Seventeen policemen have been cleared of a murder charge in the death of labor leader Emmanuel “Manny” Asuncion in Dasmarinas City in Cavite during the so-called “Bloody Sunday” killings on March 7, 2021 in Southern Luzon provinces.
Cleared of the charge filed by Asuncion’s wife, Liezel, were PLt. Elbert M. Santos. PLt. Shay Jed Sapitula, PSMS Hector R. Cardinales, PMSgt. Ariel P. Dela Cruz, PSSg. Joemark Sajul, PCpl. Ernie A. Ambuyoc, PCCpl. Mark John A. Defiesta, PCpl. Arjay Garcia, PCpl. Caidar Dimacangun, PCpl. Bryan Sanchez, PCpl, Ericson Lucido, Pat. Jayson Maala, Pat. Juanito Plite, Pat. Jonathan Tatel, Pat. Prince Benjamin Torres, Pat. Jaime Turingan, and Pat. Rey PJ Dacara Lopera.
“We lament the demise of Emmanuel Asuncion. However, complainant and the evidence she submitted failed to discharge the obligation to prove the existence of a crime and identity of the perpetrators thereof,” the resolution stated.
“In the absence of proof, there could be no probable cause to charge the respondents. Settled is the rule ‘the role and object of preliminary investigation were’ were ‘to secure the innocent against hasty, malicious, and oppressive prosecutions, and to protect him from open and public accusation of crime, from the trouble, expenses and anxiety of a public trial, and also to protect the State from useless and expensive prosecutions,’” the resolution released last Monday, Jan. 16, also stated.
The resolution was signed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rodan G. Parrocha and Assistant State Prosecutor Moises Yao Acayan, and recommended for approval by Deputy State Prosecutor Olivia I. Laroza-Torrevillas. Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento approved the resolution.
Manny, a coordinator of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in Cavite, was among those who died on March 7, 2021 on what human rights group called “Bloody Sunday” killings when a number of activists were reportedly shot by law enforcement officers during the serving of search warrants in Southern Tagalog provinces against suspected members of communist terrorist groups.
Based on the complaint, Manny was killed at the Worker’s Assistance Center Satellite Office located in Salitran 1, Dasmarinas City allegedly by uniformed policemen of the Philippine National Police (PNP) based in Rizal and Laguna.
Liezel said in her complaint that they were sleeping on the second floor when six policemen wearing ski masks barged into the room.
While she was being taken to the ground floor, Liezel said “she saw her husband lying with his stomach on the stairs while one of the operatives pointed a gun at his back.”
Thereafter, Liezel said she heard a gunshot that came from the second floor.
She said that after hearing the gunshot, she said she asked the operatives if she could check on her husband but she said she was not allowed.
After about 30 minutes, Liezel said the operatives allegedly pulled out the lifeless body of her husband, soaked in his blood. The operatives then left with the lifeless body of her husband inside their patrol vehicle, she also alleged.
At the same time, Liezel said in her complaint that her husband and their fellow activists, who were Bloody Sunday casualties, “were just mere activists whose only weapon is the sharpness of their tongues to fight for their rights and guarded principles.”
She added that they were not members of the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army), and “thus, it is very clear that they were not ‘armed combatants.”
The complaint was initially filed following investigation conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Dasmarinas City Prosecutor Joy Marie Frances pursuant to the March 7, 2021 memorandum issued by then justice secretary and now Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra.
The SIT was assigned by the DOJ’s secretariat of the Administrative Order 35 (AO 35) Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons.
The complaint was filed before the Dasmarinas City Prosecutor’s Office but, because of the motion to inhibit filed by the policemen, the case was transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila.
The resolution clearing the 17 policemen of the murder charge noted that the autopsy report dated June 22, 2021 issued by Dr. Raquel B. Del Rosario-Fortun and Seth Andrew J. Salih showed that Manny sustained “multiple gunshot wounds of the trunk leading to injuries of the lungs and mediastinum in the chest, and the intestines and liver in the abdomen causing death.”
It said that contrary to the statement of Liezel, PLt. Santos, the team leader of the operation, recounted that, when police operatives entered the premises, Manny -- who they saw was holding a .45 caliber pistol on the second floor – shouted: “Huwag kayong aakyat dito, mamumutok ako (Don’t come up, I will fire shots).”
While discussions were made on how to proceed, PLt. Santos said he “heard gunshots and instructions of the police operatives for Emmanuel Asuncion to stop,” it said.
“As the actions of the subject (Manny) present a clear danger and threat to the lives of the operatives, the latter opted to adapt tactical defense by firing back at Emmanuel Asuncion,” the resolution stated as it cited the testimonies of PLt. Santos.
“There are evidence showing that the implementation of the search warrants was a legitimate operation and in the process of serving thereof, Emmanuel Asuncion resisted from the police authorities,” it said.
It pointed out that Chemistry Report No. C-69-21 showed that “both hands of Emmanuel Asuncion contained gunpowder nitrates, meaning the assertions of respondents that he fired at them has the indication of truth.”
“Also is the Chemistry Report No. C-21-79 which states that bullet holes were found at the staircase landing wall,” it said.
“These results, when correlated with the Autopsy Report Number UPCM 21-14 prepared and signed by Forensic Pathologist Raquel B. Del Rosario-Fortun, which stated that Emmanuel Asuncion sustained gunshot wounds at the trunk particularly in the anterior chest, with bullet trajectories of backward and upward, are consistent with the version of the respondents that they made defensive shots from the ground floor when Emmanuel Asuncion, who was located at the second floor near the stairs, fired upon them when they were about to go upstairs to serve upon him the search warrants,” the resolution stressed.
It also said that while the autopsy report cited that the manner of death is homicide, “the same did not provide any findings or suggestion as to who caused the said injuries.”
Also, while Liezel said she could identify around six respondents, the resolution stated that “she did not directly and categorically identify them.”
It pointed out that based on Liezel’s sworn statement, she was “not able to state the names or identities of the respondents despite the fact that she signed the Certification of Orderly Search and Receipt of Confiscated Items.”
“Consistent with human nature and experience, if indeed irregularities attended the implementation of the search warrants and that her husband was intentionally targeted and executed, complainant should have endeavored to know from available sources of information at that time, such as the said documents, the name or names of any of the operatives who were involved in the said killing, despite the fact that she may have been rattled, so as for her to effectively seek justice for what she claims to be an incident of injustice,” the resolution stated.
“There was no eyewitness to the purported killing of Emmanuel Asuncion” and “there was also nothing that directly incriminates the respondents in killing him,” it said.
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