MANILA, Philippines—Four policemen were charged with homicide in the Manila Regional Trial Court for the death of a 19-year-old man in Quiapo two years ago.
The policemen, all from the Palanca precinct of the Manila Police District (MPD)-Sta. Mesa station, encountered Saidamen Macabato, a resident of the district’s Islamic Center, around 2 a.m. of April 8, 2013. They claimed that Macabato was killed in a shootout he provoked in the area, where they were patrolling the streets following a spate of robberies.
Macabato’s mother, Sohaila, later filed a complaint in the National Bureau of Investigation saying the teenager was just out buying medicine when the incident happened. The NBI and the barangay issued certification that the victim had no criminal or derogatory record.
Witnesses said they heard several gunshots near the Islamic Center barangay outpost and saw the wounded victim crawling on the ground while two policemen aimed their guns at him while two others stood near their patrol car.
Village officials and residents intervened and brought the victim to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival from multiple gunshot wounds in the body.
In their joint counteraffidavit, SPO3 Deogracias de Ocampo Ebora, SPO1 Ricardo Rivera Jr., PO3 Rene de Guzman and PO2 Eligio Valencia Jr. said the victim shot at their patrol car as they were approaching him to ask why he was loitering at the corner of Carlos Palanca and Marayag streets at such hour.
The victim then fled on a motorcycle toward the barangay outpost and a gun battle ensued as the policemen gave chase. They also claimed hearing gunshots from different directions during the pursuit.
According to the respondents, the NBI and the barangay government “goofed” in issuing the clearances, insisting that Macabato was a suspect in two robbery cases and a dismissed drug case.
That the victim sustained a gunshot wound in the back cannot be the basis for claiming that he was “purposely shot in cold blood,” since it was a firefight, they stressed.
Still, Assistant City Prosecutor Jose Nelson Todas recommended the filing of charges in court against the MPD members to thresh out the conflicting versions of the incident and establish whether they acted in a lawful exercise of duty.