Ombudsman Samuel Martires has ordered the dismissal of a policeman from service for the killing of 23-year-old Djastin B. Lopez in Manila on May 18, 2017.
In a 10-page joint resolution, Martires found Police Officer 3 Gerry G. Geñalope of the Manila Police District Station 7 guilty of grave misconduct.
Aside from dismissal from police service, the Ombudsman also ordered the cancellation of the cop’s eligibility, forfeiture of his retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
The other respondent included in the original complaint — Police Senior Inspector Jojo Salanguit — escaped dismissal due to insufficiency of evidence. However, Martires ordered that a fact-finding investigation be conducted by their Field Investigation Bureau to determine whether or not the May 18 operation was indeed a legitimate one.
Djastin’s family filed the complaint against the cops on September 28, 2017, claiming the boy was just sitting on the railroad tracks with his friends when the police arrived and accosted everybody on their way.
Djastin collided with a police officer, who then shot him. He then appeared to have an epileptic seizure, but the police reportedly still shot and slapped him.
The cops later alleged that it was a buy-bust and a follow-up operation for the murder of a tricycle driver a week earlier.
In the joint resolution, Martires said that there is probable cause that Geñalope is probably guilty, particularly of murder. He invoked self-defense and admitted inflicting fatal injuries that caused the death of Djastin.
Once a respondent invokes self-defense, it is incumbent upon him to prove the circumstances that would avoid his criminal liability. However, in Geñalope’s case, there were eyewitnesses who said that Djastin was already pleading, “Huwag po. Huwag po” with his hands up when the cop shot him.
“While Djastin was lying down on the ground and not in the position to defend himself, PO3 Geñalope fired at him and inflicted upon him five fatal gunshot wounds on his chest and abdomen which caused the latter’s instantaneous death,” the resolution read.
This showed that Geñalope’s acted with treachery, the Ombudsman said.
“His act of shooting Djastin to death is a transgression of some established and definite rule of action. It involved the additional elements of willful intent to violate the law and to disregard established rules, thus, warranting his dismissal from the service,” the resolution read.
The witnesses said there were more than one person who shot Djastin and took turns slapping him, but the Ombudsman said that they failed to identify these persons. Because of this, Salanguit cannot be pinned down like Geñalope. (Czarina Nicole Ong Ki)