Anakbayan member beaten up and killed by police in Navotas City
UA No: 2011-05-01
UA Date : May 10, 2011
UA Case : Summary Execution
Victim/s : JERWIN DE ANTONIO, 27 years old, single, Fisherman
Resident of Block 6, Bagong Silang, San Jose village, Navotas City
Member of Anakbayan
Place of Incident : Navotas West, Navotas City, Metro Manila
Date of Incident : April 21, 2011
Alleged Perpetrator(s) : Police Officer 1 Ronie dela Cruz and two other policemen identified only as PO1 Carancho and PO1 Gonzales
Account of the Incident:
In the evening of April 20, Jerwin was fetched by a colleague from his house, and the two went to the market where they got some fish to sell. The two then split up the money they earned from selling fish and proceeded to the Boulevard where they went their separate ways.
Witnesses said that a few minutes later, they saw the three police men PO1 Ronie dela Cruz, Carancho and Gonzales forced Jerwin into their patrol vehicle. Witnesses said the police men proceeded to beat up Jerwin inside the vehicle, while the victim flailed his arms and asked for help.
The three police men brought Jerwin to the Police Station 3, Navotas City where they charged him with vagrancy. The police men then brought Jerwin to a lying-in clinic near the San Jose church for a medical check-up. After this, at around 5 am, witnesses said the police brought Jerwin to a side street near a barangay outpost in Navotas West. Two witnesses said they saw Jerwin being beaten up by the three policemen, two of whom were in uniform while the third was in civilian clothes.
They heard Jerwin shouting and pleading: "Sir, please stop it, enough" and asking for help. While Jerwin cried, the policemen only answered "Run!" The policemen also pushed a gun to the victim to make him fight back. The witnesses heard four gunshots then saw the policemen toss Jerwin like a dead animal into a tricycle. A piece of paper that was left in the scene and turned out to be Jerwin's medical certificate from the lying-in clinic was seen taken by a barangay tanod.
At 5:25 am, policemen brought Jerwin's body to the Tondo General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was still
unidentified when his body was brought to the Marcello Funenaria in Tangos, Navotas City.
Jerwin was the eldest child and the family breadwinner. His family was already worried because he did not go home. On April 21, at 3 pm, Jerwin's siblings started looking for him around Malabon and Navotas. They went to the Navotas City hall where they were directed to the Navotas City police. At the police station, a policeman in civilian clothes said that they had no information about it and directed them instead to the Malabon City Jail. The victim's siblings went to where they were directed and found nothing. By evening, Jerwin's siblings were still asking around when someone mentioned about a shooting in the coastal area. Witnesses description of the victim matched that of Jerwin, particularly, the clothes that he was wearing when he left the house. The siblings then went back to the Navotas City Police station where policemen asked for a picture and documents about the victim. The police interrogated the victim's siblings and insisted that they give the police the documents. Jerwin's siblings refused. The police then told them that his body was already at the funenaria.
At 1 am on April 22, Jerwin's siblings went to the morgue and confirmed that he was the one who was killed at a shooting in the coastal area.
Recommended Action:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
1. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights
groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the summary execution of Jerwin de Antonio.
2. The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as "members of front organizations of the communists"
and "enemies of the state."
3. The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed
civilians
4. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a
party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments' provisions.
You may send your communications to:
H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph
Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
osec@opapp.gov.ph
Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
Email: osnd@philonline.com
Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email: soj@doj.gov.ph
Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: _
Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address below.
URGENT ACTION Prepared by:
KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights
National Office
2/F Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts.,
Brgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Email: urgentaction@karapatan.org
Website: www.karapatan.org
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