Press Release
October 2, 2017

POE WANTS 'LAKAY', TRICYCLE DRIVER INVITED TO CARL ARNAIZ PROBE

Sen. Grace Poe said the Senate should summon "Lakay" and an unnamed tricycle driver who proved to be vital in the ongoing probe on the gruesome deaths of two teenagers allegedly at the hands of Caloocan cops.

During the resumption of the Senate hearing on the death of Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, Tomas Bagcal, the taxi driver allegedly robbed by Arnaiz, said that he brought the two teenagers to a Caloocan police precinct alive with the help of a tricycle driver. Bagcal also identified a Caloocan policeman called 'Sir Lakay', and later identified as Prudencio Raras, as the person who allegedly ordered the killing of Arnaiz while de Guzman remained at the back of the patrol car.

"Higit sa lahat, dapat nandito si Lakay at tricycle driver kung saka-sakaling magkakaroon ng susunod na pagdinig," said Poe, vice chair of the committee on public order and dangerous drugs.

Ten minutes after he brought Arnaiz and De Guzman to the police station, Raras purportedly showed up and said "itatapon na lang," and made a throat-cutting gesture with his hand, Bagcal said.

"Pagkalipas mga more or less 10 minutes, pumasok yung pulis sa kuwarto ko at sinabi ko ulit na i-turn over ko yung dalawang holdaper at sabi, itatapon na lang, sabay senyas na gigilitan ng leeg," Bagcal told Senate probers.

Bagcal said he feared for his life and thought that he may be targeted next. He said the police did not file a blotter in the logbook, and did not get crucial details as to his name, address and the taxi that he was driving.

A heavily clothed witness, 21-year-old alias Joe Daniel, corroborated the testimony of Bagcal and positively identified Police Officer 1 Jeffrey Perez and Police Officer 1 Ricky Arquilita who shot Arnaiz while he was kneeling.

Poe then asked Senior Supt. Chito Galvez Bersaluna, then Caloocan police chief who was relieved following the wave of killings, about the identity of Raras and the two policemen who killed Arnaiz, but the police official said he does not know Raras since he was handling some 1,200 Caloocan cops at the time.

"Kailangan din makausap itong si Prudencio Raras dahil siya ang parang nagbibigay ng direktiba sa lahat," Poe added.

Poe expressed dismay on how the Caloocan police handled the case, especially on the purported lack of a blotter report on the robbery incident.

"'Yung proseso natin dito nakakadismaya at higit sa lahat nakakatakot. Dapat sa pulis unang-una nila-log doon para may katibayan na ikaw ay naroroon at di ka na lang biglang mawawala o wawalain," Poe said.

Poe was about to ask Police Officer 2 Rodolfo Bautista, chief investigator of the Caloocan police station who logged Bagcal's complaint at 4 a.m. but was not present during that time. Bautista, who was grilled by Poe during a previous Senate hearing how he was unable to get important details of the robbery incident, was not present when Poe asked for him.

Bautista had earlier told senators he was only able to get Bagcal's testimony three hours after the alleged robbery took place.

Poe asked Philippine National Police chief Director-General Ronald dela Rosa to submit the proper police procedure in dealing with crime incidents.

"Yung pagkukulang na nakita natin, dapat talaga yung mga chief of police lahat ngayon ay magsumite ng kanilang proseso kung papaano kapag may mga nahuhuli na ganito," the senator added.

At the same time, Poe called on the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to offer protection to Joe Daniel.

"Kailangang protektahan ang ating witness na si 'Joe Daniel.' Alam ko ang ating PAO ay pinoprotektahan at dinedepensahan ninyo ang kahit na sino basta nangangailangan ng tulong ng PAO," said Poe.

Arnaiz was gunned down after supposedly attempting to rob a taxi driver in Caloocan City on August 18. His companion, 14-year-old De Guzman, was found dead only last September 6 in Gapan, Nueva Ecija.

Arnaiz's body turned up in a morgue on August 28, ten days after he went missing.

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