The National Police Command relieved four police officers whose men were involved in anti-criminality operations that left 14 individuals dead in Negros Oriental, with local officials evacuating 1,700 residents of different villages in Moises Padilla to get them off any crossfire.
PNP chief Oscar Albayalde identified the police officers as Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office director Col. Raul Tacaca, chiefs of police Lt. Col. Patricio Degay (Canlaon City Police Station), Lt. Kevin Roy Mamaraldo (Manjuyod Municipal Police Station) and Capt. Michael Rubia (Sta Catalina Municipal Police Station).
Albayalde said the relief would give way to an impartial investigation into the death of 14 suspects during the operations.
In related developments:
• The Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for an impartial and independent probe on the killings.
“A prompt, impartial and independent investigation into the Negros Oriental killings is desperately needed. Concerned governments, particularly European Union countries that have supported criminal justice reform in the Philippines, should be raising their concerns loud and clear over the deteriorating situation,” HRW Asia division researcher Carlos Conde said in a statement.
“With appropriate assurances, they also might want to offer direct assistance and expertise for an independent investigation,” Conde added.
• The Department of the Interior and Local Government vowed to provide the “best legal defense” to the policemen who were involved in the operations.
“We stand by our police officers and we will provide them with the best legal defense to help them overcome whatever legal challenges that may arise as a result of several operations,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a statement.
Año underscored that the police operations were legitimate as they were all covered by search warrants, adding that subjects of the operation had engaged authorities in an encounter.
“Our law enforcers acted professionally and in accordance with the law during the conduct of police operations in Negros Oriental. They simply returned fire when the subject of the search warrants engaged them in a shootout,” he said.
• Soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion encountered about 30 communist rebels, whose group was believed behind the murder of Moises Padilla Councilor Jolomar Hilario on Sunday.
Quintin Remo village chief Felisa Villaflor said in a radio interview on Tuesday some 900 residents from four sitios stayed overnight at the Guinpanaan National High School-Mamballo Extension.
They were mostly residents of Sitio Santos-Santos, where the encounter took place.
Those who evacuated in Barangay Montilla numbered 500 individuals and in Barangay Guinpana-an, 240 persons.
Villaflor earlier said the municipal government had provided food and water supply to the evacuees.
Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said he had directed the troops to complete the clearing operation so that the residents can return home by Tuesday.
“We don’t want them to be inconvenienced. Within the day, they are expected to return home,” he added.
The encounter took place Monday morning for about an hour in Sitio Santos-Santos when government troops were conducting pursuit operation.
During the exchange of gunfire that lasted until 10:30 a.m., one of the soldiers, Corporal Ryan Quevedo, was slightly wounded.
Soldiers recovered several rounds of ammunition, anti-personnel mines, and personal belongings, among others.
On Sunday, Hilario, 51, was gunned down by men, who identified themselves as members of the New People’s Army, inside his home in Barangay Inolingan at about 6 a.m.
The victim was asleep when about 50 armed men on board a truck arrived in front of the Hilario residence. Those who entered the house shot the town official.
Albayalde pointed out that the administrative relief could not be considered punitive measures but rather an administrative relief to dissuade any manipulative efforts during the investigations.
“I would like to emphasize that their relief is not a punitive measure for alleged actions or inactions but rather an administrative relief to ensure that they will not be able to exert any influence in the ongoing investigation by the Internal Affairs Service and the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management,” Albayalde stressed.
Last Saturday, 14 individuals who were alleged as criminals were killed in separate anti-criminality operations which also resulted in the arrest of 12 others.
Earlier, Albayalde reiterated the legitimacy of the police operations as the lawmen were merely exercising their mandate against criminals.
“We do not want to unduly condemn our personnel for doing their job of implementing lawful orders of the court,” he said.
Albayalde added: “The purpose of the fact-finding investigation is to determine whether there were any lapses in the operations carried out by the local police units involved and whether or not the rules prescribed in the Revised Police Operations Procedures were properly observed.”
“While we maintained the regularity of these police operations, as being above-board and duly approved by judicial authorities against criminal offenders and suspects in criminal cases, we find it prudent on our part to initiate an investigation if only to discount any doubts and satisfy the requirements of fair and judicious investigation in fairness to our police personnel,” he said.
After the operations, Albayalde appealed to the public “to be circumspect in making hasty conclusions and passing judgment on the police.”
“Let us not be fooled by leftist propaganda and fake news of a purported massacre. All deaths did not happen in one place, but were the result of implementation of separate search warrants that went awry when the suspects of the search operations put up armed resistance,” Albayalde said.
Lawmakers and other sectors condemned the death of the 14 people, describing them as farmers and not outlaws. With PNA