CASE folders on the killing of teenagers Kian de los Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz may have been among the files consumed by a fire that broke out at the Caloocan City Police Office Tuesday dawn, November 14.
Police Officer 3 Art Macapungay, chief of the Caloocan City Police Public Information Office, said the blaze started around 4 a.m. Tuesday and had reached the fourth alarm before the Bureau of Fire Protection declared fire out.
He said the first floor of the police station where the homicide division office was situated was razed and all the files burned.
Macapungay said they have yet to determine which files were lost.
Among the cases being investigated by the Caloocan City Police were the killings of Arnaiz and Delos Santos. Both teenagers were killed while kneeling by Caloocan police in separate operations.
Delos Santos, 17 was killed during an anti-illegal drugs operation conducted by Caloocan police assigned at the Police Community Precinct 2 in Barangay 160 on August 16. His killing had sparked protests against extrajudicial killings nationwide.
Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares and Police Officers 1 Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz, the policemen involved in the said operation, claimed that Delos Santos resisted arrest and shot at them.
However, a CCTV footage showed Delos Santos being dragged by two policemen to the dim spot where his body was later found. Witnesses said there was no shootout and Delos Santos had pleaded for his life, saying he still had a test in school the next day.
Arnaiz, 19, on the other hand, was killed on August 18 by Police Officers 1 Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita of the Caloocan Police Security Precinct 7.
Police said they shot Arnaiz after he tried to shoot them when they accosted him after receiving a complaint that the teen had attempted to rob a taxi driver.
A witness also denied the shootout claims and said Arnaiz, who was then handcuffed, was ordered by the policemen to get out of the police mobile. The teen was also kneeling and pleading for his life when shot.
Both cases were investigated by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs in relation to the cases of extrajudicial killings in line with the administration’s war on drugs. (SunStar Philippines)