Friends and loved ones hold a funeral march to bring Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar to his resting place at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery in Caloocan City on August 16, 2023. INQUIRER.net / Faith Argosino
The mother of Jemboy Baltazar on Tuesday pleaded with senators to help them elevate to murder the criminal charges filed against the six Navotas City police officers who allegedly killed her teenage son in a supposed case of mistaken identity.
Participating at the Senate hearing online, a tearful Rodaliza Baltazar bewailed that the police officers left her 17-year-old son for dead when he jumped into the river after they allegedly shot him during a police operation on Aug. 2.
Worse, the grieving mother said, the police officers even prevented her husband from searching for Baltazar in an attempt to save him.
Police Capt. Mark Joseph Carpio, who led the botched operation, previously claimed that they thought the victim was Reynaldo Bolivar, a murder suspect they were pursuing, because they looked similar.
“My husband rushed [to the river] when he learned that our son was shot. But the police officers prohibited him from diving into the water,” Rodaliza said in response to a question by Sen. Raffy Tulfo.
“Maybe my son would still be alive if they just allowed my husband… They just abandoned my son. They did not give him a chance [to live]. They just shot him,” she said as she broke down in tears.
According to her, it was her brother, Nicanor Guillermo, who eventually found her son’s body floating a few hours after he was shot.
Rodaliza, an overseas worker in Qatar, said she was about to send money for her son’s birthday when she learned of the tragedy.
“I had no idea that we will use that money for his burial,” she said in between sobs.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who had filed a resolution to investigate the killing, said an autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun showed that the victim had gunshot wounds in the head. INQ