MANILA - Two investigators have been dispatched by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to probe the killing of an ex-soldier at a quarantine control point in Quezon City.
"I think the families expressed their preference that Napolcom handles the investigation," Napolcom Vice Chairman Rogelio Casurao said on Friday.
Retired Army Corporal Winston Ragos was shot twice by Police Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo Jr. on April 21, near a quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Pasong Putik.
In an interview on ANC via Zoom, Casurao said investigators will look into facts other than what can be seen in videos of the crime scene.
"The video can guide you on the physical attributes of the incident but as to the other important matters, these are not shown in the video, that’s the whole problem," he said.
One important matter is the claim that Ragos was armed with a caliber .38 gun which was not shown in the video.
"But beyond that, during the investigation already the presence of this .38 caliber came out. There are things that can be taken from the footage but there are other matters that can be ferreted out after an investigation proper," he said.
Based on the footage, Casurao said some procedures were not observed by authorities involved in the incident like calling for first aid and allowing the Scene of the Crime Operatives to process evidence.
"These are the things that I was able to observe, which I think is a departure from what is dictated by our police operations manual. We will look into that why this particular procedure was not observed. That’s why we are about to complete our investigation on the ground and we'll just wait for the family members to come to our office to lodge a formal complaint," he said.
Casurao said policemen should ideally have immobilized Ragos.
"The most ideal thing is really to emasculate the victim by probably injuring him on some non-fatal part of his body. That was the most ideal thing for policemen to do," he said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the former soldier served in the military for 7 years and was placed on complete disability discharge due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in Marawi. He was last assigned to the 31st Infantry Battalion under the 9th Infantry Division.
Casurao is confident that Napolcom can finish its investigation into the case in 60 days.
"We have to be serious in considering this investigation so that no misunderstanding will be created among our law enforcement agencies," he said.
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