Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
SUPREME COURT
Manila
-versus-
PREFATORY STATEMENT
There are two chief kinds of carnage taking place here, these
wet Manila nights. There is the buy-bust operation, in
which the targeted criminal attempts to buy some drugs, only
to find that he is dealing with undercover police. He panics
and reaches for a weapon, a pistol perhaps or a kind of
homemade shotgun. Before he can use it (so the familiar
script reads) the police shoot him dead. There have been
around two thousand of these buy-bust killings since the war
on drugs under President Rodrigo Duterte began at the start
of July. The dead are both pushers and users. If youre a user,
Dutertes wisdom has it, then youre also a pusher. And even
if you arent a pusher, the users of the drug in question,
shabu or crystal meth, very soon forfeit their claims to
humanity. They lose their souls. The only thing to do with
them is kill them.
Phelim Kine, Deadly Milestone in Philippines Abusive Drug War: 7,000 Filipinos Killed Since July
Shows Rule of Law Collapse, Human Rights Watch Dispatch, July 24, 2017, available at
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/24/deadly-milestone-philippines-abusive-drug-war <last visited
January 26, 2017>.
I.
PARTIES
A. PETITIONERS
1) Petitioner EFREN C. MORILLO is Filipino, 28 years old,
and a resident of San Isidro, Montalban, Rizal.
2) Petitioner MARTINO MORILLO is Filipino, of legal age, a
resident of San Isidro, Montalban, Rizal, and the father of Petitioner
Efren Morillo.
3) Petitioner VICTORIA MORILLO is Filipino, of legal age, a
resident of San Isidro, Montalban, Rizal, and the mother of Petitioner
Efren Morillo.
4) Petitioner MA. BELEN DAA is Filipino, of legal age, a
resident of Area B, Group 9, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City, and the
mother of deceased victim Marcelo Daa, Jr.
5) Petitioner MARLA DAA is Filipino, 20 years old, a resident
of Area B, Group 9, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City, and the younger
sister of deceased victim Marcelo Daa, Jr.
6) Petitioner MARIBETH BARTOLAY is Filipino, 34 years old,
a resident of Area B, Group 9, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City, and the
live-in partner of deceased victim Marcelo Daa, Jr.
7) Petitioner LYDIA GABO is Filipino, of legal age, a resident
of Area B, Group 7, Sto. Nino, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City, and the
mother of deceased victim Raffy Gabo.
8) Petitioner JENNIFER NICOLAS is Filipino, years old, and a
resident of Area B. Group 7, Sto. Nino, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City,
and the sister-in-law of deceased victim Raffy Gabo.
8
II.
A. SOURCES
FACTS.
OF
20) The material facts of this case are culled from the sworn
affidavits of the following Petitioners which are attached to this
Petition as annexes:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
10
C. RELATIONSHIP
PETITIONERS
TO
DECEASED VICTIMS.
OF
THE
11
29)
Petitioner LYDIA GABO is the mother of deceasedvictim Raffy Gabo.
30) Petitioner JENNIFER NICOLAS is the sister-in-law of
deceased-victim Party Raffy Gabo.
31) Petitioner MARILYN MALIMBAN was the live-in
partner of deceased-victim Jessie Cule.
D. CHRONOLOGY
MATERIAL FACTS.
OF
12
10
13
The latter and the jeepney driver took pity on him and acceded to his
request to be brought to a hospital near his home in Montalban, Rizal.
40) Morillo was brought to the Montalban Infirmary in
Kasiglahan Village, Rodriguez, Rizal. Unfortunately, there was no
doctor on duty at the infirmary so that only first aid could be applied
to his chest wound. Moreover, personnel at the infirmary reported
his condition of being shot to policemen at the Community Police
Action Center (COMPAC) near thereat.
41) Policemen from the COMPAC went to the infirmary to
see Morillo. At the latters behest, the policemen went to Morillos
house in San Isidro, Montalban, Rizal to inform his mother, Victoria
Morillo about what happened and take her back with them to the
infirmary.
42) Morillo recounted to the Montalban policemen the attack
against him and his friends earlier that afternoon by policemen in
Quezon City. But much to his alarm the Montalban policemen
insisted that they turn him over to Quezon City Police Station 6,
whose area of responsibility includes Bgy. Payatas, the place of the
incident.
