All the police operatives who took part in the Laguna operation that left two suspected drug pushers dead, including a 16-year old boy, were placed under restrictive custody and were also subjected to paraffin test amid speculations and doubts that the two slain suspects died while engaging policemen in a gun battle.
Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), also disclosed that all the firearms used in the Biñan City operation were also subjected to ballistics examination to determine which among them were fired that killed 16-year-old Johndy Maglinte and of drug suspect Antonio Castillo Dalit. The cadavers of the two were also autopsied.
Eleazar made the announcement after the video of the death of Maglinte went viral and triggered speculations that he was executed by the police operatives.
"The actions that were immediately taken, which include the conduct of the investigation of the Police Regional Office 4A and the Internal Affairs Service are proof that we are not hiding anything. We also want to find out the truth about this incident," said Eleazar.
Police operatives have claimed that Maglinte and drug suspect Dalit, the target of the operation who is included in Laguna’s ten most wanted, fought back while they were serving an arrest warrant on the accused drug offender. However Maglinte’s family alleged that the teenager and the drug suspect were executed by the policemen.
Eleazar then urged the relatives of Maglinte and Dalit, as well as other residents who claimed to have witnessed the killing, to come forward and help shed light on the incident.
“We are urging the families of Johndy Maglinte and Antonio Dalit and those who witnessed the incident to provide their statements to the PNP Internal Affairs Service as their narrations could help shed light on the incident," said Eleazar.
"We cannot find out the truth and we cannot seek justice if they would just choose to be silent," he added.
The Laguna Provincial IAS and the Calabarzon Regional IAS investigators personally spoke on Friday, June 18 to the relatives of Maglinte and Dalit to get their affidavits of complaint but they said they were not ready to give statements.
The investigators gave them contact numbers through which the teenager’s and drug suspect’s relatives could reach out.