3 cops tagged in scavenger's slay surrender

MANILA, Philippines - Three Makati City policemen tagged in the killing of a 13-year-old scavenger surrendered to Southern Police District (SPD) head Chief Superintendent Jose Arne de los Santos yesterday afternoon.

Makati Police Station 5 commander Chief Inspector Angelo Germinal and his men, PO3 Robert Rinion and PO1 Nicolas Apostol Jr., were in uniform when they turned themselves in, a day after murder charges were filed against them before the city prosecutor’s office.

De los Santos said the three were with their lawyer when they went to his office at about 2 p.m. The SPD director said the three men refused to comment on the allegations and why it took them days to surrender. “They said they will answer everything in the proper forum,” he said.

The three policemen were put under restrictive custody and are confined to the SPD headquarters’ premises in Taguig City.

They are accused of having a hand in the killing of Christian Serrano, 13, last Monday. Witnesses said Serrano was scavenging at an abandoned building in Barangay San Antonio when Germinal fired two warning shots, the second hitting Serrano in the chest. He died while being rushed to the hospital.

According to Chief Superintendent Alan Purisima, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Germinal was with Rinion and Apostol at the time of the shooting.

Purisima said he ordered the three policemen disarmed and restricted to quarters “to prevent them from harassing witnesses.” He vowed to seek their dismissal from the police service.

He ordered a deeper investigation to determine what drove Germinal to shoot Soriano. He noted that the abandoned building was not under Germinal’s jurisdiction and why policemen are seen guarding the area, particularly at night.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, on the other hand, said in a telephone interview yesterday that Germinal, Rinion and Apostol “should be charged so there will be a formal arrest and they should be treated like criminals. I believe there are no exceptions under the law. Whether you are a police officer or an ordinary civilian, if you should be arrested, you should not be treated differently.”

He said the three lawmen are “supposed to explain” the incident, but went into hiding instead. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe