4 Manila cops in torture raps disarmed — report

Four Manila Police District personnel accused of torturing two robbery suspects were disarmed and placed under restrictive custody Wednesday. The four were placed under the restrictive custody of the MPD Station 3, radio dzBB's Cecilia Villarosa reported. MPD head Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla issued the order for the restrictive custody and disarming after the two alleged torture victims managed to identify the four policemen in a lineup earlier Wednesday. Rongavilla withheld the names of the four pending result of the ongoing investigation. Still, he stressed the four will be dealt with severely if an investigation showed they tortured the two inmates, the report quoted the police official as saying. Earlier, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) started investigating the alleged torture of two inmates by police at the MPD's Blumentritt police community precinct. An earlier dzBB report said the CHR found “initial" signs of torture on inmates Jerry Diaz and Rommel Perez, who were arrested earlier this week in the city’s Sta. Cruz district. Relatives of the two inmates had asked the CHR Tuesday to look into the alleged torture of their loved ones. Diaz’s wife said the torture took place following the arrest of the suspects before dawn Monday at the Manila Police District Station 3 in the Sta. Cruz-Quiapo area. “Binuhusan ng kumukulong mantika, at pinalo sa katawan, sa ulo at sa kamay sa loob ng selda," she said. She claimed the police had tried to get her husband to confess that he was involved in holdups in the area. She, however, admitted that her husband has had a record of snatching. She said at least four policemen were involved in the supposed torture. — KBK, GMA News