Probe vs 4 Carbon cops to continue despite negative paraffin test result

THE four operatives of the Carbon Police Station in Cebu City who were involved in the anti-drugs operation that resulted to the death of 4-year-old Bladen Skyler Abatayo tested negative for gunpowder residue.

But Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said the result of the paraffin test was not conclusive and would not stop investigators from conducting a probe against the four policemen.

“A child died so we have to get to the bottom of the incident,” he said.

A press statement from the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters on Saturday read: “While the four operatives were reportedly found negative (of gunpowder residue), we still could not totally discount their responsibility to the death of Skyler pending the final outcome of the investigation.”

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde on Friday ordered the relief of the four policemen from the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) of the Carbon Police Station who took part in the operation that resulted to the death of the child.

Bladen Skyler was hit by a bullet fired when the DEU operatives supposedly engaged some drug suspects in a shootout in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, last Tuesday, July 10.

The boy’s family and neighbors had insisted there was no shootout and the bullet could only come from the policemen who raided an alleged drug den, which adjoined the home of the Abatayos.

Bladen Skyler was in a room inside his house doing his school homework when he was hit and killed by a stray bullet.

Albayalde then ordered the four policemen to surrender their firearms for ballistic examination and assured the victim’s family of an “impartial” investigation by the PNP Internal Affairs Service.

The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) is conducting a separate probe on the incident upon the request of the Abatayo family.

Not enough

Sought for comment on the relief of the four policemen, the boy’s mother Gwynn said it was not enough.

“Dapat taktakon sila o ba kaha tangtangan og lisensya sa pagkapulis (They should be dismissed from service or their license as policemen must be revoked),” she said.

Gwynn appealed to the policeman who accidentally hit her son to admit his mistake.

The grieving mother also doubted the result of the paraffin test conducted on the four policemen last Thursday afternoon, about 48 hours since the incident happened, saying it is not worthy of belief.

“Nganong karon ra man na gibuhat? (Why did it take long for the police to conduct a paraffin test?),” she said.

In a 2011 ruling, the Supreme Court said a negative paraffin test result is not conclusive even as “gunpowder nitrates stay for 72 hours in the hands of a person who fired a handgun.”

“A timely paraffin test, if positive, will definitely prove that a person had fired a handgun within that time frame. A negative result, however, does not merit conclusive proof that a person had not fired a handgun. Thus, the negative paraffin test results of accused-appellants cannot exculpate them,” said the High Court in People of the Philippines versus Barangay Captain Tony Tomas Sr. et al.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella on Saturday visited the wake of Bladen Skyler in Barangay Ermita to extend his condolences and give an unspecified financial assistance to the boy’s family.

“No matter how it happened — whether it was an accident (or not) — still a life was lost. Life is so precious especially for this very promising boy,” said Labella in an interview.

Labella said a thorough investigation must be done so that justice will be served to Bladen Skyler’s family.

Bladen Skyler will be buried on July 21. /WITH REPORTS FROM BENJIE TALISIC