Angel had not slept since early Wednesday, still shaken by what he witnessed when policemen barged into his house in Navotas City.
“I actually saw what they were doing,” said Angel, who asked not to be identified by his real name for fear of his life.
A police officer turned off the only light in the living room where Angel slept and told him not to peer through the window or he would be caught in a crossfire.
A few minutes later, Angel heard a young man crying for his mother: “Mama! Mama! Help me!”
“Sir! Sir! I’m still studying. I’m a first year high school student!” the man pleaded for his life to the policemen.
Buy-bust operation
He would be identified later as JayR Jumola, 21, a construction worker, one of the three drug suspects who were killed in a police buy-bust operation on Champaca Alley, Barangay North Bay Boulevard South, at 2:50 a.m. Police said the suspects were the first to fire their guns at the lawmen after sensing an entrapment.
Recovered from the scene were five packs of “shabu” (crystal meth) and three guns.
Police Col. Rolando Balasabas, Navotas police chief, said the three fatalities were “notorious” drug distributors in the area and “henchmen” of a supplier known only as “Vandam.” The supplier reportedly eluded the lawmen.
Angel had a different story:
From the window, he saw Jumola and two others—later identified as Arnel “Arabo” Bagamasbad, 33, and a certain “Gurang”—surrender to the policemen who were wearing civilian clothes.
Shooting
The policemen shot Bagamasbad many times. One of them struck Jumola in the eyes with a gun.
The witness also heard the officers requesting support from the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, and one telling Jumola to run before he was shot at the back of his head.
Bagamasbad’s younger brother, Owen, said he was held face-down to the ground during the entire police operation. None of those killed owned a gun, he added.
He told the Inquirer that Arnel was released from prison in January 2018 after his arrest in July 2017 on drug charges.
Jumola’s mother, Cristina, said the loss of a second son in the war on drugs was “more painful” than before. She admitted that he had been using drugs, but not selling.
Her eldest son, Anthony Ocdin, was found dead in Barangay Tanza, Navotas, in March 2017, three days after barangay officials took him away for being drunk and loud in their neighborhood near Agora Market.
Ocdin was brought to the barangay hall, about 50 meters from his house, and was later turned over by the local officials to the city police. At the police station, the family was told that they let Ocdin go.
Tortured
On March 3, Ocdin was found on the baywalk, his head wrapped in tape and bearing a bullet wound. His fingernails were pulled out and his tattoo was scraped off his face.
Jumola’s sister, Criselda Ocdin, said the family wanted to press charges this time, but they could not find any witnesses. Neighbors are afraid to come forward, she said.
“The problem here is where will we complain? We say that the police killed the victims, but we’re complaining to their fellow officer. Whose side will they take? Their fellow policeman!” Angel said.
“It’s like complaining to Duterte. But who ordered the police to kill the drug addicts? This is painful. Who is on our side? No one, right?”