Cops killed sleeping man, relatives say

The family of a man killed in an alleged drug bust in Tondo, Manila last week belied the police claim that he was shot dead when he fought back during the operation.

Benjamin Villanueva, 44, was sleeping in his home at Building 17 at Vitas Katuparan when police officers barged in at around 3 a.m. last Sunday. In an interview with

The STAR during the wake yesterday, the victim’s widow Rowena said they were sleeping when police officers in masks barged in looking for “Joey.”

It was apparently a bluff, Rowena said, because when they let the plainclothesmen enter, they dragged her outside their house – a shanty on top of Building 17 – until she heard multiple gunshots.

Her husband was not armed, Rowena said. She did not hear anything from her husband, she said, except from the police operatives who shouted “Nanlaban! Nanlaban!”

The police also did not show them any arrest or search warrant.

Benjamin bore eight gunshot wounds, with two in the heart, his family said.

Benjamin, who was released from jail last month after he was cleared of murder, was apparently the target of police for allegedly pushing drugs in the area.

But his family said Benjamin stopped pushing drugs, and in fact surrendered in 2016 for fear of being killed in Tokhang operations.

“He surrendered precisely because he did not want this to happen. But what he always feared happened to him,” his wife said.

Rowena was recently released after being detained since Sunday. She fears being charged for a crime she did not commit. Her husband is set to be buried today.