QCPD’s top prober says cop trainees confirmed slain ex-soldier had gun

MANILA, Philippines — The slain retired soldier had a gun in his possession, as confirmed by police trainees who witnessed the shooting near a checkpoint in Quezon City on Tuesday afternoon.

This was revealed by Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief Police Maj. Elmer Monsalve who also explained that Police Mst. Sgt. Daniel Florendo, who shot former Army Cpl. Winston Ragos, secured the firearm as it may be lost upon bringing the suspect to the hospital.

Florendo shot Ragos after the latter did not heed his orders to lie face down on the ground, and after Ragos appeared to have pulled out his gun from a sling bag.  After the shooting, Florendo was spotted on a closed-circuit television camera footage grabbing the sling bag away from the crime scene.

“Opo, kasi kailangang i-secure niya ‘yon kasi una baka mawala doon sa lugar, kasi ang ginawa nila matapos mangyari ‘yon, naputukan na nga itong suspect-fatality, dinala agad sa ospital.  Kaya makikita mo naman ‘yong purpose ng pulis doon na talagang gusto niyang mabuhay itong suspect-fatality na ‘to,” Monsalve said in an interview with DZMM.

(Yes, because they need to secure it because, first, it might get lost from the crime scene, because what they did after the incident, after shooting the suspect-fatality, they rushed him to a hospital.  You can see here the intent of the police officer, he really wants the suspect-fatality to live.)

“Kasama ‘yon sa mga ating bubulatlatin dito sa imbestigasyon na ginagawa na.  Pero ‘yon, may statement na dito na nagpapatunay na meron ngang na-recover na baril, pati ‘yong mga kasama niya na pulis na trainee doon, nagsasabi naman na may baril nga itong suspect-fatality,” he added.

(That’s included in what we want to uncover in this investigation being conducted.  But there is already a statement that a gun was recovered, including the police trainees who were with Florendo, they attested that there was a gun.)

However, Ragos’ relatives insisted that the killed ex-soldier did not carry any gun, with others implying that it may have been implanted.

Police officers drew flak after the incident, which occurred near a quarantine control point in Pasong Putik, which was set up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Several sectors sought for an investigation of the case, especially since it was revealed that Ragos was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which he supposedly incurred while serving in the military.

READ: Checkpoint conflict: Alleged retired soldier shot dead by cop in Quezon City 

Monsalve explained that they are now looking at whether there are Philippine National Police regulations that mandate officers to make warning shots or to fire only once, and a non-fatal shot.

Florendo appeared to have fired two times — a technique informally known as “double-tap” where a shooter fires a second successive shot to accurately disable a target.

“Bale isa ‘yan siguro sa tinitignan namin kung may procedure nga kami na gano’n, pero ‘yon naman ay dalawang putok na ‘yan, talagang ‘yong pagputok na ‘yon, hindi mo masasabi kung siya ba ay tinamaan o hindi kasi nandoon eh, magkaharap kayo eh, kasi nakatayo pa rin siya eh,” Monsalve said.

(That is one of the things we are looking at if we have procedures like that.  But that, firing two times, maybe he did that because he cannot ascertain that the suspect was hit or not because he was facing him, he was still standing.)

“Kasi kami naman, hindi namin sinasabi ngayon kung saan ‘yung tama kasi nga on-going ‘yong investigation dito, ang nagsasalita na dyan ‘yong autopsy report.  ‘Pag nahawakan ‘yong autopsy report, doon na idi-discuss kung saan ‘yong tama niya,” he added.

(For us, we cannot say where the suspect’s gunshot wounds are because the investigation is still on-going, what would explain that is the autopsy report.  If we get a hold of the autopsy report, that’s where we will discuss where his wounds are.)