MANILA, Philippines—Close to a month after the shooting death of a Chinese suspect in the killing of his girlfriend and compatriot, the Manila Police District (MPD) concluded suicide and cleared his police custodians of any criminal liability in his death.
A copy of a report obtained by the INQUIRER from the MPD General Assignment Section, the unit tapped to investigate the Feb. 4 death of 25-year-old Gong Shu Yang, who was arrested for the brutal killing on Jan. 24 of his former girlfriend, stated “no probable cause to warrant the filing of criminal case against the concerned police officers.”
The report indicated that there was no basis to file a criminal charge against Gong’s police custodians and homicide section personnel—Senior Police Officer 1 Charles John Duran, Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan and Police Officer 2 Jason Ibasco–pointing out that apart from documentary and physical evidence, the absence of a complaint from the Chinese detainee’s family or relatives led to the conclusion.
In the report signed by MPD-GAS head Chief Inspector Marcelo Reyes, results from the crime laboratory were cited where Duran, Layugan, and Ibasco tested negative in the paraffin cast to detect traces of gunpowder on their hands.
The Crime Laboratory also found that the bullet that killed Gong came from Duran’s service 9 mm pistol.
Investigation by the unit stated that on the night of February 4, Gong was being escorted by the three policemen to the Manila City prosecutor’s office for inquest proceedings aboard a patrol car (SGK-371) driven by Ibasco while the Chinese suspect was seated on the rear passenger seat between Duran and Layugan.
When the car stopped at the corner of Ayala Boulevard and Taft Avenue, documents of the case spilled on the flooring prompting Duran, who was seated on Gong’s left to bend over to pick up the pieces of paper. As Duran was bent over, Gong quickly grabbed the policeman’s service firearm tucked on his waist, aimed the gun at his chin and fired.
The policemen rushed Gong to the Philippine General Hospital but he died while undergoing treatment.
After the incident, the three policemen voluntarily submitted themselves to paraffin examination and surrendered their service firearms to the Crime Laboratory.
Gong was arrested on February 3 for killing of his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend, Zhao Chun Lan, on January 14. The Chinese suspect, then driving a car, allegedly ran over the victim twice and also stabbed her several times. He admitted to the murder and claimed that he had to kill her or she would have had his parents slain.