8 cops in Parañaque shoot-out plead not guilty; widow counting on witnesses

Nearly four years after a bloody shoot-out in Parañaque City which left 16 people dead, eight police officers accused of firing upon a father and his 7-year-old daughter who were mistaken for members of a notorious robbery group were finally arraigned.

Chief Inspectors Lawrence Cajipe and Joel Mendoza, Insp. Gerardo Balacutan, Police Officers 3 Julito Mamanao Jr. and Fernando Rey Gapuz, Police Officers 2 Eduardo Blanco and Edwin Santos, and PO1 Josil Rey Lucena pleaded not guilty before presiding Judge Jaime Guray of the Parañaque Regional Trial  Court Branch 260 after the charge of multiple murder against them was read.

The eight are members of the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Task Force Limbas who were among the operatives who figured in a shoot-out with a group of suspected robbers on Dec. 5, 2008, at United Parañaque Subdivision 4 in Barangay Marcelo Green.

Present during the proceedings which lasted just 10 minutes was Lilian de Vera who filed the charges against the policemen after her husband, Alfonso, 53, and their daughter, Lia Allana, were among the civilians killed in the crossfire.

“They would have to prove that they are really not guilty,” De Vera told the Inquirer in a phone interview after the arraignment.

“They could not admit that they were the ones who shot my husband and daughter when we have witnesses who positively identified [them] …” she added.

De Vera welcomed the arraignment of the police officers and expressed hope that the case would be resolved quickly.

A hearing has been set on Aug. 1 in connection with the petition for bail filed by the accused who are under the custody of HPG officials. The pretrial proceedings will be held on the same day.

Witnesses claimed that the police officers who were chasing members of the Waray-Waray robbery group peppered with bullets the Isuzu Crosswind (XEW 327) carrying Alfonso and his daughter after they mistook it for one of the gang’s getaway vehicles.

Oddly enough, Guray dismissed the case against the eight for lack of evidence even after the Department of Justice recommended the filing of criminal charges against the policemen in December 2009.

Last month, the Court of Appeals reversed Guray’s decision and ordered him to continue hearing the case against the accused.