Life in Caloocan
The furor over the murder of Kian Loyd delos Santos, 17, had yet to simmer down when another teenager was found dead, again in Caloocan City and again in the hands of policemen. His name was Carl Angelo Arnaiz. He was 19. Quoting a spot report prepared last Aug. 30, the Interaksyon news website reported that the Caloocan police claimed they had killed Arnaiz in a shootout. They said that he had hailed a taxi around 3:20 a.m. last Aug. 18, but later hit the driver in the head with a revolver, and stole the man’s wallet.
That is not the story Arnaiz’s family knows. It is also not the story suggested by the gunshots and wounds on the young man’s body. Carlito and Eva Arnaiz said that their son had left with his 14-year-old friend Reynaldo de Guzman to get a midnight snack. The couple found their son 10 days later in a morgue. His friend remains missing.
A team from the Public Attorney’s Office found bruises on Arnaiz’s face and marks on his wrists that suggested he had been handcuffed, dragged, and beaten. Five gunshots pierced his body, once in the right arm and four times in his chest.
Like delos Santos, Arnaiz had no criminal record, no history of delinquency that would make the accusations—raised after their deaths— seem believable. And even if they had violated the law, the right thing for our law enforcers to do would have been to arrest them, present whatever evidence had legitimately been found against them, and leave their fates to the court’s judgment. That is the way a humane community works. How unsafe are Caloocan’s streets that its law enforcers should take such extreme measures against teenagers there?
In contrast, law enforcers in Central Visayas have so far managed to go after suspected players in the illegal drug trade—several of them incumbent elective officials—while, wonder of wonders, keeping them alive. What can they teach counterparts in Caloocan and, perhaps, other parts of the capital, about waging war on illegal drugs while following due process and upholding the universal right to life?
There exists a review process for law enforcement operations, both within the police organization itself and within communities. Caloocan’s brutal cases drive home the urgent need to honor that process.