Ex-cop tagged in teen's slay falls

MANILA, Philippines - A dismissed policeman was arrested Monday by agents of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) for the murder of a teenager in Quezon City eight years ago.

NCRPO chief Director Leocadio Santiago Jr. said the suspect, Geronimo Cestina, 48, who held the rank of Senior Police Officer 1, did not resist arrest when he was cornered at his home along Saret street in Batasan Hills.

Cestina, a former member of the police Special Action Force, claimed he shot the victim, Eduardo Riguer Jr., 17, in a shootout but two witnesses said otherwise.

Santiago said Cestina, whose last assignment was with the Station 4 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), was ordered dismissed from the police service by the Ombudsman in 2008 because of Riguer’s killing.

Records show that Jane Gardon was waiting for a ride along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City when two men grabbed her bag.

Gardon sought the help of Cestina and barangay officials Dionisio Infante and Federico Ocampo, and they used a Tamaraw FX, a barangay patrol vehicle, to chase the suspects.

Cestina claimed that while their vehicle was cruising along Ilang-Ilang street in Batasan Hills, they encountered Riguer, who shot at them, prompting Cestina to fire back.

But Riguer’s mother, Gina, and Gardon, who was with the suspects in the vehicle, claimed there was no shootout. Riguer’s mother claimed her son did not own any firearms.

Gina said her son was walking home when the barangay vehicle hit him on March 10, 2002. When he fell on the ground, Cestina opened fire at him. The victim died at the Fairview General Hospital.

After the Ombudsman dismissed Cestina, Judge Samuel Gaerlan of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 issued a warrant for the arrest of Cestina, Ocampo and Infante on Feb. 27, 2007.

Superintendent Remus Medina, head of the NCRPO’s Regional Police Intelligence and Operation Unit (RPIOU), said there have been several attempts to arrest Cestina but police officers failed to get near him because he “was well-entrenched in his squatter neighborhood.”

Medina said they devised a scheme wherein the driver of an owner-type jeep rear-ended Cestina’s parked van, prompting the suspect to confront the driver.

Cestina angrily demanded payment for the damage of his vehicle and failed to notice RPIOU operatives, who surrounded him then announced he was under arrest, police said.

Cestina is currently detained at the RPIOU detention center pending his formal turnover to the chamber of Gaerlan.