Eleazar urges family of youth killed by cops to disclose info on Biñan operation

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar on Saturday urged the family of 16-year-old Johndy Maglinte Helis, as well as the family of drug suspect Antonio Castillo Dalit, to disclose any information they have that will shed light on the police operation that led to the death of the two in Biñan City, Laguna.

At the same time, Eleazar ordered all PNP personnel who were involved in the incident to be placed under restrictive custody.

“We are urging the families of Johndy Maglinte and Antonio Dalit and those who witnessed the incident to provide their statements to the PNP Internal Affairs Service as their narrations could help shed light on the incident,” Eleazar said in a statement.

The PNP chief also invited other witnesses to the incident to provide statements that could help in the investigation.

Eleazar tasked the PNP Internal Affairs Service to investigate the incident that occurred on Wednesday, June 16, to determine if the operating team strictly followed Police Operational Procedures.

According to the Laguna Provincial IAS and the Calabarzon Regional IAS, their investigators personally spoke on Friday, June 18 to the relatives of Maglinte and Dalit to get their affidavits of complaint.

However, the families said they were not ready to give statements.

Eleazar said he also instructed Police Regional Office 4-A director Brigadier General Eliseo Cruz to direct the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division (RIDMD) to lead a fact-finding task group on the incident.

With Eleazar's directive, Cruz also ordered the Police Intelligence Unit (PIU) Laguna head Police Captain Fernando Credo and nine others, involved in the incident, to be placed under restrictive custody.

"Aking inuutos lahat ng mga pulis na kasali sa operation ay under restrictive custody na at isinailalim sa paraffin test," Eleazar said.

(I ordered all police officers involved in the operation to be placed under restrictive custody and be paraffin tested.)

The cops' firearms meanwhile have undergone ballistics examination.

Maglinte's and Dalit's bodies were autopsied and were also paraffin tested.

The Laguna Provincial Police insisted that their operation that led to the killing of Helis and Dalit was a legitimate police operation.

However, Helis' family and some witnesses said that Jhondy did not resist arrest. Furthermore, they insisted that the boy did not know how to fire a gun.

Eleazar also welcomed an independent investigation by the Commission on Human Rights on the incident and promised the PNP's full cooperation. — DVM, GMA News