Rubout or accidental death?

Last week, the body of Rommel Miranda was found floating at the Cantilan River near our public market. His body particularly his face was reportedly bruised up and signs that he was mauled were apparent. He was also in handcuffs when his body was found. According to reports, he was supposedly arrested and handcuffed the night previous to when his dead body was found to prevent him from causing a scene at a KTV bar. Previous to this incident, the victim caused a scene at the KTV bar and since the owner did not want a repeat of the incident she called the cops. 3 cops responded to the owners call for help.

Two things come to my mind about this incident: firstly, shock that such a crime could happen to our otherwise peaceful town and secondly, that the police has not satisfactorily answered about their role in the incident.

There's a big question regarding the role that the cops played in this particular incident. According to reports, the victim ran away after the cuffs were put on him. The cops did not even attempt to pursue the victim considering that he was under police custody. If this is true that the cops did not pursue the victim when he ran away, what was their reason for not going after the victim? Is it fear that they might get into trouble for running after a defenseless man or is it just plain laziness and complacency? Either way, they are in too much trouble for not performing what they were supposed to do.

What has happened to the investigation? Up to this point, we still have to hear from the investigation supposedly being conducted by the provincial PNP.

One thing I noticed about police investigations here in our town is that there is none. Our cops are not even trained to do basic investigative work or if they are, they do not know how to do it. They wait until somebody complains before they start investigating and usually, nothing comes out of it. If there is no complaint although a crime has been committed, they do not do anything. In other words, our cops are not proactive, they are reactive. And if ever they are proactive, as in the case of this victim, they get careless.

Again, is this a case of a rubout or accidental death? Considering the way our police conduct their investigations, I wouldn't even venture a guess. I just hope that they will not try to cover up for their own kind. I also hope that if the cops who arrested the victim will be found out to be negligent in their work, sufficient punishment will be meted out to justify the death of Rommel.

I think it is about time that our police will learn a lesson that doing sloppy police work will not be rewarded. There cannot be an excuse for it especially if somebody died in the process.