CHR probes police "violations" vs civilian

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Human Rights-Negros Oriental is now conducting an investigation into accusations of  human rights violations allegedly committed by a policeman of Bayawan City and some members of the  auxiliary police against a civilian, who is now hiding for fear of  his life.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a certain Roger Calumba, a resident of  Barangay Bugay in Bayawan City, before the office of CHR field investigator Jess Cañete. 

Calumba claimed he was picked up from his house in the hinterland barangay at about 1 a.m. last March 21 by heavily armed men who he later knew were members of the Bayawan auxiliary police. The men, armed with AK47 rifles, suspected him to have received NPA rebels in his house.

According to Calumba's complaint, the auxiliary police with a certain Police Officer 1 John Carl Niaga, who initially identified himself as a member of the Bais Police, forced Calumba to disclose the names of the armed men in his house. He admitted that, a week before, he only received in his house a former barangay captain and four tanods. Calumba was a former tanod himself.

For his failure to provide the expected answer, Niaga's group decided to bring Calumba to the Barangay Hall, but along the way, Niaga allegedly aimed his M16 rifle at Calumba, along with the others who cocked their guns. This prompted Calumba to escape and run for his life.

By 6 a.m. that day, Calumba had the incident recorded in the police blotter in Bayawan. He was not arrested there.

Cañete however said he could not find a spot report of the incident at the provincial headquarters in Agan-an, Sibulan. Initial investigation showed the operation did not have the authority from the OIC police chief at that time, according to Senior Inspector Nenette Vibares, when asked to shed light on the issue during the regular session of the Bayawan City Council.

According to Cañete's investigation, a 9-year-old boy, who was among the alleged witnesses, turned over to the police a rusty shotgun of Calumba, who was later found to have been charged with illegal possession of firearm, without being given the chance to answer the charges. Calumba said he was expecting an arrest warrant at any time.

Cañete, said he wanted to determine if the respondents did not violate human rights, and if there was propriety of arming civilians or police auxiliaries with high-powered firearms. He vowed to pursue the case no matter who gets hurt in order not to establish precedence in the area, despite threats to his life and even if there were hints of political bickering in connection with the incident. — (FREEMAN)