Mandaluyong cops given 5 days to answer complaint on shooting incident

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has given the 10 Mandaluyong police officers allegedly involved in the shooting incident that killed two persons last month five days to answer the complaint filed against them, a television report said Thursday.

A report on GMA’s Unang Balita said after the submission of the cops' counter-affidavits, the Napolcom will conduct a pre-charge investigation to determine the probable cause and if there is a need to proceed with summary dismissal.

Napolcom vice chairman and executive officer Rogelio Casurao said the counter-affidavits will give then an idea of what really happened that night.

“Because we have the stories of the complainants, nabubuo ang storya so when you handle the case alam mo if there is reason to impose a sanction or not,” he said.

GMA’s Marisol Abdurahman reported that during the Napolcom hearing, some of the Mandaluyong police officers came face-to-face with the survivors of the shooting incident and shook their hands.

Senior Inspector Maria Cristina Vasquez clarified that she was not the team leader of the group during the incident but the station duty officer.

The television report said Vasquez was emotional when she talked to the media about the incident.

“Very devastating na-tarnish nila yung reputation ko. Hindi rin po ako namaril doon, hindi ko alam ang insidente,” she said.

She said she immediately went to the scene of the crime when she learned about it but the firefight was already over when she got there, the report said.

She, however, refused to say why it took her time to surface after the incident.

Vasquez was initially recorded as absent without leave. She surfaced days after and reported to Regional Police Holding and Accounting Unit of the National Capital Region Police Office in Taguig City.

On the night of December 28, Mandaluyong City watchmen and police officers allegedly opened fire on a vehicle they thought was a getaway car. The vehicle was in fact on the way to the hospital to bring victim Jonalyn Ambaon.

Ambaon was attempting to intervene in an argument when she was shot and injured in Barangay Addition Hills at 10:20 p.m. She was killed in the hail of gunfire from the barangay watchmen and police, along with companion Jomar Hayawon.

Other companions Eliseo Aluad Jr. and Danilo Santiago were wounded while three others — Simeon Rimbao, Roel Distor and Mhury Jamon — were unharmed. — Amita Legaspi/MDM, GMA News