Police facing CHR probe for robbery suspect’s death

CEBU, Philippines — The family of the slain robbery suspect from Talisay City lodged a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) -7 office against the police who were involved in the operation that resulted in the suspect’s death.

Leo Villarino, head of CHR-7 Investigation Section, said the family of suspect Janleomar “John-John” Estudillo visited his office to file a complaint before the commission could initiate its own inquiry.

CHR-7 was planning to conduct a motu proprio investigation into Estudillo’s death after his mother cried foul over conduct of the police operation on November 6.

The operation was led by Cebu City Police Office’s Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) in cooperation with Talisay City police.

He was tagged by operatives as the one who robbed Lourde Villacarlo on October 29 in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City.

Estudillo, a resident of Barangay Lawaan 3 in Talisay, was entrapped by authorities on November 6 but he allegedly tried to shoot it out with the police.

Authorities allegedly seized from him a loaded submachine gun and a fragmentation grenade.

Villarino earlier said that killing the subject of a police operation is their last resort.

Their primary goal is to arrest the suspect and let the court decide if he is guilty or not.

The commission will conduct an investigation to determine if there were lapses during the operation.

Before the end of the week, CHR-7 will send a subpoena to Talisay City police asking them to submit a report giving details on the operation that led to the death of the suspect.

Villarino said they will wait for the report from Talisay City police before sending a separate subpoena to CCPO IDMB.

 “We don’t want to pre-empt Talisay City police’s investigation report,” said Villarino.

The investigation team will also interview the family members and ask for testimonies to further support their complaint.  (FREEMAN)