BACOLOD CITY – A personnel of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) is facing a criminal complaint for physical injury related to the violation of Republic Act 7610 or the “Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act” for allegedly hurting two minors in this city, as shown in a viral video.
The respondent, Staff Sgt. Harry Gonzaga, 40, is assigned to the 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company in Silay City.
Capt. Judesses Catalogo, chief of NOCPPO’s Public Information Office, said on Tuesday that after the case was filed by the Bacolod City Police Office Women and Children Protection Desk before the City Prosecutor’s Office, they could no longer comment further on it.
“Since the case has already been filed, we are prevented from giving comments and updates,” he added.
Catalogo said Gonzaga is currently under the jurisdiction of the Regional Police Holding and Accounting Unit as he is attending further studies in the Regional Training Center 6 (Western Visayas) satellite in Murcia town.
Based on the charge sheet filed by Police Station 6 here, the complainants included two boys, aged 12 and 13, who were allegedly assaulted by Gonzaga, who got angry when they hit his vehicle with a stone while playing on the street in Barangay 30 on the evening of July 10.
Closed-circuit television footage that has gone viral shows the police officer punching the two minors by the roadside.
Meanwhile, Catalogo said the NOCPPO is preparing to file charges for multiple murders against suspects in the killing of four members of the Fausto family in Himamaylan City.
He said the investigators are still trying to contact a family member to sign as the main complainant. However, if it is not possible, the case could still be filed with the Philippine National Police as the complainant.
“This week, it can be filed based on the accounts of witnesses,” he added.
On the night of June 14, couple Rolly and Emilda Fausto and their two minor sons were gunned down by perpetrators believed to be members of the New People’s Army in their house at the remote Sitio Kangkiling, Barangay Buenavista.
During his visit here last week, Brig. Gen. Sidney Villafor, director of Police Regional Office 6, said that based on the forensic examinations and the judicial affidavits of the witnesses, the crime was executed by the communist rebels.
He added that investigators are considering the urgency in filing the case while ensuring that the pieces of evidence can stand in court.
“We reinforce and solidify all the evidence so we can file a strong case against them,” Villaflor said. (PNA)
