CHR exhumes body of cop slain in anti-drug operation

The Commission on Human Rights had exhumed the remains of a police officer who was killed during an anti-drugs operation last January 9, upon the request of his mother.

Forensic experts from the CHR central office in Manila, headed by Dr. Ludivino Lagat, exhumed the cadaver of Police Officer 2 Roderick Maquinta, for autopsy as requested by Perlita Maquinta, mother of the slain policeman.

Police earlier said that Maquinta tried to shoot it out with fellow policemen from Dumaguete City during a buy-bust operation along Bishop Epifanio Surban Street, at the entrance gate of the Holy Child Hospital in the city.

CHR-Negros Oriental special field investigator Jesus Cañete said the autopsy is conducted not as a witchhunt, but to determine the following:

The trajectory of the bullets that entered the body of Maquinta; to recover if there are slugs; what caliber of firearm used; and to determine the possible position of the shooter and the victim, with the hope of finding enough evidence required in the filing of possible charges against anybody.

Cañete said the CHR cannot anymore rely on the police blotter and verbal pronouncements of the police because of a standing order and memorandum from the Office of the President not to provide documents to the CHR in cases like this one.

In the absence of the police investigation report, the CHR will be forced to file the information based on its own findings, including the findings of forensic experts and so the burden of proof, said Cañete. He added that it is now to the concerned operatives to justify if Maquinta was killed as a matter of self defense or not.

Although not official, Cañete said Maquinta’s bullet wound on the left temporal portion of his head did not pierce through the skull, which is indicative that the bullet may have hit first a hard object and ricochet. Two other bullet wounds were found in the abdomen and in the chest, but it is still being determined if all were entry or exit wounds, he said.

Meanwhile, the parents, vehemently refused an interview in chiding media for not getting their side of the story when it happened. They could not accept pronouncements that Maquinta was a "big fish" in the illegal drugs operation that caused him to be transferred from one police station to the other.

After Dumaguete, Maquinta was assigned to Dalaguete, Alegria and Santander police stations. Police interviews showed that he had gone on leave without absence (AWOL) and was dismissed from the roster.

During the exhumation, Maquinta was wearing a complete police uniform and the mother said he was allowed by Camp Crame officers to wear his uniform in the absence of any dismissal order.

The father and the mother said their son was not a notorious criminal, unlike those who were arrested with kilos of shabu and yet they remain alive. They would have let this incident to be just part of their memories, but they are being haunted by their conscience and that their son is seeking justice for his death.

Cañete said the investigation will center on whether there was violation of the rule of law in the death of Maquinta, to find out who were involved, and to get their version so fairness will prevail.

But if the police operatives concerned will invoke the memorandum circular issued by the Office of the President, the CHR has no other recourse but to submit their findings to the court, Cañete said.