THE Justice Department on Monday filed criminal charges against three members of the Caloocan City police and a civilian in connection with the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd de los Santos.
Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr. disclosed that the DOJ charged before the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Police Officer 3 (PO3) Arnel G. Oares, PO1 Jeremias T. Pereda and PO1 Jerwin Cruz as well as civilian Renato Perez Loveras alias ‘Nono’ or ‘Nonong,’ an asset who identified Kian as a drug pusher.
The four accused are facing cases for murder, violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act for planting of dangerous drugs and the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act for planting a firearm.
The DOJ also found basis to file a case for violation of domicile under Article 128 of the Revised Penal Code against Pereda and Cruz, while it dismissed the torture complaint against the four for lack of probable cause.
The DOJ’s three-man panel of prosecutors cited the testimonies of eye witnesses, including a minor who all said they saw the police officers talk to Kian before he was dragged to the Tullahan River.
Two of the witnesses narrated how Kian was pushed to the muddy part of the area and how the victim begged before he was shot several times.
“This point is extremely significant since it only shows that there was no unlawful aggression on the part of Kian during the time he was shot and killed,” the resolution stated.
The prosecutors also noted that the forensic results from both the Philippine National Police and the Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO) Forensic Laboratory showed that “the gunshot wounds sustained by Kian were all found at the back particularly the head.
“Forensic results from the PNP and PAO prove an indisputable conclusion that Kian was shot while in somewhat kneeling/fetal position,” the DOJ prosecutors observed.
During the preliminary investigation, the police officers asserted that they were in a legitimate police operation and Kian was killed only because he tried to resist the arresting officers. The police added that two sachets of shabu and a .45 caliber were found on his body.
However, the investigating prosecutors said the evidence at hand “clearly created doubts on the truthfulness of respondents PO3 Oares, PO1 Pereda and PO1 Cruz that the killing was done in the course of a legitimate drug operation.”
The DOJ prosecutors also found probable cause to file a case for violation of domicile against Pereda and Cruz for entering Kian’s house without a search warrant.
The prosecutors also junked the criminal complaints against 13 other policemen including former Caloocan City Police Community Precinct 7 commander Chief Inspector Amor Cerillo.
The resolution said the 13 policemen were not at the crime scene when the group of Oares was pursuing Delos Santos on Aug. 16 last year.
Delos Santos died in one of the bloodiest weeks in the government’s war on illegal drugs, with the Caloocan policemen claiming he was a drug runner who opened fire on them to evade arrest.
CCTV footage and accounts of witnesses appear to refute the policemen’s claims, triggering public outrage over the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign, which has already claimed thousands of lives since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in June last year.
Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Tofel G. Austria, Assistant State Prosecutors Amenda Leano-Garcia and Moises Acayan recommended the resolution. Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon approved it.