MANILA: Government prosecutors on Friday filed murder charges against two “rookies” of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the killing of two teenagers in suburban Caloocan City, Metro Manila who were eventually used as “poster boys” in the alleged rampant human rights violations arising from the bloody and violent war on illegal drugs.

Aside from murder, prosecutors filed charges of planting of evidence against PNP rookies Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arguilles, who both hold the rank of Police Office 1 and then assigned to the Caloocan City police.

A panel of lawyers of the Department of Justice recommended the filing of the criminal charges before the Caloocan City regional court after they found “probable cause” against the two policemen for the killing of teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman in 2017.

Arnaiz and De Guzman eventually emerged as “poster boys” or “symbols” of the alleged rampant human rights violations especially extra-judicial killings that arose from the government’s brutal and bloody war on illegal drugs led by the PNP.

Their killing also resulted in a top-to-bottom reshuffle of the 1,000 officers and men at the Caloocan City police, who were ordered to undergo re-training whose major topics included values and human rights.

Records showed that the body of Arnaiz was found in a morgue in Caloocan City on Aug.28, 2017, or 10 days after he was allegedly killed in a shootout with Perex and Arguilles for robbing a taxi driver.

Forensic experts of the state-run Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) earlier reported they found handcuff marks around the wrists of Arnaiz and traces of bruises on his body.

On the other hand, the body of De Guzman, who was reported by his family to be with Arnaiz, was found dumped into a creek in Gapan City in Nueva Ecija province in Central Luzon, less than a 100 kilometers north of Metro Manila.

In separate FAO autopsy findings, experts said that the body of De Guzman bore multiple stab wounds as well as torture signs before he was dumped into the creek in Nueva Ecija.

Due to rising denunciations and criticisms especially over extra-judicial killings, President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte sidelined the PNP and ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) as the lead agency in the war on drugs in 2017.