‘Execution’ at Pasay police station

A tearful Harra Kazuo tells senators on Monday, August 22, 2016, how police allegedly became brutal while arresting her live-in partner, JP Bertes, on July 6, 2016. SCREENGRAB FROM SENATE YOUTUBE LIVESTREAM

The Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended the filing of murder charges against the two Pasay policemen who shot and killed Renato Bertes and his son, Jaypee, who were detained on alleged drug charges inside the police station.

“There is sufficient evidence to charge the respondents with murder. The medical evidence does not bear out the respondents’ tale and instead suggest an execution,” said the resolution issued in February but released only recently.

Respondents PO2 Alipio Balo and PO1 Michael Tomas claimed that Renato grabbed Balo’s gun as they were being returned to their detention cell after undergoing a drug test on July 7, 2016.

During the scuffle, Balo allegedly managed to take control of the gun and shot Renato. This angered Jaypee who also tried to grab the gun but was subsequently shot by Tomas, according to the respondents’ version.

The investigating prosecutors said, however, that Renato would not have been shot in the head, left upper chest and left shoulder if he was indeed grappling for the gun.

“Particularly telling is the shot to the head which indicates that the shooter had the luxury of aiming at a restrained target,” the resolution said. It was signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutors Remmel Balinbin and Alan Mangabat, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Clarisa Kuong and City Prosecutor officer in charge Benjamin Lanto.

The complainants were Pasay police case investigators SPO2 Ricardo Mallong Jr., PO3s Lorence Osias and Mario Golondrina.

The autopsy showed that Renato was “violently mauled before his death” while Jaypee suffered even more injuries, indicating that he was also beaten up before he died.

“The physical evidence indicates a planned killing attended with cruelty and taking advantage of superior strength and/or employing means to weaken the defense and/or means to insure or afford impunity,” the resolution said.

In August, Jaypee’s partner Harra Kazuo said during a Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings that policemen went to their house to arrest him on drug charges on July 6. Renato insisted on accompanying his son to ensure Jaypee’s safety. The next time she saw them, they were already dead, she added.