Briones: Dazed and confused

BY all means, do not stop. The Duterte administration must continue what it has started.

The war it has waged against the drug menace cannot be waylaid by the tragic death of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos in the hands of Caloocan police last week.

But please, do not insult public intelligence.

The police organization must not insist on ramming its version of events down our throats.

Just yesterday, the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory came up with the results of the autopsy it conducted on the boy, which contradicted the findings of a team of forensic experts and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).

According to Jane Monson, medico-legal officer, Kian only sustained two gunshots, not three, as claimed by the latter.

At least, all three entities agreed that he was shot behind the left ear and inside the left ear.

Yet somehow, the crime lab could not find the first entry wound at the boy’s back.

Is it then implying that the forensics team and the PAO made up the third bullet?

Last Monday, PAO Chief Persida Acosta raised the possibility that Kian was murdered based on the fatal wounds he sustained.

“Tatlong fatal wounds po ito, dalawa sa ulo at isa sa likod, so nakikita natin na wala po tayong signs ng paglalaban sa batang ito,” she said.

It took her team hours to release their findings, while the police took seven days.

The crime lab said Kian was shot “at a distance of more than 60 centimeters away from the tip of the barrel.” In other words, Kian was shot at close range. From the back.

This, too, doesn’t contradict the findings of the forensics team and PAO.

But wait, last night on the news, Monson also said the boy was shot from afar based on the lack of tattooing or gunpowder burns on the entrance wound. That it looked like that he was made to run before he was shot.

Before I continue, I have to admit that this whole case has confused me.

First, I had a hard time figuring out how many autopsies were conducted on Kian.

According to Inquirer.net, a team of forensic experts led by Dr. Erwin Erfe conducted one last Sunday morning. Rappler reported that the PAO conducted another last Monday morning.

In both instances, their results were the same. Kian was shot three times.

Then last night’s revelation, which, come to think of it, actually jibed with original speculations—based on CCTV footage and witness reports—that Kian was unarmed, “but given a gun by the police and coerced to run and shoot” although his paraffin test was negative.

One thing’s clear, though. This incident will serve as a litmus test for the public’s commitment to the drug war.

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