Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered on Sunday a thorough investigation of the death of a 15-year old girl who was shot dead in Ilocos Sur while on her way home after filing a complaint against two policemen whom she had accused of molesting her.
(NCRPO PIO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Gamboa said he wants to know if the killing of the girl in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur had something to do with the complaint she filed against two policemen from the neighboring town of San Juan town where the victim and her cousin were accosted and were later allegedly abused by the two policemen.
“I talked to the Regional Director (Police Regional Office 1) and I instructed him to conduct an investigation regarding this incident. The investigation should focus on whether or not the killing was motivated by the complaint she had filed,” Gamboa told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.
‘I also instructed the RD to include in the investigation the allegation that the local police where she filed the complaint declined the victim’s request for security escort on her way back home,” he added.
The news on the girl’s death is currently viral in the social media.
Based on the local police report, the victim and at least two of her relatives were on their way home from the Cabugao Municipal Police Station on Friday when motorcycle-riding gunmen arrived and started shooting the girl.
The two other companions of the victim were spared, triggering speculation that the shooting was meant to silence her.
Gamboa also ordered that the two policemen whom the victim had accused of sexual abuse be disarmed and placed under restrictive custody pending the result of the investigation.