Homicide, not murder, was the “appropriate charge” to file against the Mandaluyong City policemen who mistakenly fired at a car and killed two people shortly before the new year, the Philippine National Police said Friday.
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos said the police stood by its decision to homicide charges against 10 Mandaluyong cops and three village watchmen because there was no criminal intent involved in the encounter.
“The record is that is the appropriate charge for the case. Why would we ask for a higher case when there is no criminal intent? We hope that they understand that is the appropriate case,” Carlos said, responding to criticism of the lesser charge of homicide.
However, Jonalyn Amboan, one of the two civilians killed on Dec. 28, seemed to have been shot at close range, according to the initial autopsy report of the Crime Laboratory of the Eastern Police District.
Supt. Isidro Cariño of the EPD Crime Laboratory said it was possible Amboan tested positive for gunpowder nitrates because she might have been shot in close quarters.
Before the incident, the woman was wounded in a prior shooting involving her boyfriend, with her companions bringing her to a hospital on board a Mitsubishi Adventure.
Police, acting on calls for help of several barangay watchmen, ran after and shot at the Adventure after they were led to believe that it carried armed suspects in an earlier shooting in Mandaluyong. It turned out that the owner of the vehicle and his companions were bringing Amboan, who was killed along with the Adventure’s driver.
The findings of the PNP Special Investigation Task Group, which probed the botched operation, supported Carlos’ statement.
“Treachery and aid of armed men were not purposely sought; at that time they acted in the performance of their duty,” SITG chief Senior Supt. Florendo Quibuyen said.
The Mandaluyong cops were made to believe by the village watchmen “that the vehicle was armed and there were already exchanges of fire prior to their arrival or prior to the pursuit,” Quibuyen added.
Meanwhile, the officer-in-charge of the Mandaluyong City Police, Chief Supt. Reynaldo Biay, assured the public there would be no coverup in the investigation.
“As the case progresses we are giving you updates, to show that there is no whitewash,” Biay, who replaced Senior Supt. Moises Villaceran Jr., told reporters.