ATTENTION: GENERAL NICANOR BARTOLOME PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF CAMP CRAME, QUEZON CITY SUBJECT: Laoag City Cops Illegal Search On A Private Residential House April 4, 2012 I, Peter La. Julian, of legal age and a resident of Oscariz, Ramon, Isabela and Laoag City, hereby state the following: 1.At past five in the afternoon of March 21, 2012, a 4-men team of law enforcers in civvies barged into a house along Zacarias Flores Street, Laoag City, to arrest an alleged drug pusher, Victor Padayao, 44. At that time, the owners of the house were in the Laoag Public market buying provisions. Only their children and their children's cousins were left in the house watching an afternoon TV show. The kids were shocked and tongue-tied at the sight of the armed men, who entered the rooms allegedly with drawn guns. 2. One lawman with a drawn gun went up the stairs to the second floor of the house, kicked a door open and pointed his weapon at the children, who were then folding newly-laundered clothes, inside the room. One of them, Bea Coloma, 9, scampered out of the room and attempted to jump out of the window but restrained herself probably out of fear. 3. Not finding their quarry, the lawmen rushed out of the house, out of the gate, and proceeded to the house next door. In their hurry, one of them tripped a 5-year old boy who cried but was not even helped to his feet by the lawmen. 4. Nellie Montano, 48, a vegetable vendor, told the undersigned that the police arrived earlier on an owner-typed jeep with no plate number. She said that that the armed riders, one of them with a drawn gun, immediately jumped out of the vehicle, entered the gate of the house followed by his three companions, their hands on their hips, ready to pull out their guns. Montano said she was alarmed because she knew that only the children of the homeowners were inside the house. 5. A 54-year old informant, who refused to be identified, and whose house is located across the street from the house that have been searched by the lawmen, corroborated her neighbor's (Montano)statement. She added that she got nervous ("nagnerbiosak) at the sight of the lawmen, later identified as members of the Laoag City Police Station, who suddenly arrived in a vehicle that stopped in front of said house. She said she feared for the safety of the children inside the house. 6. There were many people--mostly from the neighborhood--who saw the lawmen and there was a commotion in the street. "It was as if there was a shooting of a "cloak and dagger" film, one of them said in Ilokano. 7. The police led by a certain SPO4 Rovimanuel V. Balolong of the Laoag City Police Station had acted on a tip from a supposed "asset" who earlier had allgedly purchased a sachet of "shabu" from Padayao on a path leading to his (Pa

dayao) on the same street. 8. The police arrested Padayao in the next village, Barangay 7, handcuffed him, took from his pockets money paper bills, and then escorted him to the owner type jeep, according to witnesses. 9. The policemen trespassed on a private home, causing undue panic and fear among the children, not to say the grave concern of the parents--their fear of what would have happened to their kids if there was a firefight between the suspect and the cops. 10. By their act and behavior, the police inflicted a sort of trauma on the innocent children that would be difficult for them to remove from their system throughout their separate lives. 11. As team leader who rose from the ranks, SPO4 Balolong undoubtedly knows his job as law enforcer and the responsibilities, respect for human rights, for one, that go with it. 12. For this apparent fiasco of the alleged buy-bust operation, SPO4 Balolong and his men should be investigated and, if found to have committed lapses in judgment, be meted the corresponding punishment. 13. Also, a certain SPO4 Wilfredo Calubaquib refused to take the statement of the homeowners regarding the illegal search made by the police in their home. Is this not a violation of the constitutional right of a citizen to report the act by the lawmen? Juvy Cherry had gone to the police station to have the incident recorded in the police blotter. 14. I further state that I have been a journalist for at least thirty years and have always been bounded by the journalist's code of ethics--to search for, speak and write the truth. I have interviewed my informants and checked and double checked the facts contained in this sort of an affidavit. 15. I further state that I am the father of Eugene C. Julian and the children mentioned herein are my grandchildren who have been emotionally and mentally affected by the incident.