4 teens charge barangay officials, cop with child abuse

Four teenage boys Monday charged two barangay officials and a policeman with child abuse and torture in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

The complaint against Andy Abundo, a councilor of Barangay Marilag in Quezon City; Eleuterio Endozo Jr., the barangay’s head watchman; and the unidentified policeman was filed a week after the boys sought help from the media.

According to the alleged victims whose ages range from 12 to 16, they were tortured by the three men after they were caught stealing parts from a jeep which belonged to Endozo.

Barangay captain Raul Addutu earlier told the Inquirer that he would investigate the allegations against his men even as he relieved Endozo of his duties.

For his part, Endozo, through Addutu, denied the boys’ accusations and said that he only made them clean up the area around the barangay hall as punishment.

The boys were even allowed to take a bath afterward, he added. They were also given meals and some money after they completed their task.

Addutu said that the four boys had been caught previously for stealing in his barangay although they are not residents of the area. The four live in Barangay Escopa 3.

In a three-page joint affidavit, the boys said that on June 23, they were taking three screws from a dilapidated jeepney which they wanted to sell to a junk shop when four men caught them.

They added that the men told them that the vehicle belonged to Endozo.

The 16-year-old complainant said one of the four men slapped him before he and his companions were brought to the barangay hall.

There, they were ordered to undress so that the men could see if they had tattoos. The men also used a stun gun on them, they claimed.

The 16-year-old boy also said that someone punched him in the stomach while the still unidentified policeman put bullets in between his fingers before squeezing them together.