43) Morillo pleaded not to be handed over to Station 6,
insisting that he did not commit any crime and that in fact he is a
victim himself. He was terrified when he realized the likelihood that
the policemen who shot him and killed Daa, Cule, Gabo and
Comendo are assigned at the said station. Despite his pleas, the
Montalban policemen loaded Morillo in an ambulance and brought
him to Quezon City Police Station 6 in Bgy. Batasan Hills, Quezon
City. The only concession given him was the company of his mother
Victoria in the ambulance.
44) Efren Morillo arrived by ambulance at Quezon City
Police Station 6 at nine o clock in the evening. There he was made to
wait indefinitely, the policemen unmindful of his serious wound.
Morillo slipped in and out of consciousness as he lay on the
ambulance stretcher. At one point, he heard a voice say: Matibay ang
bata na yan. Alas tres pa may tama na, hanggang ngayon buhay pa.
Finally, after many pleas by his mother Victoria, the policemen
transported Morillo to East Avenue Medical Center. Morillo was shot
at three o clock in the afternoon but because the Montalban police
14
15
gunshots rang out. Sometime later, one of the armed men also
exclaimed: Putang ina! Natakasan pa tayo. Hanapin nyo! Sabagay, hindi
na makakaligtas yun, puso ang tama.13
49) The armed men stayed several more hours inside the Daa
residence. They ate at the pool table area using the family plates and
utensils.14 They even had the insolence to solicit from Maribeth
Bartolay food and drinks from her sari-sari store.15
50) Before four o clock in the afternoon, about ten (10) men
and women in full police and/or SWAT uniform arrived and
entered the house. At around five o clock, another round of gunshots
was fired, the sound coming from the back of the house. At seven o
clock in the evening, scene of the crime operatives (SOCO) and
members of the media arrived.
51) One of the armed men gave a media interview and
confirmed that they are in fact policemen assigned to QCPD Police
Station 6 in Bgy. Batasan Hills, Quezon City. He introduced himself
as Police Senior Inspector EMIL GARCIA and announced that he and
PO3 Allan Formilleza, PO1 James Aggarao and PO1 Melchor
Navisaga had killed Marcelo Daa, Jr., Raffy Gabo, Anthony Comendo
and Jessie Cule in a police operation implementing OPLAN
TOKHANG. He claimed that the victims were notorious drug
suspects and were also known robbers. Curiously, the police also told
the media that they caught the victims during a drug session, even if
this fact directly contradicts the narrative of the police report they
later filed.
Copies of the Police Report, Joint Affidavit of Arrest and the
Police Blotter Excerpt of Entry are attached hereto as ANNEXES I and
series.
Copies of the videos of the news reports are attached hereto in a
compact disc as ANNEX N and series.
52) At eight o clock in the evening, the dead bodies of
Marcelo Daa, Jr., Raffy Gabo, Anthony Comendo and Jessie Cule
Rowena Cordero attests to Paragraphs 39, 40 and 41 in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX
C.
14 Maribeth Bartolay and Rowena Cordero corroborate each other on this point in their sworn
affidavits attached as ANNEX B and ANNEX C respectively.
15 Maribeth Bartolay attests to the foregoing in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX B.
13
16
were carried out of the house and brought to Light Funeral Services
in Kamuning, Quezon City.16
Copies of the Death Certificates of the victims are attached
hereto as ANNEXES J and series.
53) Efren Morillo survived his gunshot wound and
recuperated at the East Avenue Medical Center. However, his fear for
his life did not ebb because during the whole ten (10) days that he
was confined at the hospital, as policemen from QCPD Police Station
6 kept him captive in his hospital room. Thankfully, officials from the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) later on arrived and rescued
him from the said policemen.
A copy of Efren Morillos medical certificate is attached hereto
as ANNEX K.
54) Morillo is now in the custody and under the protection of
the CHR. But as a way to reach him, his assailants filed a false charge
of Direct Assault Upon Agents of Persons in Authority against him
with the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court.17
Rowena Cordero, Marla Daa and Marilyn Malimban attest to Paragraphs 43, 44 and 45 and
corroborate each other in their sworn affidavits attached as ANNEX C, ANNEX D and ANNEX G
respectively.
17 Efren Morillo attests to the foregoing in his sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX A.
18 Marilyn Malimban attests to the foregoing in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX G.
16
17
Rowena Cordero attests to the foregoing in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX C.
Marla Daa attests to the foregoing in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX D.
