The police officer who fatally shot a former soldier near a quarantine checkpoint in Quezon City has been charged with homicide.
Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo said in a virtual presser on Friday morning that they have already filed a case against Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo for the death of former Philippine Army member Winston Ragos.
The former soldier was shot twice when he seemingly tried to pull something from his sling bag during a quarantine confrontation.
Montejo said the case against Florendo was filed through online inquest proceedings.
According to the QCPD head, the police district depended on the evidence they gathered in filing the homicide case.
“We test our findings sa evidence. So kung ano ang ebidensya sa atin, ‘yun ang binasehan natin,” he said.
Montejo said that the four police trainees, who were with Florendo during the incident, were not legally charged because police “have not established any conspiracy.”
Meanwhile, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas maintained that there was no tampering of evidence when the police took away the sling bag, which allegedly contained Ragos’ gun, from the crime scene.
He aired the same sentiment of QCPD Investigation Unit head Maj. Elmer Monsalve, who earlier said that it was intended to “secure” the evidence.
“Kung sino ang first responder, i-secure po ‘yung crime scene… Kung ang PNP [Philippine National Police] was involved sa crime, kailangan nilang i-secure agad ‘yun para ‘di mawala ‘yung baril. At itu-turn over ‘yan pagdating ng SOCO o ng office on case,” Sinas said.
Asked if how Florendo knew that Ragos had a gun in his possession, Montejo said that it was “good to ask” him and his companions to prove it.
NAPOLCOM STEPS IN
The National Police Commission (Napolcom) vowed on Friday to look into all angles in Ragos’ death.
Lawyer Rogelio Casurao, Napolcom vice-chairman and executive officer, said the family of Ragos requested the commission to conduct an investigation.
Ragos’ family claimed that Florendo should not have shot the ex-soldier, claiming that he was unarmed at the time of the incident.
But Florendo refuted this allegation, insisting that Ragos had a handgun when accosted by cops at the checkpoint.
Other police officers defended Florendo’s action, saying he was in a precarious situation at that time which endangered his life.
Pending the result of the NAPOLCOM investigation, Casurao said the declaration of some police officers were “just their personal opinion and do not reflect the official stand of the Philippine National Police (PNP).”
On April 21, Ragos allegedly approached a checkpoint on Maligaya Drive in Barangay Pasong Putik and hurled invectives at the authorities, among them Florendo and some trainees from the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group.
Police said Ragos allegedly refused to follow the cop’s instruction and supposedly threatened to draw a weapon, prompting Florendo to shoot him.
As some key PNP officials called the incident a judgment and a form of self defense, the Ragos family maintained that the slain soldier was unarmed finding that shooting him dead was out of line.
Casurao explained the video clip of the incident will only be used as one of the basis for the investigation.
Stressing his point, Casurao said the clip will serve as a guide on the physical attributes of the incident but will also consider other important matters not shown in the video.
Casurao added the commission has to take into consideration reports like the claim that the victim was armed with a .38-caliber which was not in the video.
“There are things that can be taken from the footage, but there are matters that can be ferreted out after an investigation proper,’ Casurao noted’.
The Internal Affairs Service of the PNP has already started its own investigation on the incident. (Joseph Pedrajas, Chito Chavez)