POLICE involved in the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos admitted that it was he that they were dragging and not an informant as they earlier claimed, investigators said Tuesday.
The admission came as Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa ordered the relief of Northern Police District chief Chief Supt. Roberto Fajardo, who had claimed a day earlier that Kian had been selling 10 grams of shabu daily.
PNP Internal Affairs Service Inspector General Alfegar Triambulo said administrative charges are being prepared against the policemen involved in Delos Santos’ case after the IAS found lapses that led to the killing of the Grade 11 student in Caloocan City on Aug. 16.
“They admitted that it was Kian that they were seen dragging on the [CCTV] video and not an informant, as they had earlier claimed,” Triambulo said in Filipino.
Renato Loberas, a drug suspect presented by police, earlier claimed Kian was not the victim police was dragging away as seen on closed-circuit television footage.
“For now, what we see from the testimony and video footage, apparently there were lapses… and irregularity in the performance of their duty,” Triambulo said.
He said the IAS will submit the results of its initial investigation to Dela Rosa on Wednesday, recommending that charges be filed.
Triambulo said IAS has yet to see the report of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), which it will compare with the testimony of witnesses and other pieces of evidence.
“Our investigation is not yet over because we have yet to see the SOCO report,” Triambulo said.
IAS investigators conducted an ocular inspection again and interviewed the other police personnel who were possibly involved in Kian’s case, he said.
Triambulo said he would recommend any other personnel involved in the case be put under restrictive custody to encourage other witnesses to come out.
Police Officer 4 Arnel Oares; Police Officer 1 Jeremias Pereda; and Police Officer 1 Jerwin Cruz, who were involved in the shooting, are under restrictive custody.
Chief Inspector Amor Cerilo, the precinct commander, has also been relieved.
Caloocan City police chief Senior Supt. Chito Bersaluna was placed under administrative relief to prevent him from influencing the investigation.
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In a radio interview, Dela Rosa announced Fajardo’s relief.
“Effective today, the director of the NPD has been administratively relieved,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino, adding that this would pave the way for a faster and impartial investigation of the Kian delos Santos killing.
Dela Rosa said that neither he nor President Rodrigo Duterte had sanctioned the killing of drug suspects.
“I just want our fellow citizens to know that these incidents are not sanctioned, if it’s true that the defenseless boy was shot,” he said in Filipino.
Dela Rosa had earlier said that Delos Santos was a drug courier for his father and uncle but Fajardo later said that Delos Santos and his relatives were not included in the drug watchlist.
Dela Rosa said he ordered his men to conduct operations against illegal drugs, not to kill suspects.
CCTV footage contradicted police claims that Kian fired at them first, prompting them to return fire and kill him.
On Monday night, President Duterte said intelligence information alone that said Kian was a drug courier was not enough to pin him down as being part of the illegal drug trade.
Speaking to reporters at a media roundtable in Malacanang Park, Duterte slammed claims by the local police, including Dela Rosa that Kian could be a “legitimate target” of anti-drug operations based on information that he was a source of drugs in the neighborhood.
The President said that even intelligence reports could not prove anything in court.
“No, intel is intel,” he replied, when asked if he believed the Grade 11 student was a drug courier.
“There is no probative value. You cannot use it in court… That’s information gathered by the police and the military, but sometimes, it’s wrong,” he added.
He also said the barangay CCTV footage showing Delos Santos being dragged by two policemen should be scrutinized before it is presented to court.
Early that night, Duterte said he would let the National Bureau of Investigation probe the killing, and vowed that the cops behind the death would rot in jail if found guilty.
The President however, said that there is no room for the police to misinterpret his orders to destroy the drug apparatus, even if this meant killing those who resist arrest.
He also denied suggestions that killings similar to Kian’s are happening because police think it is now state policy to kill addicts.
He acknowledged, however, that there might be some policemen who might be emboldened to kill because of his promise to protect them.
Nevertheless, Duterte said the police are using the “appropriate force” needed to conduct anti-drug operations, and that the bloody drug war will not change despite the 17-year-old’s death.
“No, no, no, I cannot back down there. If there is a mistake, if I am gone, you try to imagine a scene in which my plane crashes when I go home, who is in the best position to carry out the fight against drugs?”
Dela Rosa, who said the policemen involved were in restrictive custody, said Duterte had ordered him to have them face the consequences.
“Yes, that what’s the President said to immediately arrest and jail them,” Dela Rosa said. But he said there was no need to arrest them because they were in restrictive custody the following day after the shooting.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, meanwhile, said Kian did not deserve to die, even if he was involved in illegal drugs.
“Whether or not he was involved in the use or trafficking of illegal drugs, he did not deserve to die in the manner that he did,” Lorenzana said as he expressed his sympathies to the family.
“If the allegations of foul play are proven then the perpetrators must be brought to justice. They must be made to account for what they have done,” Lorenzana said.
“We must allow the investigation into this incident to take its full and proper course,” he added.
He urged the public to remain calm and let the investigation rolls to unravel the whole truth.
“The President has already spoken and he assured that those who violated the law will be liable for Kian’s death,” he said.
Also on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Caloocan City fiscal Darwin Cañete would not handle the Kian delos Santos case.
Earlier, Senator Frnaklin Drilon had accused Cañete of bias against Kian, based on statements he had made.
But Aguirre said Cañete would no longer be involved in the imminent preliminary investigation of criminal charges expected to be filed by Kian’s family against the policemen involved in his death.
“Prosecutor Cañete, the one who gathered the facts of such a case, is no longer included in the raffle of the case. This exclusion is precisely done to avoid any purported prejudgment from being present in his resolution of the case if the same is raffled to him,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre said Cañete was only tasked to assist in the fact-finding probe on Kian’s case upon request of the local police due to his availability, being a resident of the city. With Francisco Tuyay and Rey E. Requejo
