(UPDATE) METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority General Manager Nicolas Torre III clarified Thursday that while filing a case regarding the recent LRT-1 tragedy is mandatory, the specific legal procedure remains within the police’s discretion. The clarification came after public questions arose over the Feb. 11 incident at the Fernando Poe Jr. station, where a 23-year-old student jumped from an elevated portion of the station and was subsequently struck by a black sedan. The Quezon City Police District initially subjected the driver to inquest proceedings. However, the student’s father executed an affidavit declining to pursue charges, prompting the police to release the driver from custody. “Filing of the case is mandatory because there are parents who are crying, but the manner of filing is at the discretion of the PNP investigator,” Torre said in a Facebook post on Thursday evening. Torre outlined two legal paths available to investigators. The first is regular filing, which triggers a preliminary investigation by a prosecutor without an arrest and requires the complainant and respondent to submit affidavits and documentary evidence within a prescribed period. The second is inquest proceedings, a summary process conducted when a person is arrested without a warrant, during which a public prosecutor determines probable cause and whether formal charges should be filed while the respondent remains in detention. In a separate post on Friday, Torre defended the principle that police are duty-bound to act when someone seeks assistance in filing a complaint. “When someone asks the police to help file a case, you cannot simply ignore it. They feel there should be a case, so it must be heard. Only the prosecutor and the judge can have the final say on whether there is a case. That is the law of common sense,” he wrote. He added that the prosecutor will determine if there is probable cause, not the police. He added that the law enforcers’ role is to submit the complaint for proper evaluation. Torre added that in a regular filing, which he said should have been applied in this case, arrest is unnecessary and the driver would not be detained, but instead be required to submit a counter-affidavit and other evidence in defense. He noted that inquest proceedings, on the other hand, require an arrest, and warrantless arrests are allowed only under very specific circumstances, which carry personal responsibility and potential liability on the part of the arresting officer. “So now in this case, how will you arrest the driver? What crime did he commit? The police said reckless imprudence?” Torre said, questioning the basis for a warrantless arrest in the incident.