TACLOBAN CITY-The family of a man who reportedly died at the hands of a police officer in Maasin City is calling that justice be served to them.
Marck Padilla, cousin of Gilbert Ranes, 34, said that the family hopes that all the identified policemen who were said to be responsible on the incident would be held responsible.
“We are demanding justice be served to us. We seek that all the five policemen identified to have a part in the brutal killing of Jebew be discharged from service,” he said, referring his cousin by his nickname.
Ranes, eldest of the brood of five siblings whose both parents are out of work, was buried on Thursday (Dec.15) at the public cemetery in Macrohon, Southern Leyte.
According to Padilla, his cousin who worked as a tattoo artist and a fisherman, happened to be in Maasin City where the incident happened.
“He was a good person and has no bad record, even in our barangay. They could have brought him to the police station if indeed he was guilty instead of killing him,” he added.
On Dec.9, Ranes was accosted by Staff Sgt. Ronald Gamayon on the ground that he was suspected to have snatched a unit of iPhone S cellular phone with a value of P50,000 in Barangay Mantahan at about 7 pm.
Gamayon, a member of the provincial intelligence unit, reportedly beat the suspect.
The alleged mauling incident was said to have been recorded by some bystanders.
Four of the policemen who were on duty at that time, S/Sgts. Ricky Mantos and Jovan Alvarez, Corp. Russell Salar, and Pat. Rolando America, reportedly did nothing on the matter except bringing Ranes to the police station.
On Dec.12, Gamayon was placed under restrictive custody at the Southern Leyte provincial headquarters while the four other police officers were reassigned at the same headquarters.
On Dec.13, a case of homicide was filed against Gamayon at the City Prosecutor’s Office in Maasin.
Col. Hector Enage, the provincial police director, said that the provincial internal affairs service is conducting an investigation against the four reassigned cops.
Enage said that the result of the investigation will determine what possible liabilities were committed by the four in handling suspects of a crime.
“Our investigation is still ongoing if, among the four policemen, they can be charged administratively,” he said.
But this early, the charges that may be filed against the four cops could be neglect of duty or outright dismissal from service, Enage said.
The incident involving one of his cops irked Police Regional Director B/Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil who immediately ordered for a thorough investigation by forming a special investigation task force.
The said task force is headed by Col. Salvador Alacyang, deputy regional director for operations with Col. Enage as a commander.
“Rest assured that this PRO (Police Regional Office) will closely monitor this case or similar incidents involving officers under my watch. Here in Eastern Visayas, we do not tolerate misfits among our rank and file. We always see to it that truth prevails,” Marbil said in a statement.
Based on a post-mortem examination conducted by the city health unit, Ranes suffered hematoma on both eyes and multiple abrasions on his neck and face.
(JOEY A. GABIETA/ROBERT DEJON)
Holiday payoffs
Are there fringe benefits of the yuletide season that comprises Christmas and, to many people’s minds, the New Year otherwise known as the holidays? Well, there are quite many, depending on how creative and how initiative the concerned people are.
Among others, nothing beats that chance which allows people to have bonding with loved ones. These may include neighbors, acquaintances, friends, relatives, and most of all, family members. Extending for days, the holiday season does provide them with enough time to get together, enjoy one another’s company, play games, have fun, cry over some problems if need be, and get to know how everybody is doing.
This moment is very vital if we are to consider the close family ties that Filipinos have had for generations, as part of their culture. For centuries, this has been made possible in part by quality time spent together around dinners, finger foods, local wines such as lambanog or coconut juice called tuba, or simply around local songs sung together to the accompaniment of indigenous musical instruments.
The said family ties instinctively prevail among Filipino families like a built-in propensity. One need not teach each member, even the young ones, regarding the necessity of preserving family traditions—they automatically do so. Amid this closeness, however, there is this threat of separation brought by the distance that eventually settles in between members in the course of time. Going places just cannot be helped and this, to some extent, causes family closeness to deteriorate.
But some members would prefer to live elsewhere, away from their relatives so as to preserve good relations. They reckon that when they just live in clustered houses, they run the risk of occasionally irritating one another over trifles such as the quarrels of their children that could worsen into adult fistfights or worse. To avoid such friction, prudent family members would rather that they stay away from one another so that, when they meet after years of being away, they would have love-filled hugs and boisterous laughter.
Thanks to the holiday season that could allow such reunions of distant family members to happen. The time may be rather short, but it is full of joy and excitement, more so that the so-called spirit of Christmas is in the air. The party for all, the exchanging of gifts, the joyful greetings, and the excitement of being together is such a precious moment so unforgettable for being rare and exciting indeed.
It is during this holiday season that we enjoy the presence of loved ones and therefore feel the contentment of loving and being loved. That makes one’s Christmas merry, and one’s New Year, happy. Loved ones still determine our feelings this season, thanks to the thing called family. Thank God for creating it.