2 Manila cops charged with ‘robbery with homicide’

By: Erika Sauler - 11 years ago

MANILA, Philippines — Two policemen were charged with robbery with homicide in the Manila Regional Trial Court for allegedly taking at gunpoint a man’s gold bracelet and shooting the victim afterwards, which led to his death in a hospital after a week.

The case was filed in court Monday against Police Officer 1 Reggie Dominguez and PO1 Jamal Lacsaman based on the complaint of the victim’s wife, Hairo Joy Anda.

According to court records, the robbery and killing happened on Jan. 15, 2013, when Anda and her husband Jose went to a pawnshop on Pedro Gil Street in Paco, Manila.

Anda went inside the pawnshop while Jose smoked and waited for her outside. She saw two men got off a motorcycle, one of them, later identified as Dominguez, approached her husband, pointed a gun at him and took his gold bracelet worth P25,000.

The suspect shot Jose in the thigh then fled in the motorcycle with his companion, identified as Lacsaman.

The victim was rushed to hospital where he died after a week. Through a security camera footage of the shooting, Anda found out that one of the people who helped them get to the hospital even took the victim’s necklace worth P17,000.

Lacsaman had been absent without filing for official leave since 2012 while Dominguez stopped reporting for duty after the crime. Dominguez was arrested in June last year.

Dominguez refuted the accusation in a counteraffidavit, saying that he couldn’t have been the assailant as he was celebrating his son’s birthday on that date. He added that it would be illogical for him to do so since he lived in the area where the crime happened and used to patrol it as a policeman.

In a resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor Cecilia Parallag recommended the filing of the case, describing Dominguez’s alibi as a weak in the face of a positive identification.