Mom grieves for 2 sons, insists one is innocent

The two brothers killed by police after they allegedly grabbed an officer’s gun following their arrest on Tuesday, were arrested without a warrant and died in an “inhumane” way, their family said, adding that only one of the brothers was involved in illegal drugs while the other was completely innocent.

Julius and Rolando Dizon Jr., were playing the illegal gambling game, cara y cruz, with their younger brother Archie and two others when police arrested them, recounted their mother, Aurora Dizon, who said that neighbors woke her around 1:30 a.m. to tell her about it.

The police did not present a search warrant when they barged into their home and “took everything—cell phones, watches, money, even [my grandchildren’s] toys. They were searching for a gun, but they didn’t find any,” Aurora said in an interview at the suspects’ wake outside their home in Barangay Tunasan.

The police report, however, indicated that a .38-cal revolver was recovered from Julius, but his common-law wife, Gemmalyn Maraya, denied it.

‘Inhumane’

Aurora also decried the “inhumane” death of her two sons whom the police had claimed were linked to a certain Dennis “Langaw” Esmeralda, Muntinlupa’s top drug pusher.

The mother said that while 34-year-old Rolando (“Sonny”) was a “small-time” drug peddler who sold drugs to earn a living, the younger son, Julius, 25, never took part in the illegal trade.

“We tried to tell Sonny to stop,” said Dizon and the victims’ sister, 36-year-old Catherine Arnaiz. “But he said he already knew what would happen to him if ever he got arrested—that he would be ‘salvaged.’”

Added Maraya: “But [Julius] never dealt with drugs. He had a decent job, and I work hard as well as a bar waitress.”

Younger brother Archie recalled that the five of them were herded into the officers’ vehicle after their arrest, but that three of them were eventually let off near Susana Heights Access Road. Only Julius and Rolando were left with the police.

“While we were inside the vehicle, the police kept saying, ‘Why don’t we just kill them?’ And we responded, ‘But sir, why? We were just playing cara y cruz,” said one of their companions who wanted to be identified only as “Kokoy.”

Handcuffed

Aurora, along with Julius’ and Rolando’s live-in partners, proceeded to the Muntinlupa Police Station but did not find her sons there. “They told us that (the two) had been brought to Ospital ng Muntinlupa for their medical exam. But since it was taking so long, I decided to go home around 8 a.m. to rest,” she added.

Growing impatient, the suspects’ live-in partners decided to head to the hospital themselves around noon, but found to their horror that the brothers were no longer there. They had already been transferred to Royalty Funeral parlor in Las Piñas City.

According to police, Rolando and Julius were shot around 3 a.m. after the two allegedly ganged up on a female officer, grabbed her service firearm and tried to use it against her as they made their way to the hospital.

But the suspects’ brother, Archie, said he doubted that the two could pull off such stunt.  Both of them were handcuffed separately—not together, as police had earlier claimed, he said.

Fighting to hold back her tears, Maraya recounted:  “At the police station, I asked an officer if I could officially file a blotter report about [Rolando and Julius] going missing because I could already sense something was wrong. But they just told me to wait, and that the case would soon be closed.”

Asked if they planned to file any formal complaint, the suspects’ family said, “No. What for? We couldn’t even file a blotter report.”TVJ

RELATED STORIES

Drug deaths add more life to funeral trade

Duterte names top cops allegedly involved in illegal drugs trade