BUENAVISTA. – Relatives of the victim in a raid in this town two weeks ago are contemplating to file charges against the raiding team made up of members of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) before the Commission on Human Rights. Charlie Bentillo of barangay Lubang this town was killed in that SWAT raid according to a radio broadcast hosted by Boy Pernia and lawyer Handel Lagunay. Bentillo was reportedly the subject of a planned raid in barangay Lubang in this town for possessing illegal firearm but was dead after a short exchange of gunshots with SWAT at past 3 AM on February 9, 2013. The SWAT belongs to the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) carried out the raid by virtue of a search warrant issued by Presiding Judge Suceso Arcamo of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 47 in Tagbilaran.

The family of the victim said that the raiding team who wore bonnets did not identify themselves but instead destroyed their door by a sledge hammer. While inside, the policemen started firing. It was fortunate, the report said, that two small children inside the house were not hit after the volley of gunfire. The same scenario prevailed when a minor was at the residence of a certain Melliardo Casquejo, who was residing nearby or across the road at a time the SWAT raided separately and allegedly firing “indiscriminately.” Casquejo was also the subject of the raid for alleged possession of firearm. The concerned family of Bentillo said that it could have been a lot better if only the raiders identify themselves so that they can try to convince Bentillo to surrender and the exchange of gunfire prevented. The Bentillo family said the two minors are still in a state of trauma at a time when the reporter personally visited barangay Lubang sometime last week.

A police report showed that it was the victim who fired the first shot as the raid was carried out. But this claim was disputed by the victim’s wife saying that her husband only fired back following the volley of gunshots from the raiding team. She admitted that her husband had an unlicensed, the same firearm that hit one of the raiding team members. Bentillo was riddled with bullets as shown from the multiple wounds in his body. Aside from the failure to identify themselves, the raiding team only served the search warrant at around six in the morning after the victim was already dead, the same report said. The family is questioning what is the standard operating procedures or rules of engagement in serving a search warrant. On the other hand, Casquejo, who possessed an unlicensed firearm was hit in a separate raid by the same team. He cheated death by pretending he was dead as a result of the burst of gunfire. He’s now recuperating at a hospital in this city and allegedly guarded by those who raided his residence, the report said. Acting Buenavista police chief P/Insp Nestor Rebosura said in an interview that the conduct of the raid was a “legitimate operation.”