Police ID of PO3 Ryan Quiamco.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) has stepped in to investigate the deaths of alleged rogue policeman PO3 Ryan Martus Quiamco, and his wife Rizalyn.
The CHR probe came amid allegations from Quiamco’s family that he was killed at close range and like an “animal,” and that the policemen involved in the operation also killed an unborn child since Rizalyn was five months pregnant.
CHR-7 Director Arvin Odron said they would want to make sure that the operatives who conducted the operation did not violate the law.
“We were already instructed by the central office to investigate all deaths in police custody. In fact, we did investigate before almost all incidents of death in the hands of law enforcers,” Odron told Cebu Daily News.
No one from the family of Quiamco went to the CHR to ask for an investigation on the deaths of their family members.
Ryzelle Quiamco, Ryan’s sister, who spoke to Cebu Daily News by phone yesterday, said they would not ask the CHR to investigate the deaths of her brother and sister-in-law.
“Justice for them? Dili na mabuhi among pamilya (Justice for them? That could not bring back our family members). But we will find justice in heaven,” Ryzelle said.
On Tuesday evening, Ryan and Rizalyn were killed in what police operatives said was a drug bust shootout in Barangay Pooc, Talisay City.
Ryan, 37, who was formerly assigned to the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), was killed when he allegedly tried to shoot it out with pursuing policemen as he attempted to elude arrest shortly after he was subjected to a drug bust operation along a section of the South Road Properties (SRP) at past 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Quiamco, after sensing he was dealing with an anti-drug police operative, allegedly fired at the policeman as he drove away in his car with his wife on board.
He was killed by pursuing policemen who caught up with him in Barangay Pooc. His wife, who also sustained several gunshot wounds, died an hour later in a hospital in Cebu City.
What circumstances?
Odron said they would need to do an exhaustive investigation considering that the wife was also killed in the same operation.
“Under what circumstances (was she killed)? Nanlaban usab (Did she fight back) or (was she a) collateral damage?” Odron asked.
Odron said there were incidents in the past where the police said an alleged shootout happened, but when they checked the autopsy report, the fatal wounds showed signs of tattooing and skin burn, which indicated that the victims were shot at close range and thus inconsistent with a shootout.
“If the subject has firearm, the police will never come as close as one foot away from him just to engage in an exchange of fire. Most probably in such situations, the victim is summarily executed,” Odron opined.
“That is why we will conduct an investigation (on the deaths of the Quiamco couple) to hear the side of the respondents,” Odron added.
Legitimate operation
Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division in Central Visayas (RID-7), maintained that their operation was legitimate.
He said they had to shoot Quiamco as he placed the lives of the operatives in danger.
Cabal said that after the buy-bust operation, Ryan Quiamco fired shots after he sensed that he was transacting with police operatives.
“Nakilala niya ang isang police na maga-apprehend sana sa kanya at ang isang police nga natamaan at confine pa rin sa hospital,” Cabal said.
(He recognized one of the policemen who were about to apprehend him and one of our policemen was shot and wounded and is still confined in the hospital.)
Rizalyn, he said, was just hit by a stray bullet.
‘Killed like an animal’
But for Ryzelle, the police killed her brother like he was an animal.
She claimed that the gunshot wounds that her brother sustained during the operation were “too much.”
“They (the police) took down my brother like an animal in the desert,” Ryzelle said.
Ryzelle also denied allegations by the police that Ryan has five properties and five vehicles under his name.
She said they are ordinary people who are working diligently in order to survive.
“Ultimo ra kaayo mi nga nagsunod sa mga (We are just ordinary people who follow the) rules as Filipino citizens,” Ryzelle said.
But even as she felt aggrieved, Ryzelle said her family has no plan to fight the police.
“As much as I want to fight for my brother, we still have a family, kids to protect,” she added.
Ryzelle said the police did not kill only her brother and her sister-in-law but also the unborn child of the couple.
“It’s so heartbreaking that the five-month-old baby boy inside the belly of his mom was also killed,” Ryzelle said between sobs.
Ryzelle, meanwhile, declined to give details regarding the other members of the couple’s immediate family to protect their privacy and ensure their safety.
Ryan’s remains are being attended at the Cebu Rolling Hills Memorial Chapels in Mandaue City, while the body of Rizalyn was brought to the St. Peter Memorial Chapel, Cebu Daily News learned.
Why was he back in Cebu?
But Cabal said he could not understand why Ryan was in Talisay City when he was supposed to be staying in Camp Crame, on floating status, after he was named as one of the narco cops by President Rodrigo Duterte in August last year.
Cabal said they have been receiving reports that Ryan, who was named in the President’s list as a drug coddler, was still engaged in the illegal drug trade despite the fact that he was reporting in Camp Crame.
“Supposed to be, he was restricted in Camp Crame. Apparently, he was here (in Cebu) and continued his drug trade,” Cabal said.
He said they were investigating another policeman who made it appear that Ryan had a perfect attendance at Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police headquarters located in Quezon City, when the latter was actually in Cebu.
Links to Parojinog
Earlier, Cabal said that Ryan was under the group of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones.
Based on their investigation, Cabal said that aside from Sabalones, Ryan also had links to the Parojinogs in Ozamiz City.
“Medyo complex yung network niya. He also got his supply from Parojinog (He has a complex network. He also got his supply of illegal drugs from Parojinog),” Cabal said.
Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, his wife, Susan and other family members were killed in a drug raid conducted by the police in Ozamiz City last month, while the Parojinog couple’s two children, Vice Mayor Nova Princess and Reynaldo Jr., have been arrested and are now held in Camp Crame.
Cabal added that P03 Quiamco and slain alleged drug peddler Manolito “Dongdong” Sencil were competitors.
Sencil was killed in a drug buy-bust operation in Talisay City last August 2, also conducted by the RID-7.
Warning
Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino warned other policemen who are into illegal drugs that they too would be subjected to operations.
He said the death of PO3 Quiamco should serve as a lesson to police scalawags to stop, or else they would be arrested or killed.
“Yung mga police na napangalanan na-relieve dito sa PRO-7 binigyan na sila ng warning na tumigil na at patuloy ang aming monitoring and validation sa kanilang ginagawa (The policemen who have been identified and relieved from PRO-7 have been warned that they should stop their illegal activities as we are continuously monitoring and validating their activities),” Espino said.
If it will be verified that these police scalawags are still into illegal drugs, Espino said they will conduct appropriate operations against them.