The Navotas City Police denied the allegations of two suspects in a murder case that police tortured them to confess to the crime. Authorities insisted they have strong evidence against the suspects, such as CCTV footage.
In a report on Thursday, the Navotas City Police chief stated that his personnel had nothing to do with the head wound sustained by one of the suspects.
“We know that our jails are very crowded, sometimes tensions rise, unfortunate incidents occur, fights break out,” the official said.
The two suspects are allegedly involved in a shooting incident that resulted in the deaths of two victims on November 3.
Police maintained they have strong evidence against the suspects, including CCTV footage captured before and after the crime.
One of the suspects, alias “Dave,” who was arrested on November 9, gave an extrajudicial confession before a lawyer and admitted to the crime. He also identified the masterminds.
According to “Dave,” two barangay officials paid them 30,000 pesos to kill the two victims.
“That’s why they want to claim they were tortured by our police, forced to confess. Because once the case is released and dismissed, the angle that someone ordered it automatically disappears,” according to the police chief.
When charges were read to Dave on November 11, he reportedly underwent a physical examination at Navotas City Hospital, and no wounds were found on his body.
“Dave” stated that police made him wear a cap during his medical examination. His head wound was also reportedly not visible in the video when he made his extrajudicial confession.
“I hope those who tortured me will also be held accountable. Because I almost died from what they did to me,” insisted “Dave.”
A lawyer served as complainant to file the complaint of “Dave” against Navotas police with the PNP Internal Affairs Service.
“We will face it because we were just doing our job. We just conducted an investigation, followed procedure, so the victims could get justice,” according to the case investigator.
The PNP Internal Affairs Service assured that the investigation they will conduct will be fair.