Calderon irked by mishandling of gun used to kill Harashina, orders review of police procedural lapses

By Ronron
June 25, 2007

Irked by an apparent mishandling of the gun used to kill a Japanese national over the weekend in Manila City, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Oscar Calderon ordered on Monday a review among police investigators and scene of the crime operatives on proper handling of evidence.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, Jr., in a statement, said Calderon was peeved at newspaper photographs that showed a police investigator holding the suspected murder weapon used in the killing of Kazuyuki Harashina dawn of Saturday in Ermita, Manila City.

“Gen. Calderon directed National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla to conduct refresher trainer for first responders and case investigators on the basics of crime scene processing procedures,” Pagdilao said.

“The PNP chief said crime scene procedures must be observed by all police personnel involved in every case investigation,” he added.

Pagdilao said the refresher courses will be jointly conducted by the NCRPO and PNP Crime Laboratory, in cooperation with the National Forensic Science Training Institute of the Philippine Public Safety College.

To be included in the course are the administrative procedures on the chain of custody of evidence in criminal cases, Pagdilao said.

Pagdilao quoted Calderon to have said that, “every police officer is expected to know the basics of crime scene procedures to preserve vital evidence that will determine the outcome of cases under investigation.”

On Sunday, SPO2 Virgo Villareal of the Manila Police District (MPD) Homicide Section said they will no longer attempt to lift fingerprints from the caliber 45 recovered from the crime scene of the Harashina killing because it is already contaminated after many people held it before it reached him.

The fingerprints that could be lifted would have been used to match with the fingerprint of the suspect that will be arrested for confirmation purposes.

Because of the absence of the fingerprints, Villareal said they will just rely instead on the testimony of their witness to identify and prosecute the suspected gunman.

Pagdilao said the information reaching Calderon showed there were at least eight police officers who held the gun before it was brought to the office of the MPD Homicide Section.

“These procedural lapses are inexcusable and should serve to remind other PNP personnel on the proper procedure in handling evidence in criminal investigation,” Calderon said in a statement.

He did not say, however, if those who held the gun used in killing Harashina will be held accountable and slapped with sanctions.

Harashina had just left a karaoke bar in Ermita and was riding a motorcycle when the lone gunman fired at him past 2am last Saturday. Police suspect that a fellow Japanese national masterminded the incident./DMS