2 Manila cops in robbery also left children ‘traumatized’

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said that the two Manila policemen and a barangay (village) official accused of ransacking a house and terrorizing a family in Sta. Ana, Manila, are also facing charges of child abuse. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Two weeks after the robbery, the children remained “traumatized” and afraid to go out of the house.

Because of this, the two Manila policemen and a barangay (village) official accused of ransacking a house and terrorizing a family in Sta. Ana, Manila, are also facing charges of child abuse.

This was according to Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who in a press briefing on Thursday presented the three suspects: Police Officer 1 Robert Cruz and Police Officer 3 Morris Malindog of the Manila Police District Station 6, and Regente Osalla of Pasig Line, Sta. Ana.

The three were tagged by couple Carlo Mark and Shental Bagui of Paco Roman Street as members of the gang that barged into their home and took over P2 million worth of valuables on the night of May 30.

Cruz and Osalla were arrested Friday last week while Malindog surrendered on Wednesday.

The Bagui couple positively identified the suspects in front of Lim. “It’s them, we will never forget their faces,” Shental said.

Pointing to Cruz, she added: “We cannot be mistaken for he was the one who pointed a gun at our child and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t stop crying.”

Carlo said he, his wife and their children—aged 2, 11, and 13—were locked up in the toilet when the gang ransacked the house. The two eldest children had since been traumatized by the incident and had refused to go outdoors, he said.

Malindog even chased one of the children up the stairs, he added.

The two policemen sheepishly denied the accusations, saying they could prove that they were somewhere else at the time of the crime.

Save that for the court hearing, a visibly irked Lim told them.