THE Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has gathered a "critical" evidence that will help them in the conduct of investigation on the violent dispersal of protesters last week in front of the US embassy, a police official said Monday.
PNP Deputy Director for Operations Benjamin Magalong said the investigating team from the CIDG has submitted an initial report on the incident, but they were given two more weeks to finalize the probe.
He said the CIDG has conducted interviews to 24 police personnel involved in the incident and obtained the CCTV footage from the US embassy, which according to him is "very critical."
"Nag-iimbita pa kaming ng mga pwedeng magbigay ng ibang video footage ng iba't ibang anggulo para lalo kaming magkaroon ng very, very comprehensive na review," Magalong said.
Magalong refused to divulge any other information regarding the footage, particularly on who and how the violent incident started.
"Hintayin na lang natin kung ano ang kalalabasan ng ating imbestigasyon. Sa ngayon ayaw ko munang i-preempt. Gusto naming pag-aralan munang mabuti lahat ng ating imbestigador at hintayin natin yung kanilang findings," he said.
Meanwhile, the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) said it is also conducting separate investigation to identify the appropriate charges against the concerned police personnel.
Earlier, Magalong said there were lapses in the part of the police during the violent dispersal of the protesters.
PNP-IAS Director Chief Superintendent Leo Angelo Leuterio said Senior Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, the overall police commander of the crisis management team who responded to the protest, already underwent interview before the IAS investigation and audit team.
He said Manila Police Director (MPD) Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel submitted his report on the incident to the IAS team. The report includes statements gathered by the MPD.
Leuterio said the IAS team also intended to interview the protesters who were confined at the Philippine General Hospital due to the injuries they sustained during the incident.
He said the investigators also went to the US embassy where the protesters conducted their picket for the conduct of a site inspection.
Meanwhile, militant groups stormed the police headquarters in Camp Crame to demand the imprisonment of the police personnel involved in the violent dispersal.
"Heads must roll over the fascist attack by the PNP against Sandugo's recent peaceful mobilization outside the US embassy...[They deserve] nothing less than imprisonment, especially as they apparently have previous track records of police brutality," said Pia Macliing Malayao, one of the protesters injured during the incident. (Sunnex)
