SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday said there was an apparent coverup in the case of 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar, who was killed by members of the Navotas City Police Station (CPS) in a case of mistaken identity.
During the second hearing of the case, Dela Rosa, who chairs the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, wondered why the District Crime Laboratory Office did not conduct an autopsy on Baltazar to determine who owned the gun that killed the boy.
He said the crime scene was apparently sanitized before the arrival of the scene-of-the-crime operatives as there were no bullet casings and other physical evidence recovered from the crime scene. No paraffin tests were conducted on six of the 19 cops directly involved in the operation.
Capt. Sonny Boy Tepace, of the Northern Police District crime laboratory service, said they have not conducted an autopsy on Baltazar since the latter’s 21-year-old sister Geraldine signed a waiver that the family was not interested in the police conducting an autopsy on the victim.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said the crime lab should have also consulted with Baltazar’s father and not rely solely on the waiver signed by Geraldine.
Rodaliza Baltazar, who attended the hearing via videoconferencing, said she was still in Qatar when her son Jemboy was killed and the cops should have consulted her husband on Jemboy’s autopsy.
Rodaliza also alleged that the police asked P15,000 from their family for the autopsy on Jemboy, an allegation denied by the police.
Tepace said the waiver was forwarded to their office by the Navotas CPS.
An autopsy was then conducted by forensics expert Dr. Raquel Fortun.
Dela Rosa said that based on Dr. Fortun’s autopsy report, Jemboy was hit two times in the head and drowned.
Tepace said they conducted a paraffin test on Jemboy as a matter of protocol, which Dela Rosa said was unfair since no one among the six cops involved was subjected to a paraffin test.
Former Navotas CPS chief Col. Allan Umpig said that a day after Jemboy was killed, he called for an emergency meeting on August 3 to determine the actions taken on the case.
Umipig said it was also during that meeting that he instructed Capt. Juanito Arabejo, chief investigator of the Navotas CPS, to subject all six cops directly involved in the shooting to a paraffin test.
Arabejo denied he got an order from Umipig.
Arabejo said he did not subject the six cops to a paraffin test since they were already positively identified as directly involved in the shooting of Jemboy.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said it is better to have a paraffin test on top of the ballistics examination to have an airtight case against the suspects.
Umipig stood firm on his statement that he instructed Arabejo to conduct paraffin tests on the six cops. To prove his claim, he presented two junior officials from the Navotas CPS who were present during the August 3 meeting to back him up.
A junior officer from the Navotas CPS said he also reminded Arabejo to subject the six cops to a paraffin test.
Hontiveros moved to cite Arabejo in contempt for obviously lying, a motion approved by Dela Rosa, who ordered the Office of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms to detain Arabejo in the building.
Last week, Capt. Mark Joseph Carpio, former commander of the city police’s sub-station 4, and Staff Sgt. Gerry Maliban of the Navotas CPS were also cited in contempt. Both are still under detention by the Office of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms.
Dela Rosa also said there was an obvious attempt to cover up the case since the SOCO was not able to recover any physical evidence in the crime scene. Dela Rosa said the cops apparently cleaned the area of any evidence, including bullet shells.
Northern Police District director Brig. Gen. Rizalito Gapas said that based on the crime lab report, four of the six firearms submitted by the cops were found positive for gunpowder residue.
Gapas said the gun issued to Maliban, a .9mm Taurus pistol and that of Staff Sgt. Antonio Bugayong, a Glock 17 .9 mm pistol, tested negative.
Maliban had earlier admitted firing his gun at least once, but Carpio said Maliban fired at least four times during the operation.
Dela Rosa said Maliban could have cleaned the gun before he submitted it for ballistics examination.
Senators also slammed the operating team for not even trying to retrieve Jemboy from the river minutes after he jumped into the waters.
Gapas said it was Nicanor Guillermo, Jemboy’s uncle, who retrieved the boy at around 5 p.m. on August 2. Jemboy was shot at around 1:45 p.m. the same day.
Police said Guillermo was able to recover from a boat the spent shell for a .9 mm pistol. The bullet shell was fired from Maliban’s gun.
Jemboy was killed on August 2 in a mistaken identity case. The cops who shot him were pursuing Reynaldo Bolivar, a suspect in the shooting death of Cristelo Mahinay.
Gapas said a total of 19 cops were involved in the operation — 11 secured the perimeter, six were tapped to arrest Bolivar, Carpio who served as the overall team leader, and Capt. Luisito dela Cruz, who brought along the 11 cops to secure the perimeter.
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In an interview after the hearing, Dela Rosa said the charges against the six cops should have been elevated to a graver offense since it was apparent that there was an excessive use of force.
Another hearing will be held on the case today, Wednesday.
The Rizal Police Provincial Office (PPO) has promised justice and financial assistance to the family of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by a police officer from the Rodriguez Municipal Police last August 20.
Col. Rainerio De Chavez, Rizal PPO officer-in-charge, together with National Police Commission Director Atty. Owen De Luna, visited the family of John Francis Ompad and expressed their condolence and support, along with 24/7 security at their residence.
Reports said John Francis was killed by Corporal Arnulfo Sabillo, who fired at Ompad’s older brother, John Ace, in a checkpoint in the municipality. — With Christian Oineza