21 Marla Daa and Maria Belen Daa attest to the foregoing in their sworn affidavits attached as
ANNEX D and ANNEX E.
22 The police filed a criminal case against Efren Morillo for Direct Assault Against an Agent of a
Person in Authority. The case is pending before MeTC Branch 42 of Quezon City. Curiously, they
did not file a case for a violation of R.A. No. 9165 even if they alleged that they found drug
paraphernalia in the place of the incident.
19
20
18
Entry, and even in the Death Certificates of the deceased -- the place
of incident is Group 9, Brgy. Bagong Silangan, Quezon City.
61) This is false, as the place of incident is the house of Marcelo
Daa, Jr. at Group 9, Area B, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City. This is not a
simple oversight and is actually evidence that the Respondents are
fabricating and manipulating evidence.
62) First, Respondents know that the place of incident is in Bgy.
Payatas and not Bgy. Bagong Silangan. This was not an inadvertence.
In their Joint Affidavit of Arrest, they categorically said the following:
THAT, at about 2:00 PM, on the same date, we were
dispatched to conduct Oplan Tokhang, house to house
visitation to a known drug personalities (sic), particular in
the house of certain Marcelo Daa Jr., at Group 9 Area B,
Brgy Bagong Silangan, Quezon City.
63) However, they knew that the house of Marcelo Daa, Jr. is in
Group 9 Area B, Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City. This is evident from the
Police Report, where it was indicated as such. This is the true
address, as provided in the Barangay ID of Marcelo Daa, Jr. As
policemen detailed in QCPD S6, they should know that these are two
different areas altogether. They are not expected to make such a
patent error as this.
A copy of the Barangay ID of Marcelo Daa, Jr. is attached
hereto as ANNEX L.
64) Second, the motive for the fabrication is obvious. As admitted
by Respondents Garcia, Formilleza, Aggarao and Navisaga in their
Joint Affidavit of Arrest, they are detailed at Bagong Silangan Police
Community Precinct 4 (PCP-4). However, Bgy. Payatas is covered by
a different Police Community Precinct -- PCP 5.
65) Thus, Respondents had no authority to conduct OPLAN
TOKHANG operations in Bgy. Payatas, where the incident occurred.
It is thus quite obvious that they fabricated evidence to make it
appear that they had jurisdiction to conduct OPLAN TOKHANG
operations where the incident occurred. Otherwise, if it were indeed
a legitimate operation, there is no need to lie about the place of the
incident.
66) Third, Respondents merely substituted Bgy. Payatas with
Bgy. Bagong Silangan while retaining all other pieces of
information about the place of the incident.
19
the home, their ignominy and cruelty to the victims, their callousness
and derision toward family, kin, neighbors and community of the
latter, and their disrespect for the dead show utmost disregard for
human rights.
71) Worse, after the killings, the Respondent police officers
involved in the killings repeatedly went back to the scene of the
crime, went into the residential houses of some of the petitioners in
an obvious attempt to manipulate evidence and to antagonize
witnesses.
72) Petitioner Efren Morillo continues to fear for his life.
Because he survived the attack of the perpetrators and identified each
and every one of them, his life is in grave danger. Moreover, the
trumped up charge of Direct Assault Upon Agents of Persons in
Authority filed against him is clearly persecution on the part of the
perpetrators. In addition, the incident has dealt a serious blow on the
financial stability of his family. To pay for his medical bills, Morillos
parents Martino and Victoria Morillo were forced to sell their house.
They have no more income, since Morillo, who was the sole
breadwinner of the family, could not resume work because of the
danger to his life. Thus, there is a clear and grave threat to his right to
life, liberty and security.
73) The other Petitioners suffer the same violation of their
right to life, liberty and security. They are terrified for their own lives
and the lives of their family members, relatives and loved ones
because the perpetrators keep returning to intimidate and harass
them into silence. They are violated in their own homes because the
perpetrators freely barge in. They could not go to work because they
are afraid to leave their children alone in their houses. Their lives are
at a standstill. Even the neighbors and members of the larger
community are victimized because of the paralyzing fear wrought by
the blatant threats of the policemen involved in the killings from the
time of the incident to date.
74) With respect to the Daas who reside at Group 9, Area B,
Bgy. Payatas, where the incident occurred, the same Respondents
Formilleza, Aggarao and Navisaga returned at least twice.
