THE CALOOCAN City Regional Trial Court (RTC) sentenced on Thursday three police officers to reclusion perpetua, or 20 to 40 years of imprisonment without parole, over the killing of 17-year-old student Kian Loyd delos Santos during an anti-drugs operation in August last year.
Judge Rodolfo Azucena of RTC Branch 125 found PO3 Arnel Oares, PO1 Jeremias Pereda and PO1 Jerwin Cruz guilty of murder.
The judge also ordered the accused to pay the Delos Santos family P100,000 for civil indemnity, P100,000 for moral damages, P45,000 for actual damages and P100,000 for exemplary damages with interest on all damages.
In his decision, Azucena said the killing was pre-meditated because Delos Santos was not given a chance to defend himself.
The element of treachery was also present in the murder because even as Delos Santos cried out “Sir, huwag po,” the cops still shot him.
The court found out that Oares and Pereda were the ones who shot Delos Santos while Cruz watched.
However, since “they all acted in furtherance of their common design and purpose, i.e. to kill the victim,” all of them were charged with murder, Azucena’s decision read.
“The court commiserates with our policemen who regularly thrust their lives in zones of danger… but the use of unnecessary force or wanton violence is not justified when the fulfillment of their duty as law enforcers can be effected otherwise,” the judge said in his 35-page decision.
“A shoot first, think later attitude can never be countenanced in a civil society. Never has homicide or murder been a function of law enforcement,” he added.
Meanwhile, the planting of firearm and illegal drugs charges were dismissed because the prosecution only presented hearsay as evidence, the judge said.
“No other evidence whether testimonial or documentary has been adduced by the prosecution to establish the fact that the accused planted the firearm and prohibited drugs respectively,” the decision read.
Oares, Pereda, and Cruz are the first policemen to be convicted of crimes committed during President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
Azucena announced his decision almost three months after the six-month trial ended on August 30.
After hearing the decision, Kian’s father Saldy and uncle Randy delos Santos, embraced while in tears.
Oares and Pereda sat stone-faced while Cruz and his wife, both in tears, leaned on each other for support.
About 150 policemen were deployed to secure the Caloocan Judicial Complex on promulgation day.
Senior Supt. Restituto Arcangel, Caloocan chief of police, said the tightened security was for Judge Azucena.
KEY EVENTS
Court records show that on the night of August 16, 2017, Delos Santos was killed by police officers during a “One Time, Big Time” anti-illegal drugs operation in a dark alley in Barangay 160, Libis Baesa.
A police informant named Renato “Nonong” Loveraz said Delos Santos was a drug runner, police said.
The teen allegedly engaged police in a shootout after he resisted arrest, which led to his death. A .45-caliber pistol and sachets of suspected shabu were also found in his possession, police said.
However, eyewitnesses and close circuit television (CCTV) footage showed a different version of events.
Three eyewitnesses said they saw Delos Santos being dragged by armed police along dark alleys towards Tullahan River minutes before he was shot.
One witness said she saw the police punch and slap the teen. They also handed him a gun and ordered him to fire it and run. When he refused, the police gunned him down.
Medico legal experts found that Delos Santos was shot thrice — twice in the head and once in the back. The teen may have been sitting or kneeling when he was shot based on the trajectory of the bullets, they added.
Various organizations launched investigations on the incident and on August 25, 2017, Saldy and Lorenza delos Santos, the victim’s parents, filed murder and torture charges at the Department of Justice (DoJ) against the police.
The respondents were Oares, Pereda, Cruz, Loveraz, Chief Inspector Amor Cerillo, and several John Does.
On January 29, the DoJ ordered the filing of murder and planting of evidence charges against Oares, Pereda, and Cruz. The Caloocan RTC Branch 125 ordered the arrest of the three cops less than a month after.
During the trial, Judge Azucena denied the defense’s bid to avoid presenting its own evidence and its motion to dismiss the case based on the prosecution’s insufficient evidence.
Oares testified that he was the only one who shot Delos Santos after the bullet that killed the teen was traced to his issued service firearm and he tested positive for gunpowder nitrates.
Meanwhile, Pereda and Cruz insisted that the boy they pulled along the alley was not Delos Santos but a police asset named “JR” who was leading them to an alleged pot session.
The two denied shooting the teen, citing that the ballistic examination done on their firearms showed they did not fire it and they tested negative for gunpowder nitrates. (Minka Tiangco)