The Court of Appeals has issued a directive to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to follow a 2017 Supreme Court order, requiring the submission of final investigation reports concerning the deaths of four men in Quezon City during the early stages of the previous administration’s Oplan Tokhang campaign. The directive, outlined in a six-page resolution dated January 3, was issued in response to a writ of amparo protection order granted by the Supreme Court to Efren Morillo, the sole survivor of the incident.
The resolution mandates the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management to report to the court on the status of the investigation and to provide copies of the final investigation report to both the court and the petitioners within ten days of notification. If the investigation remains incomplete, the PNP is still required to submit the most recent reports and related documents from the past eight years within the same timeframe.
The incident in question occurred on August 21, 2016, in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, where Raffy Gabo, Anthony Comendo, Marcelo Daa Jr., and Jessie Cule were fatally shot during a police operation. Morillo, who survived a chest wound, secured a writ of amparo from the Supreme Court for his protection.
The Supreme Court’s permanent protection order also barred four named police officers from coming within one kilometer of Morillo’s and the victims’ families’ homes and workplaces. Additionally, these officers were reassigned outside of Quezon City and Montalban, Rizal, and Oplan Tokhang was suspended for the petitioners.
Currently under the protection of the Commission on Human Rights, Morillo has sought access to the investigation reports and any charges filed against the involved police officers. The petitioners have also moved the Supreme Court for the complete and final investigation results related to the incident that led to the deaths of the four victims and the attempted murder of Morillo.
The Court of Appeals highlighted that the initial report provided by the PNP in 2017 was insufficient and did not fully inform the petitioners about the events of August 21, 2016, nor did it detail the actions taken against the implicated police officers.