Parents of Carl Arnaiz urge DOJ to quickly resolve murder case vs cops, cabbie

Carlito and Eva Arnaiz, the parents of slain teenager Carl Angelo, meet with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Sept. 6, 2017. With them are PAO chief Persida Acosta. (Presidential Photographers Division)

Parents of Carl Angelo Arnaiz urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately resolve the murder, torture, and planting of evidence case filed against police officers and a cab driver involved in the death of their 19-year-old son.

Arnaiz, a former college student at the University of the Philippines, and his 14-year old companion Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman, disappeared after leaving their houses in Cainta on Aug. 17.

Their parents said the two were supposed to buy snacks but never returned.

Arnaiz went missing for 10 days – until his body was found in a morgue in Caloocan City.

He was allegedly killed in Caloocan in a shootout with police officers chasing him after he had robbed taxi driver Tomas M. Bagcal.

In his counter-affidavit, however, Bagcal said he was only coerced to sign his two previous statements about the incident.

In his first statement, he said he did not recognize who robbed him but in his second affidavit, he gave a detailed description of the robber that matched that of Arnaiz.

Bagcal maintained that his written affidavit was the true account of what happened to Arnaiz.

His statement is consistent with the testimony of an eyewitness who said that Carl was handcuffed and shot while kneeling by the police officers.

In the reply affidavit, the parents of the teenager said Bagcal’s inconsistent accounts and his admission that he had been along with the “script” of the police officers proved that they had conspired to kill their son.

“Ang hindi agad paglalahad ng katotohanan ni G. Bagcal sa una pa lang na pagkakataon sa kabila ng kanyang inaming partisipasyon, pagtulong at mga nalalaman niya sa detalye ng pagpatay nila sa aming anak ay pagpapatotoo na may kinalaman at kasabwat nga siya ng mga pulis sa pagpatay sa aming anak na pilit niyang pinagtatakpan sa paiba iba niyang mga salaysay,” Carlito and Eva Arnaiz, Carl’s parents, said.

Despite Bagcal’s denial of his first two affidavits, PO1 Jeffrey Perez and PO1 Ricky Arquilita used Bagcal’s second affidavit in narrating what happened to Carl.

The two police officers said Carl was first to fire a shot at them after he was identified by Bagcal as the robber. They merely returned fire, in the process killing Carl.

The DOJ gave the respondents police officers and Bagcal up to Oct. 26 to submit a rejoinder. /atm