A Navotas City court convicted a dismissed policeman of murder for the deaths of teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman at the height of the anti-drugs campaign in 2017.
In a decision released on Monday, March 13, the Navotas Regional Trial Court Branch 287 sentenced dismissed Caloocan policeman Jeffrey Perez to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison without parole eligibility.
The court also ordered Perez to pay P390,000 to the Arnaiz family for the actual, civil indemnity, moral, and exemplary damages and P300,000 to the De Guzman family.
Arnaiz and De Guzman were among the casualties in previous administration's anti-drug campaign.
This is the second "guilty" verdict of Perez. He was first convicted by the Caloocan City RTC in November 2022 after finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating of Sections 4 and 14 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, and planting of evidence under RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Arnaiz, 19, and De Guzman, 14, were neighbors in Cainta, Rizal. They went out on the evening of Aug. 18, 2017, to buy food. Their families said they never came home after that night.
Arnaiz’s body was found at a funeral in Caloocan, 10 days after he was reported missing, while Guzman's body was found in a creek in Nueva Ecija on Sept. 6, 2017.
Forensic examinations conducted by Dr. Erwin Erfe on the victims' bodies revealed that the teenagers suffered torture.
The medical examination findings along with the witness' statement led to the arrest of Perez and his cohort, PO1 Ricky Arquilita, who died during the course of the trial due to hepatitis.