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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Friday, June 2, 2017
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BACOLOD City – A police officer showed up at the Negros Press Club building on Thursday to claim that he was charged with murder in connection with the deaths of two immediate family members of an illegal drug suspect.
But Senior Police Officer 1 Joshua Barile of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Intelligence Group denied having anything to do with the deaths of Ricky Serenio’s father and brother Wilfredo and Wilmar.
Barile told the press he was facing two counts of murder.
Wilfredo, 53, was killed in Barangay Singcang-Airport on May 22, more than a month after son Wilmar, 31, was killed in the same village on April 10.
Both were shot to death by armed men.
According to Barile, the accusations against him were “fabricated.”
He said he was able to get a copy of the complaint — currently with his lawyer — filed at the City Prosecutor’s Office.
This reporter asked for a copy of the complaint from the police but the latter refused to give for the “safety and security” of their witness. We also asked from the City Prosecutor’s Office, but to no avail.
Barile claimed there was a “big person” behind the charges against him but provided sketchy descriptions.
He told the press he believes this person was “making lies and fabricating stories” so they could exact revenge on the police officers who raided their house in southern Negros several years ago.
While he denied personally knowing or meeting Ricky Serenio, Barile claimed the drug suspect was allegedly tortured by the Regional Special Operations Group into implicating police officers in the drug trade.
Serenio was arrested in Talisay City, Negros Occidental in January this year for grave coercion. A self-confessed former member of the Berya drug group, he went on to accuse several law enforcers of being drug protectors.
Barile said he wrote PNP chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa and the Office of the President asking for an investigation into the officers tagged as drug protectors and into his current case.
Barile said he was dismayed in his service for “nobody can be trusted” anymore. He said he knew his life and that of his family were in danger but he “will not retreat until the last drop of my blood.”
Panay News tried to reach Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky for comment on Barile’s claims, but the acting director of the Bacolod City Police Office was not answering calls or replying to text messages as of press time./PN
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