POLICE chief Gen. Archie Gamboa has ordered a full-dress investigation into the killing of a retired soldier at a quarantine control point in Barangay Pasong Putik, Quezon City on Tuesday afternoon.
Gamboa said the investigation will determine if Police Master Sgt. Daniel Florendo followed police operational procedures in handling the situation or if he abused police powers.
Gamboa said Florendo has been placed under restrictive custody at the Quezon City Police District headquarters so he can be available any time during the investigation.
Statements of witnesses will be gathered to get a fuller picture of what happened.
Winston Ragos, 34, a retired soldier, reportedly confronted four police trainees who were manning a quarantine control point along Maligaya drive corner Sampaguita street, saying he does not like the way the cops were looking at him.
Florendo, who was the field supervisor, noticed the commotion, which prompted him to approach Ragos to pacify him.
Video footage circulating on social media showed Florendo aiming his service firearm on Ragos and asking him to lie face down on the ground. Ragos was seen on the video with his arms raised mid-way and his back against Florendo.
Moments later, Ragos turned around to face Florendo who was still ordering him to lie face down on the floor. At that point, Ragos kept asking Florendo what his problem was with him, until the retired soldier was seen trying pull something out his sling bag.
This prompted Florendo to fire two shots, hitting Ragos in the body. Ragos threw his black sling bag on the street before he fell to the ground.
Recovered from the sling bag were a .38 caliber revolver loaded with four bullets, assorted ID cards, and ATM cards.
Gamboa said Florendo, at that instance, did not know that Ragos was a mentally-challenged person, as his relatives told investigators after the incident.
“When you are confronted with a person armed with a pistol, it’s equivalent is also a pistol,” Gamboa said, adding: “The policeman was just cautious because he was knowledgeable that the person is armed. But maybe, on the procedure after that, that’s what we’re going to find out whether the decision of the policeman was rightful.”
Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the deputy PNP chief for operations, said the QCPD’s criminal investigation and detection unit, Internal Affairs Service, and Criminal Investigation Group are now conducting investigations on the incident.
Based on initial findings, Eleazar said Florendo acted on self-defense.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay directed the Army Judge Advocate to coordinate with the PNP in the conduct of the probe to achieve justice for the death of Ragos.
Army spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala said Ragos was given a complete disability discharge (CDD) in January 2017, with pension and other assistance, after being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after his last assignment with the Army’s 31st Infantry Battalion under the 9th Infantry Division based in Camarines Sur.
“He is a CDD, he has a disability. So we want to make sure the actions against him was (commensurate). We want to find that out because we have many CDDs all over the country,” said Zagala.
“We’re not judging the policeman (who shot dead Ragos) but he made a decision. But we also want to look into it to protect our CDDs. We will also investigate because we want to find out what happened,” said Zagala.
Zagala belied reports that Ragos was among the soldiers deployed in Marawi City in May 2017 to fight members of the Maute Group that occupied several barangays. The five-month conflict left over a thousand terrorist, and hundreds of soldiers and policemen dead.
Left-leaning lawmakers denounced the killing of Ragos and blamed President Duterte for allegedly emboldening the police to commit human rights violations.
“This is what happens whenever the President emboldens the police to commit human rights violations. Unnecessary and excessive use of force is authorized, shoot them up, kill them. When the President gives a shoot-to-kill order, all laws, rules, common sense, and justice are thrown out the window,” said ACT party-list Rep. France Castro.
Castro said she sees the same narrative which led to the death of thousands of suspects who allegedly fought back but were really summarily executed in the war on drugs.
“And we are seeing it now in the ‘pasaway’ (unruly) narrative in the midst of the COVID pandemic,” she said.
Castro urged the CHR to step in and investigate and the PNP to conduct a credible investigation “and take all measures so that all of its officials follow and be accountable under its own Operations Manual and our laws — regardless of presidential orders to the contrary.”
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Eufemia Cullamat said the killing of Ragos was an offshoot of the President’s shoot-to-kill order against civilians who will violate the ECQ.
“They resorted to a military solution instead of health measures. The people will die in the hands of the police and military before they die of COVID-19,” she said.
Magdalo party-list Rep. Manuel Cabochan, a member of the opposition, said the PNP’s assertion that the officer acted in self-defense is questionable because he continuously aimed to shoot the suspect at the mid-body area and in close range.
“This does not seem pursuant to self-defense. Moreover, the suspect was seen raising his hands as an act of surrender. This could have been an opportune time for the police to immobilize the suspect without firing a shot. Police Master Sergeant Florendo may have used excessive and unreasonable force,” he said in a statement.
Cabochan, a former soldier, himself, said the police officers also failed to observe rules of engagement.
Since bystanders were advising the police that the suspect has mental health issues, he said there should have been an attempt to de-escalate the situation and negotiate first.
“Further, the police personnel resorted to fire shots without securing the civilians in the perimeter,” he said. “If the police will continue to carelessly assert self-defense in its actions or the “nanlaban” narrative, it would not raise public confidence on the institution. Rather, it would create a negative perception on the police.”
OVERPRICED
CIDG operatives have arrested two women who reportedly tried to sell overpriced alcohols in separate operations in Iloilo and North Cotabato on Wednesday.
First to be collared in an entrapment operation in barangay Tabuc Suba in Jaro, Iloilo was Siera Paula Mallada, 22, who tried to sell 192 bottles of 250 ml Hygienix brand of alcohol at P75 per bottle. The Department of Trade and Industry set the ceiling price of 250 ml alcohol at P41 per bottle. Aside from the bottled alcohols, also seized from Mallada were marked money and boodle money.
In North Cotabato, another CIDG team arrested May-Ann Latonio in an entrapment operation in barangay Poblacion in Kidapawan City as she sold 192 bottles of 150 ml Casino brand alcohol priced at P75 each bottle.
Police said both suspects will be charged with violation of the Price Act in relation with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. — With Victor Reyes
