EIGHT Sultan Kudarat policemen, including a municipal police station chief, face charges of murder, planting of evidence, and falsification of documents before the Department of Justice over the killing of three teenagers on December 2, 2022.
Charged yesterday were Lambayong municipal police station chief Maj. Jenahmeel Tonacao and seven of his men, namely, Senior Master Sergeant Syril Mahaddi, Corporals Elpedio Garlit, and Joffrey Apalla, and Patrolmen Nicol Dion Toreja, Basser Mako, Mario Rombaoa Jr., and Roldan Claveria.
They also face charges for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and irregularity in the performance of their duty.
The criminal cases stemmed from the killing of Samanudin Mustapha Ali, Horton Naki Ansa Jr. and Arsad Ansa in an alleged shootout in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat involving members of the Lambayong municipal police station.
Tonacao earlier said Ali and the Ansas were killed in a shootout in Barangay Didtaras in Lambayong.
He said the three were flagged down in a police checkpoint but sped away, prompting his men to give chase. He added the teenagers fired at his men who cornered them after a brief chase.
Police claimed they recovered two Colt .45-caliber pistols, one hand grenade, live ammunition, a Suzuki Raider 150 motorcycle and a sachet containing suspected shabu from the body of one of the victims.
But the relatives of the victims refuted the claim of a shootout, saying the three teenagers were unarmed.
Ali’s relatives said he was out to road test his motorcycle with his friends in preparation for a roadshow when they were shot dead.
Patrolman Horton Ansa Sr., assigned at the Sharrif Saydona Mustapha municipal police station in Maguindanao del Sur, also expressed doubts about the claims of his Sultan Kudarat counterparts on his son and namesake, saying the latter does not own a gun and was even planning to take up criminology in college to follow his path.
Lawyer Ronald Halilid Torres told reporters after the filing of the criminal cases that postmortem, autopsy and ballistic reports showed the three were shot at close range. He said one of them was even shot in a kneeling position.
Torres said the eight cops are now in the custody of the Sultan Kudarat Police Provincial Office.
