By Rhoda Grace B. Saron and Carmelito Q. Francisco – THE regional office of the National Bureau of Investment (NBI) is set to reenact today the incident that resulted in the death of a teenager in the hands of a police non-uniformed personnel about a week ago.
Juhary Guro, NBI agent on case, said an NBI team from Manila is helping the regional investigators in the case even as he urged witnesses and those who have knowledge about the incident to cooperate with the probers.
The Manila team was scheduled to arrive yesterday.
“We are appealing to voluntarily cooperate and submit to us the video they have taken during the incident,” Guro said during a press conference Friday, in reference to the one who uploaded a video online in relation to the incident.
Guro said his team has interviewed several witnesses to the incident which resulted in the killing of 19-year old Amierkhan Mangacop after Dr. Marvin Rey Andrew Pepino shot him.
The family of the victim, through their lawyer, said Pepino shot the victim seven times that led to his immediate death.
The NBI decided to conduct after the family sought its help and asked the police to inhibit from the case for fear of whitewash.
On Saturday, the Police Regional Office (PRO) revealed that it turned over the documents and other pieces of evidence on the case to the City Prosecutor’s Office.
The PRO added that it has also filed omplaint for violation of Section 31 of Republic Act 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Act against Pepino.
That section of the law states that if someone carries a firearm outside his or her residence without a person, that person is imposed a fine of P10,000 in and “prision correccional,” between six months to six years in jail time, according to Philippine e-Legal Forum. The same source also stated that prision correccional also carries the penalty that also disqualifies the person from public office, prohibits him or her to vote, and removes the right to follow a profession.
The PRO added that it “recognizes the right of the Mangacop family to seek the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting incident involving Dr. Marvin Rey Pepino.”
It added that Pepino has been detained at the San Pedro Police Station since his arrest a week ago following the shooting just outside a bar.
Last week, Major Ma. Theresita Gaspan, the spokesperson of the city police, told the government-run Davao City Disaster Radio that they are reviewing how the case was handled for possible lapses.
An electronic copy of the blotter even stated that the victim was 21, while the family claimed he was just 19 and was in Grade 9. The victim’s uncle was the one sending him to school in the city as his parents were just farmers in their area in Maguindanao.
The PRO XI, however, has yet to reply on whether it would pursue any investigation of the probers whom the family accused of mishandling the case.
In a letter to the NBI on July 5 and signed by lawyer Gibb Andrew Cabahug of the Dela Cruz Cabahug Law Offices, the family said that it demands a “fair and just investigation of the case and thus request that the San Pedro Police Police Station and the PNP Davao Region be inhibited from investigating the case.”
The same letter pointed out that, while the blotter claimed the act of the suspect was self-defense, he shot the victim seven times.
Police Regional Office 11 recognizes the right of the Mangacop family to seek the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting incident involving Dr. Marvin Rey Pepino.
On the part of PRO11 , as part of our mandate the complaint for murder with all the necessary documents and pieces of evidence gathered by San Pedro Police Station were already forwarded to the Office of the City Prosecutor. Further, a complaint for violation of Sec 31 of RA 10591 was also filed.
“The suspect is still being held in the custody of the aforementioned Police Station while waiting for the resolution of the ongoing preliminary investigation,” the police statement said.
Meanwhile, the police already initiated an administrative complaint against Pepino.
