8 cops in ’08 Parañaque shootout no-show at Crame

Eight policemen of the Highway Patrol Group who were ordered arrested for the death of a seaman and his 8-year-old daughter in 2008 did not show up at the HPG headquarters on Monday in Camp Crame after reports that the appellate court had junked their motion to quash the warrant issued against them.

Superintendent Edwin Butacan, HPG spokesperson, said Supt. Lawrence Cajipe, Chief Inspector Joel Mendoza, Inspector Gerardo Balacutan, Police Officer 3 Jolito Mamanao Jr., PO3 Fernando Ray Gapuz, PO2 Eduardo Blanco, PO2 Edwin Santos and PO1 Josil Rey Lucena would be declared AWOL (absent without leave) if they refuse to report to the HPG holding office within a 30-day period.

The eight have been implicated in the deaths of Alfonso de Vera and his daughter Lia Allana who were caught in a gunbattle between HPG forces and suspected criminals in Parañaque City four years ago.

The incident left 16 people dead, including the De Veras.

Floating status

“The eight are still in active service. But they were placed on floating status after they were implicated in the criminal case,” Butacan told reporters over the phone.

“I actually saw some of them last week in our office. However, we did not see them yesterday after news spread that the court did not grant their motion,” he added.

Court order Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the police would implement the arrest warrants against its own personnel once they receive a copy of the court’s order.

“The PNP is willing to comply with the court’s order to arrest the eight HPG personnel. But we cannot do that if we have no copy of the ruling,” Cerbo said.

Gunbattle

The eight were among the group of policemen and agents of the Naval Intelligence and Security Forces (NISF) who figured in a fierce firefight with suspected members of the notorious Alvin Flores group on the night of Dec. 5, 2008, at United Parañaque Subdivision 4 in Barangay (village) Marcelo Green.

Police claimed the De Veras were just caught in the crossfire.

But several witnesses maintained that the seaman and his daughter, who were then aboard their Isuzu Crosswind, were killed by policeman who apparently mistook their vehicle as one of the getaway cars of  the suspects.

The Parañaque Regional Trial Court had dismissed the double murder case filed against the policemen, but the appeals court eventually reversed the lower court’s ruling on June 15.

This prompted the policemen to seek a reconsideration of the appellate court’s order.

The court, however, denied the motion after the accused failed to prove that the Clerk of Court erred in issuing the arrest order against them.