3 MPD cops tagged in suspects’ torture

MANILA, Philippines — Three policemen are facing complaints for allegedly torturing two suspected robbers in Manila on Saturday.

Manila Police District Station 5 commander Lt. Colonel Igmedio Bernaldez relieved S/Sgt. Ariel Papa and Cpls. Joshua Salazar and Raymond James Magdangal after complaints were filed by the relatives of Rowell Manlapig, 22, and Emil Joseph Dianela, 27.

Bernaldez also ordered Paz police community precinct chief Capt. Joseph Bocalbos to explain the incident that allegedly happened at the precinct.

In her affidavit, Norelyn Manlapig, sister of Manlapig and Dianela’s former partner, said police officers from the precinct arrested the two men along Pedro Gil street at around 8 p.m. Saturday while they were on their way home.

Manlapig and Dianela were taken to the precinct, reportedly on charges of robbery.

Their relatives, however, alleged that they saw the two men swathed in bandages, their faces and bodies apparently scalded and bearing marks of torture, at a hospital when they were taken for physical examination following their arrest.

“You’re lucky to have seen them alive. Tomorrow they will be inside a box,” Dianela’s mother quoted a certain Corporal Catacutan as saying in Filipino.

The complainants added that police officers at the precinct would not allow them to see Manlapig and Dianela when they visited yesterday morning.

The relatives of the two men admitted they were indeed robbers but claimed there was no robbery when they were arrested.

A police officer who monitored the activities of the two men said they were reportedly responsible for robberies in the Paco area.

MPD Station 5 records show that Manlapig and Dianela have been in and out of jail for robbery.

“They may be criminals but they have also rights,” Norelyn said in Filipino.

Bernaldez told The STAR that police officers at the precinct claimed the scalding was an accident “because the coffee maker broke while the suspects were being investigated.”

The policemen, however, failed to explain the torture marks on the suspects’ bodies. 

Bernaldez offered to shoulder the hospitalization of the suspects but while the families thanked him, they said they will pursue the case against the police officers.