“On the part of the police officers, do we need to bring a suspect who died during a police operation to the prosecutor for inquest?”
Ito ang palaging tinatanong ng mga imbestigador during lecture. Ayon sa Inquirer, ang CIDG ay nagsampa ng kaso kontra sa mga napatay na miyembro Parojinog thru “inquest.” Lumalabas sa Inquirer, na naging katawa-tawa ang kaso ng CIDG at pinagsabihan pa ng prosecutor na dapat alam nila ang basic ng Revised Penal Code. Ang tinutukoy ng prosecutor ay ang Art. 98 ng Revised Penal Code na nagsasabing “death totally extinguishes criminal liability”. Paano mo nga naman ikukulong ang isang patay na.
Subalit, tingin ko, hindi natin masisisi ang CIDG dahil mismong ang ating Police Operational Procedure Manual 2013 ay may sinasaad tungkol sa pag-inquest pag may napatay during operation. Ito siya:
Rule 15.4 Inquest Proceeding Necessary When the Suspect Dies
In cases of armed confrontation wherein the suspect dies, the Team Leader of the operating unit shall submit the incident for inquest before the duty Inquest Prosecutor prior to the removal of the body from the scene, except in areas where there are no Inquest Prosecutors. In which case, the territorial police unit can proceed with the investigation.
Para linawin ang kahulugan ng Rule 15.4 ng POP, dapat na ma-correlate ito sa DOJ Circular NO. 61 (Rules on Inquest) na nagsasabi:
SEC. 16. Presence at crime scene. – Whenever a dead body is found and there is reason to believe that the death resulted from foul play, or from the unlawful acts or omissions of other persons and such fact has been brought to his attention, the Inquest Officer shall:
a) forthwith proceed to the crime scene or place of discovery of the dead person;
b) cause an immediate autopsy to be conducted by the appropriate medico-legal officer in the locality or the PNP medico-legal division or the NBI medico-legal office, as the case may be;
c) direct the police investigator to cause the taking of photographs of the crime scene or place of discovery of the dead body;
d) supervise the investigation to be conducted by the police authorities as well as the recovery of all articles and pieces of evidence found thereat and see to it that the same are safeguarded and the chain of the custody thereof properly recorded; and
e) submit a written report of his finding to the City or Provincial Prosecutor for appropriate action.
b) cause an immediate autopsy to be conducted by the appropriate medico-legal officer in the locality or the PNP medico-legal division or the NBI medico-legal office, as the case may be;
c) direct the police investigator to cause the taking of photographs of the crime scene or place of discovery of the dead body;
d) supervise the investigation to be conducted by the police authorities as well as the recovery of all articles and pieces of evidence found thereat and see to it that the same are safeguarded and the chain of the custody thereof properly recorded; and
e) submit a written report of his finding to the City or Provincial Prosecutor for appropriate action.
Lumalabas mga kasama, na ang inquest (pag may patay) na sinasabi ng POP at ng DOJ Circular ay ginagawa sa panahon ng imbestigasyon na kung saan may “natagpuang patay” at “pinaghihinalaang itong resulta ng foul play.” Ang pulis ay pupunta sa prosecutor para ipaalam ito para ma-supervise ang pulis kung ano ang gagawain. Iba ang inquest na ito sa inquest na kung saan may sinasampahang kaso kontra sa “arestadong buhay na tao.” Samakatuwid, ito ang pagkakaiba ng dalawa:
Inquest sa patay – ang layunin ay para malaman ng prosecutor kung mayroong foul play at hindi para sampahan ng kaso ang patay, otherwise, kung sasampahan ng kaso ng pulis, hello! it is big a joke!
Inquest sa buhay – ang layunin ay para malaman ng prosecutor kung legal ang pag-aresto ng pulis sa tao para masampahan ng kaukulang kaso.
This Article was originally posted on the Facebook Page of Atty. (PCI) Reynaldo Villania. The author of this blog saw the importance of this post, thus, we decided to re-echo the same on our blog platform.
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