NBI-7 pins death of child beggar on Fuente policemen
Two Cebu city policemen and their superior Chief Insp. Wildemar Tiu were charged last June 15, 2015, Monday by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in relation with the death of 11-year-old beggar Chastity Mirabiles.
The NBI filed charges of murder and grave misconduct against PO2 Raymonito Mesa and PO2 Manuel Luis Sejano, both assigned at the Fuente Police Station.
Tiu, meanwhile, was accused of instructing a witness to lie to the NBI in order to clear his men.
Tiu was charged with obstruction of justice and grave misconduct for “misleading the investigation” and presenting “a coached witness.”
The criminal and administrative charges were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas based on the complaint of the girl’s mother, Naomi, a mendicant with a physical disability, residing in barangay Sambag 2.
The NBI presented as key witness another female child beggar, who was picked up with Chastity in the wee hours of Easter Sunday, April 5.
The minor identified PO2 Mesa as the uniformed policeman who woke up Chastity on the street by kicking the girl’s face and body.
PO2 Sejano was identified as the driver of the patrol car that brought both minors to Fuente Police Station. Investigators said he didn’t do anything to stop the other policeman from mauling Chastity.
The minors were allegedly made to sleep on the floor and were released at about 6 a.m. Chastity could hardly walk, which forced her young friend to carry her on her back from the police station to the Fuente Osmena rotunda, according to the NBI.
An NBI autopsy said deep bruises on her body showed that Chastity sustained injuries from a “hard blunt instrument or object.”
The NBI complaint will be sent to the Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) in Manila, which handles complaints against members of the police, military and other law enforcement agencies.
“It’s sad to think that we’re filing charges against fellow officers, brothers in profession at that. But the evidence we gathered pointed at these three respondents. Their alibis and defenses could not outweigh the positive identification and assertion of the witness,” said NBI 7 Assistant Director Augusto Isidoro.
“The NBI is confident that we have a strong case,” he added.
The case was filed with the Ombudsman, not with the prosecution office, since the offenses had something to do with their official functions as policemen.
Tiu earlier told investigators that no rescue operation was made by Fuente police to round up street children last April 5. He said the police were focused on Easter Sunday churchgoers of four churches in their area.
Tiu also said the white patrol car “with cage” described by a child witness was already returned to the Cebu city government in September 2013.
PO2 Mesa said he was off duty during the incident. PO2 Sejano said he was somewhere else when Chastity was allegedly picked up General Maxilom Avenue.
The NBI relied instead on the testimony of Chastity’s young companion. The NBI said they brought several witnesses to the site where Chastity and her friend were picked up and a reenactment was done.
Business establishments with CCTV in the locality were checked but the areas of interest were not covered by the cameras. The CCTV footage of a 7-Eleven convenience store showed Chastity with another minor at 3 a.m. of April 5.
Based on accounts pieced together by the NBI, Chastity and another child beggar were sleeping on the street in front of Lite Tech Lighting Inc. when they were picked up by policemen in the dawn hours of Easter Sunday, April 5.
They were released at around 6 a.m. Chastity died the following day, after collapsing on the street. Her mother at first thought the girl had died of heat stroke or dengue. Then during the vigil wake of Chastity, the mother learned from a fellow mendicant how the two minors were accosted by policemen at dawn. Chastity’s companion, the key witness, is now under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Services in Cebu City.
The NBI said the minor witness and two other child beggars were hesitant to talk at first.
The NBI showed the children photographs of police officers assigned at Fuente Police from files of the National Police Commission.
Chastity’s companion identified two policemen who “looked similar” with those who picked them up. The men were later identified as PO2 Mesa and Sejano. The two other child beggars could not identify them.
The NBI then used another set of photos, this time, from files of the Fuente Police Station with 71 photos of all uniformed personnel of the precinct.
From the photo line up, the child witness pointed to the photo of PO2 Sejano as the driver of the patrol car.
The NBI said the little girl commented and looked for another policeman whose picture was not in the collection presented to her.
“She was looking for the picture of the policeman who according to her was the one who kicked Chastity. When she was shown the picture of PO2 Mesa, again she repeated the he was the one who kicked the victim several times,” said the NBI.
NBI Assistant Director Isidoro said the witness was very consistent with her testimonies.
“From the identifying the police officers from the photos we showed her as well as the reenactment of how they were picked up and mauled, she was very consistent,” he said.
Last June 9, Chief Inspector Tiu went to the NBI 7 office, bringing along three witnesses to prove the innocence of his men.
However, one of Tiu’s witnesses, a male mendicant, told the NBI that he was instructed beforehand by Tiu “to lie before the NBI” and claim that he was a neighbor of Chastity’s family and that he saw her step-father maltreat the girl in the midnight of April 2, 2015.
The beggar said he was sleeping at the roadside of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on June 8 when he was awakened by a man in a black jacket and taken to the parking area where Tiu and three other persons were waiting.
Laurito said he was asked to board a black car. On the way to the NBI office, Tiu allegedly told the beggar “tabangi ko kay tabangan sab tika. (Help me and I will help you as well).
Tiu allegedly told him that he did not kill Chastity since he too has kids of his own. Then the police chief got his cellphone and showed him their family picture.
Laurito said he knew Tiu as the former chief of the Waterfront Police Station in Cebu City.
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