LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—Police say the two young men were killed in an “armed encounter,” but families of Bradley Inway and Gilberto de Ocampo believe they were “finished off” after being cornered in a dimly lit area right on the outskirts of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna.
On Tuesday, the families said they were determined to file murder charges against at least two police officers so that justice could be brought to their sons.
Inway, 16, and De Ocampo, 23, both of Barangay Tuntungin-Putho in Los Baños, were buried on Monday. They were killed past midnight on July 24 along Apec Road in the vicinity of UPLB and the International Rice Research Institute (Irri).
Inway, who had just moved in with his parents a month ago, had three bullet wounds and bruises, while De Ocampo, a high school dropout, had five bullet wounds—two in the head and three in the back. The extent of their wounds has led their families to suspect that they had also been tortured.
According to De Ocampo’s father, Pedrito, 57, a retired UP employee, trouble started after his son and Inway went to drink in a bar but failed to settle their bill. They were short by P60, Pedrito said, quoting their friends whom they met in the bar.
He said barangay tanod (watchmen) responded and sought help from PO2 Allan Vergara and PO1 Orlando Villamayor, who were stationed nearby.
According to a police report, the lawmen were about to arrest Inway and De Ocampo, but the two fled on a motorcycle, prompting a police chase that ended on the road leading to the Irri compound.
The report said De Ocampo had a pistol and fired at the policemen, who shot back.
“The two police officers (Vergara and Villamayor) said: ‘Huwag na kayong lalaban, may mga sugat kayo. Dadalhin namin kayo sa ospital (Don’t fight back. You are wounded and we will bring you to the hospital),’” it said.
It said the two were pronounced dead on arrival at Los Baños Doctors’ Hospital and that investigators also recovered a hand grenade at the crime scene.
“My son was only wearing shorts and sando (undershirt). Where would he keep that pistol if he really had one?” Pedrito said.
“When we arrived, the area (crime scene) was cordoned off. They wouldn’t even let me get close to see if it really was Betong (Gilberto),” he said. But he said that from afar, he saw the cops “lobbed” something into the police mobile car and believed it was his son’s body.
A relative of Inway, who declined to be named, said “he could have been shot inside the [police car]. One shot was in his neck and the (gun) powder burns showed that it was fired at close range.”