CHR investigating tanod's fatal shooting of curfew violator
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights said it is investigating the Manila barangay watchman’s shooting of a curfew violator reportedly with mental illness in Manila last weekend.
CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia, in a statement on Tuesday, said the commission is conducting a probe into barangay tanod Cesar Panlaqui’s fatal shooting of Eduardo Geñoga, said to be with mental illness.
Reports said on Saturday night, past the 8:00 p.m. curfew in Manila, Panlaqui warned Geñoga when the latter was slamming doors and gates in Tayuman Street. The victim allegedly approached the barangay official with a stick, prompting the latter to shoot Geñoga on the chest as he was already walking away.
De Guia lamented the killing of the victim as she noted that this recent shooting is reminiscent of other stories of quarantine violators who also died in the implementation of the lockdown.
“It is condemnable and deeply concerning that a quarantine violator died again in the implementation of quarantine protocols, which is reminiscent of deaths of quarantine violators in last year’s ECQ implementation,” De Guia said.
“The Commission has repeatedly stressed throughout the ongoing pandemic that this is a health crisis, not a peace and order agenda. Employing force will not eliminate the virus, but may instead further imperil and harm lives, which the quarantine rules is supposed to protect,” she added.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government said Monday that it also directed the Philippine National Police to look into the incident and why Panlaqui was in possession of an unlicensed gun with no serial number. Police arrested the barangay tanod on Sunday.
The police said Geñoga was found sprawled on the pavement with toy guns in his possession. The victim’s brother said Geñoga was suffering from mental illness.
Abuses in quarantine protocol implementation
Metro Manila on August 6 reverted to ECQ status, for the third time since the pandemic last year, in the next two weeks. During these periods of lockdowns in the country, authorities have also been accused of abuse in enforcing protocols.
In April 2020, Quezon City police manning a quarantine checkpoint shot to death Winston Ragos. A year later, Darren Manaog Peñaredondo, an alleged quarantine violator in Cavite, died after being force to do 300 rounds of pumping exercises.
Following the killing of Geñoga, De Guia reiterated the commission’s “stern reminder that in case of aggression, thwarting it must always be necessary and proportionate to the level of threat and assault.”
“We continuously remind authorities to adhere to human rights-based policing and to respect every individual’s dignity, especially the vulnerable ones, including those with mental health conditions,” she added. — with reports from The STAR/Marc Jayson Cayabyab
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