MANILA - One of three police officers linked to the shooting of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos pointed to his colleague as having shot the teenager during the August 16 operation in Caloocan.
Speaking before a Senate inquiry, PO1 Jerwin Cruz said it was PO3 Arnel Oares who shot Delos Santos based on the ballistic report.
"Sa operation, magkakasama po kami," Cruz said under questioning by Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
Oares, meanwhile, refused to answer until he had consulted his own lawyer.
An investigator who prepared the spot report of the shooting said all 3 police officers - Cruz, Oares and PO1 Jeremias Pereda claimed it was Delos Santos who first drew a gun and fired.
Asked if they confirm that Delos Santos had a gun, Pereda said they could not see because it was dark.
"Sir, kasi po madilim nun, hindi namin alam kung…kasi pinutukan niya lang po kami," he told Senator Bam Aquino.
"Alam po naming na baril yun, Sir, dahil malakas yung pagkakaputok. Nakita na rin namin na may kapirasong ilaw dun," he added.
According to results of the autopsy by the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) forensic laboratory, Delos Santos sustained a gunshot wound to his back, to the back of his left ear, and one inside his left ear.
The location of the gunshot wounds to his ears showed that Delos Santos was on the ground when he was shot, the office said.
This was later contradicted by the PNP Crime Laboratory, which said Delos Santos sustained two gunshot wounds to the head, in his left ear.
It confirmed the downward trajectory of the gunshots but stressed that the direction does not automatically mean that the teen was on the ground when he was shot, as claimed by a forensic scientist from PAO.
Public outrage has been growing over Delos Santos' death, which has been decried as a summary execution under the administration's war on illegal drugs.
President Rodrigo Duterte has also said those liable would be answerable and put in jail if a rubout is proven.
At the start of the hearing, all 3 policemen linked to the killing refused to answer questions from senators for lack of legal counsel.
Cruz and Pereda later agreed to testify after Atty. Faye Dizon, a lawyer from the Senate's Legal Counsel, was tapped to temporary represent them on Thursday.
During the hearing, Sen. Pacquiao said the refusal of the 3 cops to answer questions makes them look guilty.
"Kung hindi kayo magsasalita rito, ang taumbayan nanonood ngayon, guilting-guitly na kayo. Ito yung pagkakataon na ipaliwanag nyo yung part ninyo. Ito ang pagkakataon na pwede ninyong sabihin na hindi lahat ng ginawa ninyo ay mali," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - An autopsy conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory shows 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos was shot twice in the head.
In a press conference Wednesday, medico legal officer Jane Monson, said the two bullets entered the left ear of the 11th grader and went out of the right ear.
An autopsy done
by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) forensic laboratory also showed
that Delos Santos was shot 3 times—twice in the ear, once in the back.
The PAO forensic laboratory autopsy said the location of the gunshot wounds to his ears also showed that Delos Santos was on the ground when he was shot.
"Angulated 'yung trajectory. Ibig sabihin nakatayo lang 'yung shooter. Mukhang ang finishing shot 'yung tumama dito sa loob ng tenga," Dr. Erwin Erfe, chief of the PAO Forensic Laboratory, explained.
However, the PNP Crime Laboratory said the downward trajectory of the gunshots does not automatically mean that the teen was on the ground when he was shot.
"[Puwedeng] matangkad 'yung assailant kasi pababa, or 'yung position nasa steep [place] sila tas nasa taas 'yung bumabaril. Pero we cannot really say na nakahiga or ano," said Monson, saying it could be a finishing shot.
The PNP's medico legal officer, meanwhile, said a "finishing shot" is impossible as they did not find soot or stippling that would suggest that Delos Santos was shot pointblank.
The PNP autopsy also found an incision that shows the body was embalmed already before it underwent autopsy, which makes it difficult to identify entry and exit points.
"If it's embalmed,maraming limitations. Sometimes di mo talaga ma-recognize ang entry at exits if it's really embalmed na especially pag natahi na 'yan," she said.
Monson said under their protocol, bodies in violent crimes should not be embalmed before autopsy. But sometimes it is not in their control, she stressed, as families of the deceased want to embalm the body immediately.
Public outrage is growing over Delos Santos' death, which had been decried as a case of extrajudicial killing under the administration's war against illegal drugs.
CCTV footage showed Kian Loyd Delos Santos, Autopsy, PNP, Crime laboratory, Drugs, War on drugs that two cops in civilian clothes accosted Delos Santos towards the direction where he was killed. Witnesses also said they saw the officers blindfold and beat the teenager before the shooting. They added, Delos Santos was killed even though he was already pleading for his life.
Witnesses said they followed the cops and saw how they handed a gun to
Delos Santos and instructed him to shoot it then run. When he heeded
these instructions, the teenager was shot dead.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Citizens cry for justice over the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos, during a protest at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City on Monday. Human rights groups have criticized the Duterte administration for the conduct of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, which allegedly resulted in death of people like Delos Santos, who was shot dead during a police raid in Caloocan City last August 16.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
