MPD probes tortured detainee’s death

MANILA, Philippines - Homicide investigators from the Manila Police District are looking into the case of a detainee who died of torture in the MPD Station 3’s detention cell last Wednesday.

Armando Ramos, 59, was rushed to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center shortly before 4 p.m. but was pronounced dead on arrival. His legs and back were swollen and the skin on his genitals and inner thighs had been scalded and flayed, according to Detective Jonathan Bautista.

Ramos was arrested for using illegal drugs in a shanty on Carlos Palanca street on Dec. 4, 2014. 

Police Officer 3 Geford Gremaje, who was the jailer on duty, claimed Ramos’ fellow detainees told him the victim suddenly collapsed and experienced difficulty breathing, “so (we) took him to the hospital,” according to Bautista.

Gremaje told investigators that he did not know what happened to the victim and only learned of the incident after a detainee told him Ramos was sick.

Bautista said Gremaje’s story is incredible “because as the jailer he should know everything that was happening inside” the detention cell.

“Did he not see the victim’s wounds when they took him to the hospital? If he knows what happened, he should tell the investigators. If he does not know, then he has a problem. Either way I think he has a lot of explaining to do,” he said.

Bautista said when he conducted an ocular inspection of the detention cell where Ramos was held, it was dimly lit and a kettle, which may have been used to torture the victim, was still inside.

A police officer, who asked not to be identified, said Ramos may have been tortured to compel him to reveal who supplies him with illegal drugs.

“It could be the prisoners. But it is highly likely that it was also the police,” the source said. 

The police officer said Superintendent Aldrin Gran, commander of MPD Station 3, remains mum on the incident “but he should have a lot of explaining to do because of command responsibility.” 

Gran has recently taken flak for the proliferation of illegal drugs in his area of responsibility and the continued illegal trade in abortion pills in Quiapo.