The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed before the regional trial court (RTC) murder and planting of evidence charges against three policemen on the killing of Spanish national Diego Lafuente in Surigao del Norte on Jan. 8, 2020.
Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento on Tuesday, March 22, said those charged were PCapt. Wise Vicente B. Panuelos, PSgt. Ronel A. Pazo, and PSgt. Nido Boy E. Cantos who were members of the Gen. Luna municipal police force.
The filing of the charges in court was a result of the preliminary investigation conducted on the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Those charged claimed that Lafuente was the number one drug personality in the Caraga Region and that they were forced to defend themselves when he drew a firearm during an anti-illegal drugs operation on Jan. 8, 2020.
They also claimed that a .45 caliber pistol and cocaine weighing 8.3326 grams were recovered from Lafuente.
“However, after the evaluation of the evidence submitted by the NBI, the Panel of Prosecutors found that there is sufficient ground to charge respondents with Murder and Planting of Evidence under the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act of 2013,” the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) said in a previous statement.
“Although there were no eyewitnesses in the killing of Diego Lafuente, the recommendations of the panel of prosecutors were based on the SOCO (Scene of the Crime Office) report and forensic results that disproved the claim of respondents of a shootout,” it pointed out.
The OPG explained the physical evidence shows that “the placement of the fired cartridge cases (FCC) from the service firearms (9mm) of PCapt. Panuelos and PSsgt. Cortes and the FCCs from the alleged firearm (Cal. 45) of Deigo Lafuente were in close distance with each other, found in a triangular area.”
If indeed there was a shootout, the OPG said “the placement of the FCCs should be on opposite sides.”
“Moreover, the investigation showed that after Diego Lafuente jumped over the perimeter wall, he was shot by PSsgt. Cortes as evidenced by a 9mm FCC found underneath the ground located near the area where Diego Lafuente was lying,” it said.
“The crossmatching examination revealed that the 9mm FCC matched with and was fired from the firearm of PSsgt. Cortes,” it added.