75) As detailed in the affidavits of Marla Daa23 and Maria
Belen Daa,24 the three policemen returned on 27 October 2016. This
was two days after the first hearing for the criminal case filed by the
23
24
ANNEX D.
ANNEX E.
21
Paragraph 13 of ANNEX D.
Paragraph 14 of ANNEX D.
27 Lydia Gabo attests to the foregoing in her sworn affidavit attached as ANNEX F.
25
26
22
B. QCPD
STATION
6,
REPRESENTED BY RESPONDENT
P/SUPT. PATAY, TAKE PART
IN
THE
CONTINUED
THREAT
THROUGH A CONSPIRACY TO
COVER UP THE CRIME.
23
executed and were lumped together with other victims who allegedly
fought back, or nanlaban.
85) There is thus a very serious threat to the life, liberty, and
security of the Petitioners, as well as the entire community of Area B,
Bgy. Payatas, Quezon City. Their rights to life, liberty, and security
are violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or
omission of public officials or private individuals who are herein
Respondents.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, PREMISES considered, Petitioners respectfully pray
that the Honorable Court:
(a) Issue a Temporary Protection Order under Section 14(a) of
the Rule on the Writ of Amparo against herein Respondents
and any of their agents, directing them to refrain from
issuing or carrying out any threat to the life, liberty and
security of the Petitioners, including but not limited to:
i)
ii)
A
Temporary
Restraining
Order
on
the
implementation of OPLAN TOKHANG in Area B,
Bgy. Payatas, as well as all areas under the jurisdiction
of QCPD S6;
25
By:
JOEL RUIZ BUTUYAN
Roll No. 36911
PTR No. 5916291 | Jan. 9, 2017 | Makati
IBP No. 01742 | Lifetime
MCLE Compliance No. V-0013082 | Jan. 12,
2016
ROGER R. RAYEL
Roll No. 44106
PTR No. 3804125/ Jan. 4, 2017 Quezon City
IBP No. 02159 / Lifetime
MCLE Compliance No. V-0013140 | Jan. 12,
2016
27
GEEPEE A. GONZALES
Roll No. 59686
PTR No. 5916299| Jan. 9, 2017 | Makati
IBP No. 1060903| Jan. 10, 2017| Oriental
Mindoro.
MCLE Compliance No. V-0013167| Jan. 12,
2016
ETHEL C. AVISADO
Roll No. 56254
PTR No. 5916293 | Jan. 9, 2017 | Makati
IBP No. 1060902| Jan. 10, 2017| Davao City
MCLE Compliance No. V-0022681| June 29,
2016
ZHARMAI C. GARCIA
Roll No. 62891
PTR No. 5916297 | Jan. 9, 2017| Makati
IBP No. 013345 | Lifetime | RSM
MCLE Compliance No. V-0013105| Jan. 12,
2016
CRISTINA I. ANTONIO
Roll No. 64154
PTR No. 7115606 / Jan. 6, 2017 / Cagayan
IBP No. 1008162 / Lifetime / Cagayan
MCLE Compliance: N/A (Admitted to the
Philippine Bar in 2015)
GIL ANTHONY E. AQUINO
Roll No. 65698
PTR No. 5916294 / Jan. 9, 2017 / Makati
IBP No. 014871 / Lifetime/ Makati
MCLE Compliance: N/A (Admitted to the
Philippine Bar in 2016)
28
COPY FURNISHED:
RESPONDENT PDG RONALD DELA ROSA, Camp Crame,
Quezon City
RESPONDENT PSSUPT GUILLERMO LORENZO T. ELEAZAR,
Camp Karingal, Quezon City
RESPONDENT P/SUPT. LITO PATAY, QCPD S6, Bgy. Batasan,
Quezon City
RESPONDENT P/SI EMIL S. GARCIA, QCPD S6, Bgy. Batasan,
Quezon City
RESPONDENT PO3 ALLAN FORMILLEZA, QCPD S6, Bgy.
Batasan, Quezon City
RESPONDENT PO1 JAMES AGGARAO, QCPD S6, Bgy. Batasan,
Quezon City
RESPONDENT, PO1 MELCHOR NAVISAGA, QCPD S6, Bgy.
Batasan, Quezon City
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL
134 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village,
Makati City, 1229
29
Explanation
This Petition is being served to the parties by registered mail because
of time, personnel and distance constraints, pursuant to the Revised
Rules of Procedure.
GIL ANTHONY E. AQUINO
30