MOUNTAIN Province students march in outrage at the Nov. 5 death of Stefene Galidan (inset), a student of Mt. Province State Polytechnic College in Bontoc town, while he was under the custody of policemen. Five police officers have been suspended pending an investigation. PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY FERDIE CASTAÑEDA
BAGUIO CITY—Students in the Mountain Province capital town of Bontoc marched on Friday to express their outrage at the death of a fellow student allegedly at the hands of policemen who rounded up curfew violators there on Nov. 4.
Stefene Galidan, a sophomore business administration student of Mt. Province State Polytechnic College, died on Nov. 5 while being treated at a hospital shortly after he was arrested by Bontoc policemen, according to a statement from Mt. Province Youth Alliance.
More than 100 students marched through Bontoc, carrying placards that said, “Justice for unreasonable and unnecessary killing.”
Galidan was buried on Saturday at Barangay (village) Monamon Sur in Bauko town, after his remains underwent forensic examination by teams sent by the Cordillera regional police office and the National Bureau of Investigation on Nov. 6.
Chief Supt. Isagani Nerez, Cordillera police director, said five Bontoc policemen had been placed on administrative leave while the investigation was ongoing.
A report from the Bontoc police said Galidan allegedly jumped out of a police vehicle that was taking him to the local police station. It said Galidan was unconscious when policemen came to his aid.
Galidan was supposedly loitering in the streets with other men and was accosted for being disruptive, the report said.
The student’s companions fled when policemen approached them, it said. However, the report said Galidan “voluntarily submitted himself to the [police] to file a complaint at the Bontoc municipal police station against [the] policemen [who accosted him].”
Before reaching the police station, Galidan jumped out of the police car and landed on the pavement. Police said Galidan was taken to a hospital and was conscious, although he had bruises on his forehead and elbows.
“He had told a nurse that he jumped out of fear because it would have been his first time to have a police record,” said a text message to Nerez by a policeman.
Galidan died at 11 a.m. on Nov. 5.
Nerez said the police had secured the statement of a witness who claimed that Galidan was maltreated before he was taken to the Bontoc police station. Reports from Vincent Cabreza and Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon