MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday said it has formed a task force that would investigate the alleged torture of a suspected street robber by a Manila policeman.

Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III formed the fact-finding task force and ordered the team to submit a report and a recommendation to him "as soon as possible."

The Ombudsman said that the task force's investigation would only focus on the possible criminal liability of the police officer involved in the torture.

It said that it is giving way to the National Police Commission's own investigation into the possible administrative liability of the policeman.

"Emil" (not his real name), who provided the torture video to ABS-CBN News, initially identified the torturer policeman as Binayug.

The policeman, later identified as Inspector Joselito Binayug, has been suspended. Other members of the police community precinct in Tondo, which Binayug heads, have also been suspended by the police and brought to a police training camp.

The cellphone video showed an alleged policemen pulling a cord attached to a naked man's genitals and whipping the man in the face and chest during interrogation.

The footage also showed that the torture was witnessed by several other men, some of them wearing police uniforms.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which has also started its own investigation, has said that the policeman who took the footage, and the other people watching the torture happen should also be held accountable.