MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Monday ordered a probe on the death of a teenager during an anti-illegal cockfighting operation in Valenzuela City.
“I have already called up the Director, NPD (Northern Police District) regarding this incident and based on his report, it stemmed from a police operation based on complaints of an ongoing illegal cockfighting activity or 'tupada',” Eleazar said in a statement.
The local police team which responded to the complaint at around noon on Sunday confirmed there was indeed an illegal cockfighting operation, where they arrested three suspects and confiscated several items, including fighting cocks and bet money amounting to PHP1,340.
During the operation, Eleazar said one of the three suspects grabbed the service firearm of one of the policemen which resulted in a scuffle.
The service firearm went off and hit one of the three suspects later identified as 18-year-old Edwin Arnigo.
The police operatives immediately brought Arnigo to the Valenzuela Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival.
Eleazar said the cop with the rank of senior master sergeant, has already been placed under restrictive custody and disarmed as a matter of investigative procedure.
“I have directed the Internal Affairs Service to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, specifically aimed at determining if there were lapses in the conduct of the operation. Part of my instruction is to finish the investigation at the soonest possible time,” said Eleazar.
“I would like to assure our kababayans of quick and impartial conduct of investigation regarding this incident. Meanwhile, I ask all persons who witnessed the incident to help us shed light on what happened so that we can quickly and impartially resolve this case,” he added. (PNA)
