Kian, Carl files likely destroyed in police HQ fire, but intact elsewhere — Caloocan top cop

The case files on the killings of teenagers Kian Delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz “most likely” burned up in the blaze that hit the Caloocan City Police headquarters Tuesday morning, but there are copies of the files elsewhere, said the chief of Caloocan police.

Senior Superintendent Jemar Modequillo told GMA News Online that all police documents, from dialogues to homicide cases, are by protocol submitted to higher offices, such as district and regional police offices.

In this case, files related to the killings of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, who allegedly perished in Caloocan police operations, have copies at the Northern Police District and at the National Capital Region Police Office, Modequillo said.

“All the documents diyan sa station are submitted to the next higher headquarters. Halimbawa, meron tayong isang dokumento na ginagawa, even a simple dialogue, sinu-submit natin 'yan sa district, and then the district submits it to the region. So meron talagang kopya kopya 'yan,” he said.

The entire Caloocan police force was infamously relieved from their posts in the wake of several controversial actions, including a warrantless raid on a house.

The move also followed the killings of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, which likely prompted the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to shift the conduct of its anti-narcotics campaign from the police to another agency.

The Caloocan police chief declined to give the number of documents destroyed in the fire pending the results of an investigation by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

The fire hit Caloocan Police Headquarters at about 4:30 a.m. due to a yet unknown cause, said Modequillo. It reached the fourth alarm before the BFP declared the fire out at 6:03 a.m.

No police officer, civilian, or detainee—there are 102 inmates at the headquarters—were reported to be hurt in the fire, and no detainee escaped, either, he said.

Modequillo said the fire started at the Northern Press Corps, traveled to the office of the Scene of the Crime Operatives, then to the Camanava Press Corps office, from where it also reached the administration, Police Community Relations, and investigations offices.

The BFP has yet to release the results of its investigation into the cause of the fire, and the Caloocan police chief was not keen to give in to speculation about what started the blaze. — BM, GMA News