Quick follow-ups by media on student’s death counter police claims

CHEERS TO the media organizations that followed up on the death of Amierkhan Mangacop, a 19-year old student shot by a non-uniformed personnel of Police Regional Office (PRO) outside the Lugar Cafe and Bar in Davao City on July 2. 

According to the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and as reported by the media, the suspect, Dr. Marvin Rey Andrew Pepino, was arrested and   jailed on July 4. Pepino also requested an investigation on the case. 

But the family believes that the PNP is still protecting their personnel and the suspect. PNP has yet to release the mugshot of Pepino to the public. 

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Manila Bulletin, and Sunstar Davao reported the case following the press conference held by Mangacop’s family on July 8.

The initial report of the police claimed that Amierkhan was involved in an altercation with the suspect and his killing was only in “self-defense.” But Anwar Blao Mangacop, Amierkhan’s uncle and guardian, asked during the presser, “Amier’s cause of death was due to gunshot wounds, he was shot seven times, seven times … how can that be self-defense?” 

The family’s lawyer, Gibb Andrew Cabahug, also clarified that “Amierkhan was not in the bar. He was at home. He went to the bar because he received a request from one of his cousins to fetch them because there was an altercation.”

Based on  CCTV footage and Cabahug’s written chronology, Mangacop, wearing his motorcycle helmet, arrived at the scene, where Pepino was in a scuffle with other persons. Later, the camera showed Pepino pursuing Mangacop, who was walking away from the bar with his cousin. Pepino shot the student seven times. Mangacop died before reaching the hospital.

A video on Facebook was also shared by several netizens which matched the chronology stated above.

Mindanao Times echoed the questions asked by the victim’s family in a Facebook page: 1) Are PNP Personnel allowed to drink inside bars?; 2) Are gun owners allowed to just bring their guns anywhere and everywhere, especially in bars, nightclubs, and other public drinking places?; and, 3) Are guns allowed inside bars and what’s the use of their security checks? 

The post also recalled an Administrative Circular that orders the police to “conduct themselves professionally in public, banning them from drinking in bars, nightclubs, and in other public places.”

Apart from the issues mentioned above, regional and alternative media DavaoToday.com and MindaNews added more detail which countered other police claims. 

Both news organizations reported how the family refuted police claims that they are influential. DCPO Director Police Col. Alberto Lupaz had alleged that one of the victim’s siblings is a regional director of the Commission on Audit. But the family clarified that Amierkhan’s parents are farmers in Maguindanao and that Amierkhan is a self-supporting student and a caring son to his family. 

The two alternative media along with Bulletin also mentioned the influential connections of the suspect’s family: Pepino’s father is a director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and his aunt, a judge.

Because of the handling of the police and their statements to the media, the victim’s family asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Davao to investigate the case against Pepino. The Manila Times quoted NBI Davao which said that there is a strong case of murder against the suspect.

National media should pick up more on regional stories that involve law enforcement officers in violence against ordinary citizens and in other crimes. Giving national attention to these could raise more awareness about a most disturbing pattern of abuse of power of officers of the law whose duty it is to protect the people.