|
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Tom wants separate agency to test slug that hit policeman
By Mia E. Abellana
TO ERASE doubts that PO2 Greg Banaag was shot by “friendly fire,” Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is planning to ask a separate office to conduct a ballistics examination on the bullet that hit the policeman Sunday dawn.
Osmeña, who was at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) firing range to share some of his tips on shooting, told reporters that he found it odd that Banaag was shot in the right arm when a robber would have aimed for something more fatal.
Banaag was chasing suspected robber Vicente Frasco in the North Reclamation Area when the latter allegedly shot him with his .357 revolver.
Seeing this, Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team member PO2 Ulderico Nengrasca was forced to fire his M-16 rifle at Frasco.
Banaag was wounded while Frasco died at the Cebu City Medical Center.
“I am going to ask the assistance of the Napolcom (National Police Commission) because I do not trust the police. Whatever they say, we will not really believe them,” Osmeña said.
He explained that by letting a disinterested party handle the examination, he was acting on the police’s best interest.
The mayor said this disqualifies the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 from examining the slug because “they have an ax to grind” against the police.
Seeming rivalry
Osmeña was referring to the seeming rivalry between both agencies after NBI 7 Director Reynaldo Esmeralda said that he might file charges against CCPO Director Cecil Ezra Sandalo for “coddling” PO3 Paquito Monterroyo, whom the NBI arrested for extortion last August.
In jest, Osmeña said that if he had to ask the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to compare the bullet and the firearm, he will do so.
The slug is with the surgeon who operated on Banaag.
The mayor said his concern stems from the fact that only few policemen can shoot well, according to the standards of the Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association (CPRA).
CPRA chairman and former city councilor Rogelio Osmeña said that Nengrasca was classified as a Class A shooter while Banaag ranked 98 among the 200 who failed the proficiency test.
Meanwhile, Osmeña is also prepared to provide Banaag “everything and anything he needs.”
Unlikely
While Sandalo admitted that it could have been Nengrasca who shot Banaag, he said this was unlikely.
Sandalo pointed out that Nengrasca was bringing an M-16 rifle, and if it was his firearm that shot Banaag, there could have been a bigger wound.
Banaag was shot in the right arm, with the bullet piercing through the right side of the body just outside the spinal cord. He has been declared out of harm’s way after a surgery Sunday afternoon.
Sandalo said it is standard operating procedure to conduct a paraffin test on Frasco to erase doubts.
He denied, though, that there was no coordination among his men, saying that Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau Chief Pablo Labra II was present.
He admitted that they were having difficulty at the time of the incident because it was very dark in the area and they had to shout at one another for lack of communication equipment.
The policemen had to rely on flashlights and the light of a news crew’s camera to see where Frasco was.
Sandalo suspects that Frasco found it easier to aim at Banaag because the policeman could easily be seen bringing a flashlight.
“It was judgment call on his part. He was very brave,” Sandalo said of Banaag.
(October 7, 2003 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[ return
to top ]
[ home
]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
