SC upholds homicide raps vs 4 cops

In 2016 drug bust deaths of man, son

-  DAPHNE GALVEZ

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman to charge only four of 21 police officers with homicide for the killing of Luis Bonifacio and his son Gabriel in a drug bust in 2016.

In a 22-page ruling dated Oct. 11, 2023 and released on Monday, the SC's Third Division dismissed a petition by Bonifacio's widow, Mary Ann Domingo, that sought to indict the 21 Caloocan police officers on two counts of murder.

The SC's Third Division affirmed the order of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (OMB-MOLEO) finding probable cause to charge M/Sgt. Virgilio Cervantes and Cpls. Arnel de Guzman, Johnson Alacre and Artemio Saguros Jr. with two counts of homicide.

The ruling was written by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, with Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Samuel Gaerlan and Japar Dimaampao concurring.

On his knees