NCRPO looking if inmate died from police brutality in Taguig cell

March 31, 2020

The chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Tuesday said they are investigating if there is police brutality in the death of one inmate in Taguig City.

Police Major General Debold Sinas said suspect Ramil Pagyos was arrested last March 17 after barangay security force in Sitio Pusawan, Barangay Ususan, Taguig City sought police assistance for alarm and scandal.

“The police went to the area with the barangay tanod… he was drunk and identifying himself as a (Philippine) Army officer but when asked for identification, he cannot show any IDs to the police officer and he even resisted arrest,” Sinas said in a press briefing.

Sinas said upon arriving at the police station, Pagyos went amuck because no one is visiting him.

“So on March 28, around 9:42 am, he suffered from difficulty in breathing and was brought to Taguig Pateros District Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival for acute myocardial infraction or heart attack,” he said.

“The Medico Legal Examination done on the cadaver of the victim confirms the initial findings of Taguig Pateros hospital that he died of heart attack. Further, statements made by inmates in the same custodial facility provide that he was not ill-treated by the police,” he added.

Sinas made the statement after the wife of the suspect posted on social media claiming that her husband died to the maltreatment by police officers during his detention.

“The wife claimed that he has bruises. Actually if you will really look at him, he has an untreated boil in his left feet then the wound got infected and had an effect on his system causing small boils in different parts of his body… We could assure investigation is going on to check what happened to him and we are getting the testimony and statements of the inmates to determine if there is a foul place or police brutality,” he said.

Sinas said the abrasions on the suspect’s body was due to scratching due to the small boils in his body and because he is hitting the rails on his cell as an attempt to escape.

“We are determining what are the other cause in the incident but according to medico legal that is the result of his death… investigation is ongoing for our personnel if there is foul play but as far as we are concern, based on the testimony given by other inmates inside, he was not touch when he was still inside the custodial facility,” he said.

“The presumption of regularity in the performance of duty prevails as of the moment. But this doesn’t mean that we will just let this go by. We are investigating this matter. Guaranteed, that we will not tolerate infractions and irregularities among our rank should we prove the same after thorough investigation,” Sinas said. Ella Dionisio/DMS