The vehicle of slain ex-cop Ryan Quiamco has 52 bullet holes, but this was not enough to conclude that police used excessive force to neutralize and subdue him, according to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Fifty-two bullet holes do not necessarily mean the police overdid their operation to neutralize a former policeman tagged as a drug protector.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said one aspect of the operation cannot suffice to conclude that the operation against former policeman Ryan Quiamco was taken to extreme limits just to subdue him.
Quiamco and his pregnant wife Rizalyn, who were on board their Isuzu D-Max, were killed in an alleged shootout with members of the Regional Investigation Division (RID) after he reportedly tried to elude arrest along the South Coastal Road in Barangay Pooc, Talisay City, last August 15.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Crime Laboratory that did a forensic study of his vehicle said there were 52 bullet holes — 41 entry points and 11 exit points.
“With the number of bullet holes found in the vehicle, the intent to subdue the occupant of the vehicle who is engaged in a shootout with law enforcement is definitely certain. (But) under the circumstances, it is difficult to determine if there is overkill,” said CHR-7 director Arvin Odron through a text message sent to CDN.
Quiamco died from several gunshot wounds on his head and body. His wife Rizalyn, who was five months pregnant at that time, sustained three gunshot wounds on her body and later died in a hospital in Cebu City.
CHR Chief Investigator Leo Villarino echoed the sentiments of Odron, and added that the findings of the Crime Laboratory should be substantiated with other evidence.
“There are possible reasons why there were lots of bullets fired towards the officer’s vehicle… You cannot just conclude it’s overkill over a single document only. It should be confirmed with other pieces of evidence. It should be confirmed by other results,” said Villarino.
Odron said an “overkill” is when unnecessary fatal wounds were inflicted on the suspect.
“We can conclude if there is overkill when the victim has received plenty of fatal wounds. Generally, one fatal wound is enough to kill him or her. So when there’s plenty, intent to kill is not only manifested but also overkill is committed,” he said.
“(If a suspect is) engaged in a face-to-face shooting with law enforcement, one fatal wound is enough to subdue him, but if he’s neutralized … with a single fatal wound and the danger it posed to law enforcers is no longer present, firing more shots, to ensure the latter’s death constitute to what we call as an overkill,” he explained.
The CHR is now ready to formally start their investigation into the circumstances behind Quiamco and his wife’s deaths.
His family claimed that the former policeman was killed “like an animal” at a close range. Quiamco was formerly assigned at the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office.