The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has approved the dismissal of eight Navotas City policemen involved in the death of teenager Jemboy Baltazar.
NCRPO director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr., made the recommendation following an investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police’s Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS).
“I already signed the recommendation,” said Nartatez in a GMA news report.
The policemen were Executive Master Sergeant Roberto Balais Jr., Staff Sergeant Gerry Maliban, Staff Sergeant Antonio Bugayong, Staff Sergeant Nikko Esquilon, Corporal Edmark Jake Blanko Blanco, Patrolman Benedict Mangada, and Captains Mark Joseph Carpio and Luisito Dela Cruz.
Based on the IAS probe, six of the policemen were found guilty of grave irregularity in the performance of duty and conduct unbecoming of a police officer, while the two team leaders were guilty of grave neglect of duty.
Baltazar, 17, died on August 2 while on his way to go fishing after being shot and killed by the police officers pursuing a shooting suspect in Barangay NBBS Kaunlaran.
The policemen said it was a case of mistaken identity. Some of them also claimed they fired shots into the water and did not intend to hit Baltazar.
Autopsy results revealed that Baltazar had a gunshot wound on his right hand, indicating that he tried to defend himself.
The victim was hit twice, once on the head with an entry wound behind the ear and an exit wound on the nose, while the other shot hit him on the right hand. His death certificate also stated that his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and asphyxia from drowning.