DAVAO CITY — The two erring policemen of Davao City Police Office (DCPO) apologized to the families of the three minors they mauled inside a barangay hall.
The two members of DCPO’s Mobile Patrol Group identified as Police Officers 1 Jesre Masinading and Jeovani Natividad were presented to Davao reporters on Thursday Morning inside the City Director’s office.
“Nangayo mig pasaylo kung nabuhat man namo to sa ilaha. Wala man mi intensyon nga pasakitan tong mga bataa (We apologize what we did to them. We have no intention to hurt those minors),” Masinading said.
Natividad also said, “Ang among gibuhat para lang to sa disciplinary action. Wala man mi intention nga pasakitan ang mga batan-on (We just did a disciplinary action to them. We have no intention to hurt them). ”
The two were caught in a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) camera of the barangay hall in 19-B Garcia Heights hitting the three minors at past 1 a.m on January 21 .
Masinading said the three minors were rescued by the police from the riot.
The victims were referred to the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) and brought back to the barangay hall.
However, he said the three showed disrespect prompting them to discipline the minors.
“Wala silay respeto sa atong kapulisan og pati sa mga tanod… Nag dirty finger sila sa amoa nga dala katawa (They have no respect to the police and even to the tanods. They flashed dirty finger sign to them then they laughed),” Masinading said.
He said that some of the parents of the victims even told them to discipline one of the minors.
“Niingon ang isa ka ginikanan nga maayo ng kamo’y mo disiplina ana nila, sir kay sa ma unsa pa na sila sa lansangan, sir. Lisod pa kaayo na basin mapatay pa na sila kung dili ninyo ingon anaon sir (One parent told us that it’s better to discipline their children than to be killed by someone in the streets),” he said.
Nicholas Loreto, Barangay Captain of 19-B, said he agreed to what the police officers did to the minors inside the Barangay Hall.
“Yung batang yun, palaging laman yan ng lansangan kada gabi. Kaya tama lang ang ginawa ng kapulisan natin na disiplinahin sila (Those minors are always in the street late at night. So, the police did right in disciplining them), ” Loreto said.
Loreto said those minors were just given a lesson so that they would not repeat the wrong they did.
He said some of those minors were caught many times by their barangay tanods but they still did the same thing.
“Pabali-balik lang yan sila. Yung mga tanod namin, tinatawa-tawanan lang yan sila. Sila nga rin na pulis tinatawanan lang din na may baril sila (These young people are doing the same thing again and again. They are just ridiculing our tanod even the police),” he said.
“Ibig sabihin noted na yang mga bata na yan (This means these young people are already marked),” Loreto added.
Loreto said some of these minors did a lot of inconvenience to the people who were passing by their streets.
“Daghan na silag nabuhat diha, mambato ng sasakyan, manghasi sa dalan (They did a lot of things there, stoning vehicles and harassing the people in the street),” he said.
Loreto added that they also snatched the baskets of the people coming from the market and the cellphones of the students passing by the area.
DCPO director Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum said he would stand by the side of the two police officers because they just did their duty.
“Kanilang adhikain lang ay ipatupad ang batas. Yung nga lang naging over eager lang po sa pagpapatupad ng batas (Their aim is to implement the law. However, they became over eager in implementing it), ” Tagum said.
Tagum said this was the first time in Davao City that the police officers involved in mauling minors.
“I hope this will be the last,” he said. He also appealed to the parents who had no care for their children to discipline them to avoid the same scenario from happening again.
“Ang problema lang nila (police officers) pinapelan din nila ang dapit gawin ng isang magulang (The problem here is they take the supposed role of the parents),” he said.
Tagum, meanwhile, said the two police officers were disarmed and placed under ‘restrictive custody’.
He said the DCPO needed to do it because of the complaint lodged against the cops.
“I already told them to be prepared on the case that will be filed against them,” he said. (Armando Fenequito/PNA)
