Makati cops tagged in boy’s death say they’re innocent

A MAKATI police officer accused of shooting and killing a teenage boy last month has denied the charges against him and two of his coaccused.

In his counter-affidavit, Chief Insp. Angelo Germinal, Makati Police Precinct 5 commander, described the testimony of a witness as “highly speculative.”

According to the witness, he saw Germinal holding a gun after which he spotted the victim slumped on the ground.

Germinal and two of his men—PO1 Nicolas Apostol Jr. and PO3 Robert Riñon—are accused of the murder of 13-year-old Christian Serrano who was shot while he was scavenging for metal scraps at an abandoned building on Bagtikan Street in Makati City on May 9.

A police report said the three policemen were on patrol when they spotted the victim with other scavengers. Germinal fired two warning shots but one of these hit the boy in the back, killing him.

It was “highly speculative to imply that it was [me] who shot [the victim] only because [I] was allegedly carrying a firearm after the alleged gunfire was heard,” Germinal said in his counter-affidavit which he submitted on Monday to the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office.

He also pointed out that “it was not unusual for a police officer to carry a service firearm,” explaining he and two of his subordinates were inspecting the abandoned building as they were on their way to the Makati City Police Station for a staff conference.

Germinal also belied claims that he conspired with the two policemen to kill Serrano.

He cited the testimony of a witness who said he first heard a gun go off and then he saw the police official holding a gun with its barrel pointed upward.

Since the witness did not say that he saw Germinal pull the trigger of the firearm, the policeman said it was “irrational to conclude that [I] inflicted the wound [on] the victim.”

He added that the autopsy report also did not indicate what kind of bullet had killed the victim.

In separate affidavits, Apostol and Riñon also denied the charges against them as both said they were outside the building when the shooting occurred.

Apostol said he was inside the mobile patrol car while Riñon claimed that when he went inside the building, he saw a boy carrying another one who seemed to be injured. He said he flagged down a tricycle and instructed the driver to bring the victim to Ospital ng Makati for treatment.