Mauling incident: CCPO to investigate names on Osmeña’s list

Colonel Royina Garma, Cebu City Police Office chief. |CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The names of police officers posted by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Facebook page as those who allegedly mauled a drug suspect in Barangay Carreta on April 18 will be investigated.

Police Colonel Royina Garma, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director, said this after the Mayor Osmeña posted the names of the police officers online.

Garma said she had reaasigned the team involved in the drug operation, which was recorded in the Talamban Police Station blotter. 

The policemen, who allegedly mauled Eddie Basillote in his home during an anti-illegal operations, will be temporarily reassigned to the CCPO headquarters pending investigation. 

However, she clarified that the positive identification of the men in the video had yet to be established. 

“Wala man nakauniporme tong nasa video. Wa pa ta kasigurado if among pulis gyod to pero ato giimbestigaran kay naa may nanggawas nga ngalan nga giidentify sila sa anonymous source,” said Garma. 

(The men in the video were not wearing police uniforms. We are not sure if those men were our police, but we will investigate because names have been revealed by an anonymous source.) 

Read more: CCPO to probe Talamban cops for ‘police brutality’ caught on video

She said the names posted on Osmeña’s Facebook page would be looked into but she did not confirm if these names involved any of the eight policemen who were reassigned to the CCPO headquarters. 

Read more: CHR-7: CCTV footage of police mauling suspect shows abuse of human rights

In his Facebook post, Mayor Osmeña said that at least 15 different texters provided six names of the police officers who allegedly mauled Basillote. 

Garma said the posting of these unverified names could be dangerous since these people might be innocent and might not be involved in the issue. 

“Madali kasing magsabi ng pangalan pero saan nanggaling yung information? Paano nakuha yung information? (It is so easy to say a name but where did the information come from? How did the source get the information?)” said Garma. 

Read more: Garma ups Tom’s offer: P200K for credible witness in ‘police brutality’ claims

She said that they would use the names as the starting point of the investigation to identify the persons involved and to find out if there was any abuse done during the police operation.

With this, Garma said she could not submit any names to Osmeña who sent a memorandum order to the CCPO requesting the names of the six men in the video because the men in the video had not yet been positively identified. 

She said she would respond accordingly to the letter. 

Read more: Osmeña to Garma: Submit names of police involved in mauling incident

Garma also encouraged the mayor to connect these witnesses, who claimed to have seen and recognized the police in the video to the CCPO, so that they could establish a case against the alleged police officers involved.

Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director, for his part, said that charges would only be filed against the police officers, who would be proven to have committed the alleged abuse.

“Kung kinsa tong naay infraction, sila lang ang kasohan. (Whoever committed the infraction, would be the only ones, who would face charges),” said Sinas.

Sinas also said that an investigation was already being done by the Regional Internal Affairs Services (RIAS) of PRO-7 on the case. ###