3 cops in ‘salvaging’ go into hiding

A police official and two rookie law enforcers of the Eastern Police District (EPD), accused of "salvaging (summarily executing)" a teenager tagged in a snatching incident, have gone into hiding after the boy’s body was found in Tanay, Rizal last Saturday.

Superintendent Ericson Velas—quez, Mandaluyong City police chief, said the suspects, Inspector Amor Cerillo and PO1s Francis Castillo and Jocelyn Samson, could not be located to explain their side in the killing of 19-year-old Jonathan Diasanta.

Velasquez said Castillo could not be found in his rented room on Boni Avenue and in his Batangas hometown, while Samson has not returned to her home at the Welfareville compound since July 23. Cerillo could not be contacted since he has turned off his cellular phone.

"We wanted to get their side in the killing of Diasanta but (we) could not find them," said Velasquez, adding the charges against the three law enforcers have been amended to kidnapping with murder.

Velasquez included in the charge street a certain Laine, who was with Cerillo’s group when Diasanta was last seen alive last July 23.

"If they are not guilty, they must come out in the open and explain what really transpired," he said.

Velasquez said he has declared Castillo and Samson absent without official leave (AWOL) for not reporting for work for three days now.

He said he will recommend to Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, EPD director, to have Cerillo listed as AWOL, too.

An angry Mandaluyong City Mayor Neptali Gonzales ordered Velasquez to see to it that they have an airtight case against the three law enforcers.

"Our good mayor directed me to do our best in filing the case against the ‘salvage’ cops and see to it that they rot in jail," Velasquez said.

Cerillo’s group arrested Diasanta last July 22 on suspicion that he was involved in a snatching incident.

But Diasanta’s mother claimed that the jewelry taken from her son was a gift from his grandmother. He said Cerillo took the jewelry from her son.

According to the police blotter, Castillo released Diasanta, whom he had charged with vagrancy, after the complainant failed to show up to file a formal complaint against the teenager.

Diasanta’s mother, Teresa, claimed that Castillo sent an emissary to her demanding P1,500 for her son’s release. She turned down the offer.

A witness, Anabel Asebuche, 25, an errand girl of the police criminal investigation unit, testified that she saw Cerillo’s group and Laine leaving the police headquarters along with Diasanta at about 1 a.m. of July 23.

Diasanta’s body was discovered in a dimly lit portion of Barangay San Juan in Taytay, Rizal four hours later. He was shot in the right side of the head.

Velasquez said he had also charged Castillo with kidnapping and serious illegal detention last year, but the case was reduced to robbery-extortion and was eventually dropped after the complainant failed to attend the court hearings.