Killer cop given ‘special treatment’?

GRIEVING family members of the pongko pongko vendor who was shot dead by a Cebu City policeman complained that “special treatment” was being given to the detained law enforcer.

Pirmo Gallego Jr. was laid to rest yesterday morning.

But instead of going straight to the cemetery, the funeral procession passed by the Pardo police station where SPO2 Cresinte Dacillo is detained.

“Hustisya alang ka Primo! (Justice for Primo!)”, an angry relative shouted upon seeing the policeman in the police station.

The relatives were surprised to see Dacillo standing by a window on the second floor.

They said they would ask the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to investigate why he was freely walking around the station instead of behind bars.

“Naa diay piniriso nga mag barog-barog sa bintana? (Is it normal for a prisoner to be out of his cell standing by a window?),” said Primo’s mother Angelina.

Dacillo was charged with homicide before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office and temporarily detained at the Pardo police station.

Dacillo said he shot the vendor in self-defense when the man drew a gun a first.

But a witness said Gallego was unarmed when he bought a can of sardines at the politceman’s sari-sari store.

Gallego’s mother has asked for police protection for fear of reprisal. /CORRESPONDENT CHITO O. ARAGON