‘He was too drunk to fight’
Alleged drug pusher Nolan Villarin came home last week drunk, slept, and died at the hands of the Naga City Police Station operatives in what his common-law wife described as a rubout.
“Mosukol diay nang hubog?” said Rosalie Baclay, who has three children with Villarin.
She pointed at the tiles riddled with bullet holes, which made her believe that her partner was shot at point blank range while he was in bed.
Police reportedly recovered a .38 revolver, two misfired bullets, two fired cartridge cases, and a live bullet, but Baclay denied Villarin kept a gun.
“Mangayo kog hustisya sa iyang kamatayon. Gipatay siya nga grabe,” she said. A funeral parlor worker told her that nine bullet wounds were seen in Villarin’s body.
Baclay further accused the operatives of stealing several things, including amplifiers and shoes, from the room where they allegedly killed her partner.
The family will ask the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 7 to investigate the incident, which happened past 6 p.m. last July 5.
Supt. Gregorio Galsim, Naga City police chief, denied his personnel erred, saying they retaliated after Villarin shot at them first.
“There was an exchange of gunfire. There was a shootout,” he said. No one from the team led by SPO2 Lucermindo Banaylo was hit during the exchange.
Galsim said Villarin was a high-value target in the Cebu Provincial Police Office’s list of drug personalities.
Baclay, for her part, said Villarin stopped selling shabu last January and became a fisherman.
“Moangkon ko nga mogamitay siya, pero dili grabe,” she said. “Wala na siya mamaligya kay gibadlong sa mga anak.”
Before Villarin died, he drank with his friends. He came home past 5 p.m. and went to sleep, while Baclay was doing the laundry outside. He shouted Baclay’s name several times, but she did not mind him.
The alleged masked operatives in plain clothes arrived, aiming their guns at Baclay. She raised her hands and walked away.
One of the operatives fired warning shots, circled the house, and barged inside the house by destroying the door.
Baclay, before hiding, heard Villarin cry out, possibly from the mauling he received. She then heard several bursts of gunfire.
“Wa na akong bana, patay na,” she told herself at the time.
She went out after the police were gone. Some neighbors told her that Villarin’s body was dragged outside the house. “Gibinaboy daw,” Baclay said. Last May, she said the police arrested her 21-year-old son and a minor for drug possession charges.
She said Villarin’s mother Cirila, 57, and neighbor Ricardo Segismar, 21, were arrested after evidence were allegedly planted on them. A certain Boy Aso escaped.
The official report on the buybust stated Banaylo was with PO2 Ramil Baroman, PO2 Fernando Mata, PO2 Jeremias Caballero, PO1 Narry Paul Sullano, and PO1 Gilbert Ybañez.
Mata, the decoy, made the deal with Villarin at 6:45 p.m., paying the latter with a marked P500 bill.
The operation, according to the report, “resulted in a shootout after the subject person noticed he was transacting to (sic) a police- man.” Villarin then “tried to elude arrest and open fired his weapon towards the pursuing operatives.”
He was rushed to the Minglanilla District Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival by Dr. Edgar Torres.
Galsim said they will answer any complaint that will be filed against them.
“It is normal on their side nga mangita sila’g hustisya kay basin sa ilang feeling walay shootout,” he said.