Cebu cops face raps over boy’s death

CEBU CITY—The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas has filed criminal and administrative complaints against the station chief and two policemen of Carbon police for the death of a preschooler during a botched anti-drug operation in July.

Bladen Skyler Abatayo, 4, was hit by a stray bullet during the operation conducted by the police at Sitio Bato in Barangay Ermita, Carbon town.

In a complaint filed in the Office of the Ombudsman on August 28, the NBI sought the filing of charges against Senior Insp. John Kareen Escober, police station chief, for falsification by a public officer, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice and grave misconduct.

The NBI also wanted charges filed against PO1 Wilbert Perez for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and PO1 Rey Van Dadula for dereliction of duty.

Marc Anthony Abatayo, the child’s father, received a copy of the complaint on Sept. 3.

Justice

“I am very thankful to the NBI for finally filing the case against them (police). The wheels of justice have finally started to grind,” Abatayo said.

However, PO3 Raydale Sardual and PO2 Dennis Steve Estrada, who were first reported as part of the operation, were not included in the complaint.

In an earlier statement, Escober said Perez, Dadula, Sardual and Estrada responded to a tip that four persons were having a drug session on the second floor of a dilapidated house in Barangay Ermita on July 10.

Evidence

He said one of the policemen grappled with a suspect who was about to point his gun. Escober said the bullet that killed Bladen Skyler came from the gun of one of the suspects.

However, evidence gathered by NBI agents, including witnesses’ accounts, footage from a security camera and results of the crime scene reconstruction by a forensic team, refuted the police version.

“It was established that the police had made up a story to hide the truth of what really transpired that fateful day,” said the complaint.

According to the scene reconstruction report, the bullet that hit Bladen Skyler was “from below going upwards.”

“The measurements [done] on the bullet entry, bullet exit and the shooter’s line of sight coincided with the relative position of PO1 Wilbert Perez as he slipped going down the dilapidated wooden steps … as he accidentally fired his gun as he was falling to the ground,” said the report.

The NBI also said Sardual and Estrada were not included in the complaint because they “came only after the incident.” —ROSALIE ABATAYO