Aguirre wants young witnesses put in WPP to avoid 'brainwashing'

MANILA, Philippines — The child witnesses in the case of the police killing of a 17-year-old high school student in Caloocan City may have been brainwashed if they remain out of government custody, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Thursday, as he doubled down on his comments that the boy’s death was “blown out of proportion” and “isolated.”

Aguirre said that the credibility of the young witnesses in the case is bound to go down if they remain out of the hands of government authorities.

“If these witnesses, especially they are children, two of them — 13 and 16 years old — are put under the custody of an individual, especially if this individual’s fairness is in question, the credibility of these witnesses is bound to go down because we could never avoid the suspicion that they might have been brainwashed, especially these children,” he said.

The witnesses are under the protective custody of Sen. Risa Hontiveros, a critic of the drug war and whom supporters of both the drug war and the Duterte administration accuse of using the delos Santos case for political ends.

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Young witnesses are susceptible to brainwashing and suggestions, the Justice chief reasoned during the Senate probe into the delos Santos killing, saying that they had studies to back this claim up. He did not cite the studies.

He said that the government had the capacity to properly look after these young witnesses.

“Kaya’t kung 'yan po ay nasa pangangalaga ng isang tao na hindi naman sanay sa — o walang kakayahan, o walang edukasyon tungkol sa pangagalaga ng mga child witnesses na may sapat na kakayahan. Ang [Witness Protection Program] ang may kakayahan pong protektahan sila, especially with the threats,” he told the Senate.

Aguirre also stood by his remark at the House of Representatives on Wednesday that the killing of Delos Santos was isolated and was just blown out of proportion by some groups and individuals.

“This case, the Kian killing, is really blown out of proportion,” he said. “This is an isolated case sapagkat hindi pa ito nangyayari sa mga killing ng mga minor before. Kitang-kita po maraming ebidensya, maraming circumstances, may CCTV, meron mga witnesses na talagang ito ay ngayon lamang nangyari.”

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Delos Santos' death has sparked public furor after witnesses and a video footage suggested that he was dragged by cops to a dingy alley in their village where he was slain.

His family pushed back against police accusations that the boy was a drug courier and some of his relatives, including his father, were into the trade of narcotics.

'DOJ will not tolerate police abuse'

Aguirre assured the public that the Department of Justice would not tolerate any act of police abuse as he commiserated with the pain the family of delos Santos is feeling.

The DOJ, in June, downgraded murder charges against 19 police officials accused in the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa while in government custody last November to homicide. 

The Justice chief believes delos Santos' death is an isolated case.

“Wala pong nangyayari dun sa first 517 na arrested na minors or children killed. Yan po ay this is a collateral damage,” he said.

He also blasted human rights groups and individuals who condoled with the family of delos Santos, asking where they were in the other recorded cases of killings.

“Yan po ang sinasabi bakit po nung patayin yung limang pamilya dun sa Bulacan, meron pong ni-rape pa yung babae, meron tatlong minors, bakit ni isa sa kanila wala pong dumalaw,” he said. “Ano ang diperensya ng pinatay na bata ng mga adik sa pinatay na bata ng mga pulis?”

Boy in CCTV footage not Kian, police say

Senior Superintendent Chito Bersaluna, the sacked chief of Caloocan police, said that they “validated” the intelligence on the involvement of Delos Santos only through social media posts after he was killed.

PO1 Jerwin Cruz, one of the three cops accused of slaying the teenager, said that the man being dragged on the video was not Delos Santos. It was their asset, according to Cruz.

This is in direct contradiction to the admission of the two of the three policemen that the boy on the footage was indeed delos Santos.

Cruz claimed that they were dragging their asset to protect him because he was about to reveal the identity of an alias “Negro.”