times in the chest.
His family members told the media that Arnaiz was on leave from his studies to deal with depression at the time he disappeared.
His family said that Arnaiz only went out with a friend to eat midnight snacks.
Similarly, delos Santos was shot dead after allegedly fighting cops conducting an anti-narcotics sweep last August 16, also in Caloocan City. Witnesses, however, claimed the Grade 12 student was told to run and given a gun.
An earlier PAO autopsy found that delos Santos, like Arnaiz, was likely shot while the assailant stood over him, noted PAO chief Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta.
Both boys, Acosta added, had helped in their family’s small stores and had a parent working abroad.
“The point here is, this is a life. Why is the pattern like this? The circumstances are similar to what happened to Kian. This one happened right after too. There was only a few hours between the two killings,” Acosta told ABS-CBN News’ radio affiliate DZMM.
“Not all police personnel are like the officers involved in these cases. The latter are only a few. Arrest your rogue colleagues, cleanse your ranks,” she added.
READ: Murder charges for cops who killed 17 year old
Presumption of regularity
Two neophyte cops tagged in Arnaiz’ killing have been relieved from duty and placed under restrictive custody, said Director Oscar Albayalde, head of police forces in Metro Manila.
Albayalde said he will meet with the officers and get their side early Monday. He noted however that the cops enjoy a presumption of regularity in their operations unless proven otherwise in court.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) nonetheless is set to review all Caloocan police operations amid allegations of abuse, said Albayalde.
“No less than the President has already spoken that this kind of abuse would not be tolerated,” the official told ABS-CBN’s morning news program “Umagang kay Ganda.”
PAO has secured the cooperation of a witness to Arnaiz’ killing and has sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation to search for his 14-year-old companion on the night he went missing, Acosta said.
with reports from ABS-CBN News
