Tough job ahead for Pasay prosecutors

A Pasay City assistant prosecutor admitted yesterday that it would be difficult to determine who among the 21 city policemen accidentally shot and killed hostage victim Dexter Balala.

"Mahirap sa panel yun," said Second City Assistant Prosecutor Rodolfo Abrazaldo, head of the three-man panel conducting the preliminary investigation into the case.

In yesterday’s hearing attended by Balala’s parents, Abrazaldo and state prosecutors Clarissa Kuong and Berbane Solis asked Senior Superintendent Oscar Catalan, head of the Southern Police District (SPD) Intelligence and Investigation Division, to explain the results of the ballistic and paraffin tests.

The SPD, with the Balalas, as private complainants, filed charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against 21 policemen, including Pasay chief of police Supt. Eduardo de la Cerna, who were all involved in the botched rescue of the young boy.

Dexter was taken hostage by Diomedes Talbo. Both were killed in the operation. While Talbo was peppered with bullets, the boy was killed by a gunshot to the heart, according to autopsy reports. "We have to determine from whose firearm the bullet that killed the boy came. He sustained five gunshot wounds and there are 21 policemen," Abrazaldo said. – Nikko Dizon