FILE PHOTO: Imelda Evangelista, 55, points to the spot where her son, Ariel Evangelista, and his wife, Chai Lemita-Evangelista, were shot dead by police officers in Barangay Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas. The Evangelista couple was among the nine activists killed in simultaneous police-military raids in the Southern Luzon region on Sunday, March 7, 2021. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Seventeen police tagged in the “bloody Sunday” operation last year only went to Batangas to implement a search warrant, not to kill anybody, one of their lawyers said Tuesday.
The 17 members of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) Region 4-A is facing a complaint for murder for the death of fisherfolk couple Ariel and Ana Mariz Lemita-Evangelista of the Ugnayan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Pagwawasak ng Kalikasan at Kalupaan (UMALPAS KA).
“My clients went there to enforce the law by implementing a judicially issued search warrant for violation of Republic Act 10591 or illegal possession of firearms,” Atty. Rod Moreno, one of their lawyers told reporters.
“They did not go there to kill anybody,” he added.
Moreno and the other lawyers representing PNP-CIDG attended Tuesday’s preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The panel of prosecutors gave them up to March 15 to submit the counter-affidavit of the 17 PNP-CIDG Region IV-A members.
The Evangelista couple were among the nine activists killed on March 7, 2021, during simultaneous police-military operations in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal provinces, now known as “Bloody Sunday.”
RELATED STORIES