The Office of the Ombudsman has absolved several officers of the Manila Police District in the criminal and administrative complaints filed by the Commission on Human Rights over an alleged secret detention facility in Tondo for arrested suspects.
Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices Cyril Ramos, in a Dec. 22, 2020 resolution, said the CHR failed to prove that the policemen detained the suspects in the cramped, hidden cell “in bad faith.”
“Since the burden of proof lies with the CHR, it was incumbent upon said office to prove that there was another available confinement area which is better than the one where said detainees were locked up, but that respondents intentionally and maliciously refused to accord them such,” the nine-page resolution read.
The Ombudsman cleared Supt. Robert Domingo, PO2 Dylan Verdan, and PO1 Berly Apolonio, among others, of arbitrary detention, grave threats, delay in the delivery of persons to the proper judicial authorities, grave coercion, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
On April 27, 2017, the CHR conducted a raid at the Raxabago Police Station 1 in Tondo, Manila to probe allegations that policemen were illegally holding detainees, reportedly to be released only upon payment of grease money.
The CHR found the detainees in a cramped detention cell hidden behind a bookshelf.
“The Ombudsman’s decision to junk the case is a setback in our effort to eliminate the illegal practice of using secret detention facilities. Torture and degrading treatment usually take place in hidden jails. Hence, it is expressly prohibited in the Constitution and the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 to prevent abuses and violations against detainees,” the CHR said in a statement.
“Scalawags among the police ranks will not be truly dealt with if those who have committed serious violations, particularly concerning fundamental human rights, are not held to account. Such practice may persist and may even embolden police officers and authorities who are inclined to engage in such wrongful practice,” the commission added.