A police general says the fatal shooting of an alleged drug suspect by an undercover cop in Bacoor, Cavite last Thursday would be investigated to determine if the law enforcement officer should be charged criminally or administratively, or both.

That probe should go without saying and should be automatic, lest the relatives of the deceased cry cover-up. In the absence of any liability, though, Corporal Carmelito Dominguez should be commended and even promoted.

Dominguez's immediate superior pointed out that the cop showed exemplary action by being judicious and not firing indiscriminately as he chased the suspect on foot and ducked a grenade thrown at him.

This should be an open-and-shut case exculpating Dominguez as nearly everything was caught by close-circuit television cameras, including the suspect sweeping the cop off his feet and trying to wrest his gun from him.

This Christmas should be extra special for Dominguez because, as seen from the CCTV footage, he could have been killed as the suspect had him pinned with his back on the ground. 

Several times, Dominguez would say in an interview, the suspect pulled the trigger on him, but what saved him from sure death was his presence of mind to flick on the gun's safety during those moments.

The video falls under "res ipsa loquitur," Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." Simply put, Dominguez found himself in a position where it was either him or the suspect getting shot.

In fact, the cop only had the briefest of moments to slip the gun between his legs as he had them around the suspect's body. He then fired one shot that unfortunately proved fatal as it hit the suspect on the left side of the chest.

Dominguez explained that he just wanted to control the suspect so he could be arrested. He was trying to break an arm or a leg, he said, but things took a turn for the worse.

The policeman showed some grappling skills, which should bolster the push for law enforcement officers to be afforded by the government barehand fighting training like jiujitsu or the Israeli's effective krav maga.