The Philippine Army (PA) welcomed on Friday the filing of a murder case against a police officer and four police trainees involved in the fatal shooting of retired Corporal Winston Ragos near a quarantine checkpoint in Quezon City in April.
Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay, Army chief, said the murder charge filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Police Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo and his police trainees identified as P/Ts Dajeles Gaciles, Arnel Fontillas Jr., Joy Flaviano, and Dante Fronda “is a major step towards justice for our fallen hero.”
“The Army strongly believes that truth will prevail, and expects indictment on all the cases,” he said.
Aside from murder, the NBI also filed perjury against Florendo and the four trainees.
Meanwhile, a case for planting of evidence was lodged against Florendo and another cop, Staff Sergeant Hector Besas, after they allegedly put a gun in Ragos’ sling bag which was later collected by the investigators.
Ragos’ wife, Merlyn, who is also the complainant in the cases, earlier said that Ragos was suffering from mental health problems and it was impossible for him to acquire a gun.
“May this initial development bring comfort to his family, and continue to raise awareness on mental health, and the plight of our soldiers who bear invisible scars,” Gapay said.
Ragos had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2010 after an armed engagement with the New People’s Army (NPA), according to Colonel Ramon Zagala, Army spokesperson.
He had been confined at the V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City in the same year, and re-admitted in 2013, 2014 amd 2016. He was given a certificate of disability discharge (CDD) in December 2016 which took effect on January 16, 2017.
On April 21, 2020, Ragos was shot dead by Floreindo over a heated argument in a quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Pasong Putik.
An initial police report said Ragos confronted the police trainees and questioned them why they were staring at him.
The trainees reported the incident to Floreindo while Ragos passed through the checkpoint unchecked, prompting the officers to go after him.
Floreindo and the trainees located Ragos in front of a local eatery where the shooting incident happened.
The officers claimed Ragos was reaching for his sling bag when they tried to arrest him, which prompted Floreindo to shoot him twice.
The Army earlier sought the help of the NBI and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in conducting an impartial probe on the incident.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Archie Gamboa had also instructed the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) to investigate the incident where only homicide, a non-bailable offense, was filed against the accused officers.
The NBI, in its transmittal letter to the prosecutor’s office, said that “witnesses accounts and a review of the CCTV (closed circuit television camera) footages showed what actually transpired.”
“In fact, no other gun was seen in the person of Cpl. Ragos within the vicinity, before, during, and even after he was shot, except for the firearm of PMSgt Florendo,” stressed the letter signed by NBI Deputy Director Vicente de Guzman III.
During the investigation, the NBI learned Ragos’ sling bag had been turned over to Besas at the Commonwealth Hospital where Ragos was taken after being shot by Florendo.
Citing the testimonies of Barangay Public Safety Officer (BPSO) Ernesto San Diego Jr. and the retired soldier’s brother Leopoldo Ragos Jr., the NBI said “at the time the sling bag was turned over to PSSg Besas, he did not see any firearm therein.”
The CCTV footage showed that after Ragos was shot, Florendo kicked a sling bag and one of the four police trainees accompanying him picked it up, contrary to the cop’s claims that he secured the gun before calling for back-up.
“It is basic in crime scene investigation that evidence should not be removed from the crime scene unless it has been labeled, photographed and documented,” the NBI said.
The NBI also stressed that Police Brig. Gen. Rolando Hinamay, director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory, has certified that “their Office did not receive any request for assistance in crime scene processing of Cpl. Ragos case.”
“To make matter worse, the seized sling bag and the .38-caliber firearm allegedly owned by Cpl. Ragos were not marked. It could not, therefore, be determined how the unmarked pieces of evidence were transported and who took custody of them while in transit, until finally turned over to CIDU (Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit),” it pointed out.
Ragos was given military honors before he was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on April 26. (Martin A. Sadongdong, Jeffrey Damicog)
