Bato presents ‘alleged’ members of vigilante group

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Thursday presented three alleged members of a vigilante group that was behind several summary executions in Manila.

Dela Rosa said that the Manila Police District (MPD) arrested on Wednesday the three suspects in Tondo, Manila.

They are Manuel Murillo, 33, Marco Morallos, 33, and Alfredo Lucena, 42.

The three are members of the Civilian Voluntary Organization (CVO) in Manila. They also claimed being part of an obscure organization called Confederate Sentinels Group (CSG).

Prior to the arrest, the body of Charlie Salidaga, 16, which was stuffed inside a sack, was found floating in a shoreline near Isla Putting Bato in Tondo last January 2. The mother first reported her son as missing.

“The relatives of the victim refused to file a formal complaint against the suspects for fear of reprisal. However on February 7, the suspects confronted the victim’s parents and threatened them at gunpoint,” Dela Rosa said.

The PNP chief said that the suspects killed Salidaga because it was ordered by their commander.

On Wednesday, the mother of the victim decided to personally report the matter to the MPD authorities, which resulted in the operation and apprehension of the suspects.

“So this is a solution of some of the death under investigation (DUI) cases or turned by media as extrajudicial killings (EJKs), which presumably being attributed to the police. So andito sila (suspects) ngayon, nakuha mga armas, kumpleto mga armas nila, at inaamin naman nila ang kanilang ginawa,” Dela Rosa said.

(They’re here (suspects) now, their weapons were confiscated.)

He added that the parents positively identified the trio.

“Another three cases of DUI na nagli-link sa kanila, may nagtuturo na sila ang suspects. Ipapakita natin [sila] sa TV ngayon, baka marami pa tayong ma-solve na DUI, ‘yung ibang complainants ay magsipaglabasan,” he said.

(Another three DUI cases are being linked to them, they are being pointed to as the suspects. We will show them on TV in the hope that we can solve more DUI cases; many complainants are coming out.)

He said that the three DUI cases are considered solved for now, however, they will still have to file a case to formalize the complaints.

“Some accusations na itong mga DUI na ito ay sanction ng pulis, kagagawan ng pulis…dahan-dahan nating iso-solve ito,” dela Rosa added.

(There are some accusations that these DUIs were the work of cops, we will solve these.)