THERE is no glory in taking the life of an innocent civilian in the guise of performing one’s legitimate duty.
And if a policeman is accused of killing an 18-year old boy and accusing him of “nanlaban” during an illegal cockfighting raid then we should not look the other way but collectively condemn such barbaric act.
Edwin Arnigo, who was reportedly within the autism spectrum, went out of his house in Barangay Lingunan, Valenzuela City on Sunday to buy ice candy when Master Sergeant Christopher Salcedo picked him up and shot him near the homeowner’s office.
Witnesses said Salcedo and his “cohorts,” Corporals Kenneth Pacheco, Rex Paredes and Rodel Villar, dragged Arnigo’s bloodied body inside the tupada site, took his T-shirt off, and did not allow the boy’s relatives to bring him to the hospital after he was shot at close range.
Published May 25, 2021, 11:43 AM
The Valenzuela City Police Station (VCPS) has released its side regarding the death of an 18-year-old man with special needs and maintained the latter tried to take the gun from one of its police officers.
In a post on its Facebook page Monday night, VCPS said Master Sergeant Christopher Salcedo, the police officer accused of killing, was conducting a raid at an illegal tupada or cockfighting site in Barangay Lingunan on Sunday afternoon when victim Edwin Arnigo, a man with autism, suddenly appeared. By that time, Salcedo was manhandling an apprehended individual.
“Bigla umanong sumulpot si Arnigo at nakipag-agawan sa kanya ng kanyang baril na kaagad pumutok at tumama sa kaliwang tagiliran (Arnigo suddenly appeared and fought over the gun, which eventually fired and hit at his side),” VCPS said.