3 Cebu cops face charges over death of 11-year-old beggar
CEBU CITY—The National Bureau of Investigation has filed criminal and administrative complaints against a police station chief and two of his men in connection with the death of an 11-year-old street beggar who was allegedly beaten up while in police custody.
PO2 Raymonito Mesa and PO2 Manuel Luis Sejano, both of the Fuente police station, were charged with murder and grave misconduct in the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas. Their superior, Chief Insp. Wildemar Tiu, was accused of obstruction of justice and grave misconduct for “misleading the investigation” and “presentation of a coached witness.”
According to the NBI in Central Visayas, Tiu, who was relieved from his post following the death of Chastity Mirabiles, instructed a witness to tell a lie to investigators to clear Mesa and Sejano.
The agency attached in its complaint the affidavit of another street urchin, who identified Mesa as the policeman who kicked Chastity in the face and body while she was sleeping on the street. The same witness identified Sejano as the driver of the patrol car that brought Chastity to the Fuente police station.
Tiu had earlier told the NBI that there was no police operation to go after street children on April 5, when Chastity was reportedly picked up. He had said the patrol car allegedly used to bring Chastity to the station was already returned to the Cebu City government in 2013.
Mesa claimed that he was off duty that day while Sejano said he was somewhere else when Chastity and other street children were rounded up as part of Operation Libod-Suroy, a local police program meant to “rescue” children from the streets.
Policemen found Chastity and another child beggar sleeping on General Maxilom Avenue at dawn of April 5, Easter Sunday. They were released around 6 a.m. on the same day.
The next day, however, Chastity collapsed on the street and died. An NBI autopsy revealed that the girl died from “traumatic blunt injuries” caused by strong blows or a hard object.
Her companion, who is currently under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Services in Cebu City, pointed to Mesa and Sejano as the same policemen who took them.
On June 9, Tiu went to the NBI regional office and brought three witnesses to prove the innocence of his men. But one of the witnesses, a mendicant, told the investigators that he was instructed by the police officer to tell them a lie.
Carmelito Laurito claimed that he was sleeping at the roadside of Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on June 8 when he was awakened by a man in black jacket. He was brought to the parking area where Tiu and three other persons were waiting.
Laurito was asked to board a black car and was informed that they were going to the NBI office.
“While in transit to the NBI office, Tiu instructed him to lie before the NBI and would claim that they are neighbors of the victim, that he saw when the stepfather (of Chastity) maltreated the victim at midnight of April 2, 2015,” the NBI relayed what Laurito narrated.
The NBI complaint will be forwarded by the Ombudsman-Visayas to the Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (Moleo) in Manila as a matter of procedure.
