Mauling victim’s family to pursue complaint

THE family of a man mistakenly accused of shoplifting in a mall in Cebu City will pursue charges against those responsible for his death.

“Our priority now is to bury my son (on Sunday) and then we will make our next move afterwards. All is planned,” said 50-year-old Fe Soledad, mother of Mario Alfie Ducayag.

Ducayag died a few days after being reportedly mauled by security officers inside Gaisano Metro in downtown Cebu City on April 12.

Representatives of Gaisano Metro earlier went to Ducayag’s wake at the family home in barangay Tuyan, Naga City.

They offered financial aid but the family refused. Cerwin Eviota, spokesman of Gaisano Metro, said they are willing to cooperate with the regional National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the investigation on Ducayag’s death.

“We are also encouraging the security agency to dig deep in their investigation. The company will fully cooperate and we have mandated the security agency to do the same,” he said.

Gaisano Metro has two security agencies supplying them with guards: Golden Sun Investigation and Security Agency and Negrense Security Agency.

Ducayag, the third of Fe Soledad’s four children, was believed to be mauled by security officers of Gaisano Metro over allegations of stealing a pair of sandals last April 12.

The NBI secured footage of the mall’s closed-circuit TV cameras and started viewing the tapes.

The footage showed Ducayag’s apprehension and him being brought out of the mall’s investigation office.

It also showed Ducayag being given medical attention by personnel of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF).

One of the guards, 22-year-old Margie Gaser, recounted the incident to NBI agents.

She said she noticed Ducayag didn’t have a receipt for a pair of sandals he carried along with diapers, biscuits, and milk inside a plastic bag from the grocery section of Gaisano Metro Colon.

Gaser, who is under investigation along with seven other persons, was placed under the custody of male guards who likewise acted as detectives inside the mall.

She said she went with Ducayag in confronting the cashier who received payment for the sandals.

“I left Ducayan at the cashier because I had to go back to my post to check items brought by customers on their way out,” she told Cebu Daily News.

As practiced, all items carried by mall goers will be checked by security officers before going out of the establishment to find out whether or not they have a receipt to validate the purchase.

Gaser said the next time she saw Ducayag was when he was brought by ERUF personnel towards the hospital.

The female company nurse who checked on Ducayag’s condition couldn’t verify if Ducayag was already dead when he was brought out of the mall.

Eviota said the two security agencies should answer the allegations since they directly dealt with Ducayag.

“The responsibility is on the security agency to conduct themselves properly. It’s standard operating procedure of the management that when you handle people, you handle them humanely since they are still presumed to be innocent,” he told reporters.

Based on the autopsy report of NBI-7 medico-legal officer Rene Cam, Ducayag didn’t die a natural death, contrary to what the police autopsy report earlier said.

Cam said Ducayag died due to “traumatic neck injuries.”

The teenage father of two kids also had a collapsed left lung, as well as bruised palms, right shoulder, back, and chest. With UP-Cebu intern Apple Mae Ta-as