THE Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate at least 13 policemen for allegedly using a minor to rob a house they raided without a search warrant in Caloocan City last September 7.
In a statement on Monday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he will order the DOJ Task Force on Child Protection to look into the alleged act of abuse of some Caloocan police to a minor whom they ordered to enter the house of 51-year-old police officer belived to be involved in drugs.
"Evidently, any act which inflicts physical or psychological injury, cruelty to or the neglect, sexual abuse of, or which exploits, a child is child abuse. Cases of child abuse should be punished to the full extent of the law," Aguirre said.
Part of Aguirre's directive is for the DOJ Task Force to file the necessary charges against the police officers who committed an act tantamount to child abuse.
CCTV footage of the raid showed that the police officers, after using a bolt cutter, entered the house of the suspected drug peddler, with the minor.
They took from the house, as seen in the CCTV, a cellphone, a wallet, and two watches with a total value of P30,000.
The Caloocan police has been under fire over the series of teen killings that happened in the city victimizing teenagers including Kian Loyd Delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo De Guzman. (SunStar Philippines)