Detainee seeks justice over torture, coercion

MANILA, Philippines — One of the men tagged in the killing of two people in Barangay Bangkulasi in Navotas earlier this month is seeking justice for the alleged maltreatment he suffered at the hands of eight police intelligence operatives.

The detainee, known only as Michael, said he want sanctions imposed on the police officers who tortured and coerced him into owning up to the killing.

“I hope those who tortured me will be made accountable. I almost died because of what they did to me,” Michael told GMA News in Filipino.

Michael and his companion, identified only as James, were arrested for the shooting of two people allegedly on the orders of two barangay officials from Bangkulasi and North Bay Boulevard in South Dagat-Dagatan.

In their extrajudicial confession, Michael and James admitted to killing the victims in exchange for P30,000.

However, James claimed they only confessed to the crime because they were tortured.

He showed a head wound that he suffered after a policeman allegedly struck him with a hard object to the head.

Michael added he was strangled with a fan belt, aside from other forms of torture.

“They put plastic over my head, hit me with a hard object and strangled me,” he said in Filipino.

Michael said he was forced to wear a bull cap by police officers when he was brought to the Navotas City Hospital for medical examination so doctors would not see his head injury.

Their lawyer, Cid Stephen Andeza, has filed administrative complaints against the eight police officers before the Internal Affairs Service at Camp Crame.

The Navotas police denied Michael’s allegations, saying they have pieces of evidence implicating him and James to the double murder.