Pubdate: Tue, 02 Aug 2016 Source: Philippine Star (Philippines) Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2016 Contact: http://www.philstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622 OVERKILL The apprehended person was unarmed and, according to the police, handcuffed as he was pushed into a vehicle of the Highway Patrol Group. What dire threat could he have posed to the HPG members that warranted the use of lethal force? John dela Riarte allegedly displayed aggressive behavior when he was accosted by the HPG after the motorcycle he was driving figured in an accident with a car last Friday morning in Makati. How hard is it for several cops to subdue one unarmed man? Dela Riarte was not only subdued but permanently neutralized. On a day when he was supposed to start working as a company driver, the 26-year-old was shot dead while being held in a police car. He was shot twice in the neck, once in the chest and in the waist; those who fired the shots made sure Dela Riarte would have zero chance of survival. Dela Riarte had no police record and was no drug user. A witness who knew the victim said he saw Dela Riarte being punched in the abdomen by a policeman. Anyone who has committed no crime would also display aggressive behavior in such a situation, fearing for his personal safety especially in this killing season. Shocked and grieving, relatives of Dela Riarte decried the overkill. The excessive use of force by a person in authority against an unarmed and handcuffed civilian is murder. This is not law enforcement but criminal abuse of power. The HPG has placed two of its members under investigation for the killing: Police Officer 3 Jeremiah de Villa and PO2 Jonjie Manon-og. The probe, however, must be handled not by the police but the National Bureau of Investigation, as requested by Dela Riarte's relatives. President Duterte was swept to power on a promise of cracking down on the drug menace and criminality. His campaign can only be undermined by scalawags who abuse their positions as law enforcers and indulge a latent bloodlust to kill for sport. The President must ensure that all scalawags are purged from his shock troops. Such abuses go against the ultimate aim of any anticrime campaign, which is to keep the public safe. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom