Senate Minority bloc leaders Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III and Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday respectively filed a resolution calling for the investigation into the tragic death of Jemboy Baltazar, the 17-year-old male who was brazenly killed by six police officers due to mistaken identity in Navotas City.
In Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 736, Pimentel stressed that a police officer who uses "unnecessary force or in treating the offender with wanton violence, or in restoring to dangerous means when the arrest could be affected otherwise" is never justified.
"The events reported show no indication of any just of firearms by the six policemen," he added.
The Senator mentioned that Jemboy's case is not isolated as the Navotas City Police had also committed lapses in their operations in the past.
He cited the case of Johndy Maglinte, a 16-year-old who was wearing handcuffs when he was allegedly shot by police officers in June 2021 and Gilbert Dalogdog Ranes, a 34-year-old who was was allegedly mauled by a police officer and had difficulty in breathing before he was pronounced dead while under custody in December 2022.
"Leaving this matter uninvestigated amounts to permitting wanton abuse of police authority, sanctioning selective justice which unduly favors police personnel, and standing by as public trust toward our police force is eroding," Pimentel stressed.
In SRN 742, Hontiveros also underscored that the "excessive use of force" of Navotas police officers does not justify the fatal shooting.
She also pointed out that the dismissal of the Navotas Chief of Police and several police cops cast "serious doubt on the transparency of the Philippine National Police and its capacity to exact accountability and seek justice against its own members."
"A 'shoot first, think later' disposition occupies no decent place in a civilized society. Never has homicide or murder been a function of law enforcement. The public peace is never predicated on the cost of human life," Hontiveros emphasized.
The Senator furthered that the government "must do all it can to prevent the repeat" of the tragic incident.
