21 cops face raps over death of police officer in Masbate

The Police Regional Office 5 on Thursday filed criminal and administrative charges against 21 policemen allegedly involved in the hazing incident that killed 32-year-old patrolman Jaypee De Guzman Ramores in Masbate City last week.

PRO 5 said the charges were filed before the Masbate Prosecutors Office for violating RA 11053 which amended RA 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

Ramores was assigned to the 503rd Maneuver Company, 5th Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) in San Jacinto, Masbate.

He was earlier reported to have died due to cardiac arrest on July 26 at Ticao District Hospital.

However, the family of the victim said they only found out about the death of the patrolman on July 27.

Based on the post-mortem report issued by the medical officer of the hospital, the cause of death was listed as “cardiorespiratory arrest, deep vein thrombosis secondary to pulmonary embolism and multiple physical injuries secondary to blunt trauma.”

Ramores also sustained severe bruises, burns on his chest, wounds on his knees and feet and other injuries on his body.

The PRO 5 said the suspects were relieved from their post and were placed under the custody of RMFB 5, regional headquarters inside Camp Ola.

They will also face administrative charges for grave misconduct which will be handled by the Regional Internal Affairs Service 5.

Meanwhile, the PRO 5 said the investigation on the incident would not stop with the filing of the cases.

“Moreover, this unit also encourages other personnel who have experienced the same to speak out and let their voices be heard. PRO 5 aims not only to serve justice to the victims but also to end these derogative and offensive initiation rites,” it added.—LDF, GMA News