SUMMARY
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Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella condemned on Wednesday, April 21, the killing of Ritchie Nepomuceno, the victim allegedly raped and tortured by cops, and ordered a “no-nonsense investigation” into the incident.
He instructed city legal officer Rey Gealon to render legal assistance to the Nepomuceno family and urged the husband of the slain victim to seek help from his office or the city legal office.
“Di gyud puwede isa ka complainant patyon lang to hide the truth. That is something that should never be tolerated,” he added. (A complainant cannot just be slain to hide the truth. That is something that should never be tolerated.)
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Wednesday also condemned the killing of Nepomuceno.
“As the country’s Gender Ombud and the head of the Interim National Preventive Mechanism, the CHR denounces the persisting violence against women, including those perpetrated by state actors in total institutions, such as prisons and other detention facilities,” CHR spokesperson and lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement.
Nepomuceno was shot dead by unidentified assailants along N. Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City on Monday, April 19. The cop who allegedly raped her also recently committed suicide on Tuesday, April 20.
Prior to all this, the CHR said that Nepomuceno reached out to their Central Visayas office to ask for help regarding committed acts of abuse by 11 cops from the Sawang Calero Police Station in Cebu City.
An investigation was led by CHR Central Visayas chief investigator Leo Villarino to verify her and two other victims’ claims. They also inspected the police station for the existence of an alleged secret detention cell which had “disappeared.”
Investigation
De Guia said that the CHR is already conducting its own probe into the killing of Nepomuceno and the death of Police Staff Sergeant Celso Lucero Colita, the alleged rapist.
“Our regional office has already deployed field investigators to reach out to other complainants and the family of the victim,” she said.
“We stress that women victims, as key witnesses, should be granted full protection from any form of retaliation or attacks to ensure that they may exercise their right to participate in investigations and legal proceedings,” she added.
The CHR also urged the government to conduct a speedy investigation into the case as according to them, “there are other complainants that also remain vulnerable to such violence.”
“State’s prevention of human rights violations is as equally important as holding the perpetrators to account,” De Guia concluded.
Colonel Josefino Ligan, director of the Cebu City Police Office, said in a live-streamed press briefing on his official Facebook page on Wednesday that they are still trying to find out where Colita managed to get his own firearm, which was supposedly taken from him.
Meanwhile, activist groups had also issued their statements calling for accountability on this issue from the national government and the Philippine National Police.
“When found guilty, Akbayan Youth calls for the immediate prosecution of the cops who were complicit in these crimes because relief from service is simply not enough,” said Akbayan Youth.
Gabriela Youth-UP Diliman, for its part, said, “Let us collectively hold the state accountable for its criminal negligence and demand the end of impunity now.” – Rappler.com
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