A policeman assigned at the Guadalupe Police Station in Cebu City was accused of mauling a 23-year-old man whom he arrested after allegedly stealing his daughter’s valuables in their house in barangay Bulacao last Sunday dawn.
PO2 Romeo Cabulao denied the allegations against him, saying he was not around when Joe Henry Bagul was lynched by a group of bystanders.
Bagul’s parents insisted that Cabulao was one of those group of men who mauled their son.
The boy’s parents went to a radio station to report the alleged abuse. They were then advised to file a complaint against Cabulao before Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
“Gidunggab pud daw sa kutsilyo, giguyod, giposasan, gitabangan siya (He was reportedly stabbed with a knife, dragged, handcuffed and mauled),” said Maria Jessica, the man’s mother.
Henry is confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after sustaining injuries in different parts of the body.
The parents said Henry’s was badly injured and scheduled to be operated on today.
The parents are seeking financial help for their son’s hospital expenses.
The parents said Joe Henry went to Bulacao to visit his sibling. They said it was Cabulao who allegedly first maul the man before some men took turns beating their son.
Cabulao denied he was part of the group who attacked Joe Henry,
The policeman said daughter positively identified Bagul as the one she saw in their room around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Cabulao said the man’s pair of slippers were recovered in their house.
Joe Henry was accused of stealing a tablet and a cellphone owned by the policeman’s daughter.
The policeman said Joe Henry tried escape by jumping from the roof of their house.
Joe Henry was cornered outside the house of the policeman’s neighbor.
Supt. Henry Biñas, deputy chief of the Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division, said an investigation will be made to determine if Cabulao could be held administratively liable for grave misconduct.
Biñas said reminded policemen that reasonable may be applied in making arrests but only when needed.