THE Supreme Court has cleared 21 policemen charged with the killing of a father and his son in a drug buy-bust operation in Caloocan City in 2016.
In a 22-page decision dated January 22, 2024, the High Court’s Third Division junked the petition filed by the widow of Luis Bonifacio seeking the indictment of the 21 policemen for killing her husband and her son, Gabriel.
The ruling, penned by Associate Justice Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, upheld the joint resolution dated January 15, 2020 and joint order dated March 8, 2021 issued by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (OMB-MOLEO) which found probable cause to charge only four of the 21 accused cops for two counts of homicide.
The four cops the OMB-MOLEO said should be indicted are MSgt. Virgilio Cervantes and Corporals Arnel De Guzman, Johnston Alacre, and Artemio Saguros Jr.
The SC said the OMB-MOLEO did not abuse its discretion when it found that no probable cause exists to show that the killings of Luis and Gabriel “were qualified by treachery, evident premeditation and abuse of superior strength” that would warrant the filing of murder charges against the policemen.
The SC stressed that the absence of clear evidence supporting premeditation rendered Mary Ann Domingo’s claims without merits.
“In fine, the Court finds that the OMB-MOLEO’s determination of probable cause was consistent with the basic precepts of criminal law and based on the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation,” said the ruling.
Concurring with the decision were Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Samuel Gaerlan and Japar Dimaampao.
While it acknowledged the petitioner’s claim that the police operation that led to the death of her husband and son was planned, the SC maintained the mere fact of police involvement in a planned operation does not establish a prima facie case of evident premeditation against the respondents.
The ruling comes amid still unconfirmed reports that the International Criminal Court has conducted a clandestine investigation into the killings and alleged abuses committed by former President Rodrigo Duterte and several officials over the bloody crackdown on the illegal drugs trade.
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the complainants against Duterte in the ICC, said ICC investigators were able to gather enough evidence against Duterte and his men when they visited the country last month and an arrest warrant may be issued soon.
In her petition, Domingo said the policemen should be charged with murder, a non-bailable offense, instead of homicide.
She recounted that she and her husband, along with their three minor children, were about to sleep in their residence in Barangay Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City on the night of September 14, 2016 when Gabriel arrived and informed them that he had been accepted as a regular worker at his catering job before proceeding to the second floor of their residence.
Domingo said a group of armed policemen, wearing vests, suddenly barged into their house and proceeded to the second floor.
She said the policemen pointed guns at them and forced her and her three minor kids to go downstairs.
Domingo said she saw her husband on his knees with guns pointed at him while his son was pleading with the policemen not to hurt them.
Minutes later, she said she heard gunshots.
Domingo denied that her husband and son were involved in the illegal drug trade, adding the former served as a barangay tanod in their place for some time.