EDITORIAL — Let them present their evidence

At first there was just one, but now several suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo are saying that they were tortured to force them to admit their participation in the crime.

“Tinorture po ako. Sinoffucate din ako sa pamamagitan ng pagpasok sa plastic ng aking ulo at gumamit ng alambre upang sakalin ako. Ako ay nahimatay at nang ako ay nagkamalay na, aking napansin na lumobo ang aking leeg na hanggang ngayon ay aking dinadamdam,” said Jhudiel Rivero, also known as Osmundo Rivero Rivero, one of the first suspects to be arrested.

Several other suspects have followed suit. The stink has become such that even the Department of Justice is set to probe these claims.

What are we to make of this latest development? When it comes to the functions of government offices as well as police investigations we like to give authorities the presumption of regularity, meaning they did their job they way they should without any irregularity, shortcuts, or cut corners.

Translating this to police work, that means we assume the confessions issued by the suspects in the Degamo killing were brought out by thorough questioning without the use of threats or coercion, let alone physical or psychological harm.

But now some suspects are saying otherwise, some even going as far as to claim police have falsely arrested members of their family to pressure them to sticking with their confession.

This is what we feared. After some of the suspects “lawyered up” last month, meaning no longer cooperating in the investigation, we foresaw some of them eventually taking back their statements.

All things being equal there is also the chance that they, or at least some of them, are telling the truth about suffering at the hands of policemen just to make them sing a certain song.

However, alleging torture at the hands of policeman is a very serious accusation. One that isn’t likely to just ruin the reputation of a certain policeman or unit, but the entire police organization.

Let the suspects who have made this claim present their clear and incontrovertible evidence.