Police to coordinate with CPDRC in probe into slay

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Police Office will coordinate with the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center on its investigation into the killing of suspected robber Jeromy Polistico in front of the Cebu City Jail last Friday.

Insp. Vicente Velasquez, chief of the CCPO Homicide Section, said they would check if the CPDRC has a surveillance camera in front of its facility and if the device was able to record the incident.

Velasquez also said the empty shells and slugs they recovered from the crime scene were already submitted to the Philippine National Police-7 Crime Laboratory for examination.

Police Regional Office-7 Director Lani-O Nerez said the police cannot compel witnesses to testify in the crime.

“The investigation depends g’yud na sa witnesses. If a witness refuses, dili nato na siya ma-force,” Nerez said.

Velasquez revealed that they failed to locate a 53-year-old man who came face-to-face with the assailants during the incident to convince him to serve as witness in the case.

Velasquez also said they tried to convince the owner of the bakery where Polistico and his lawyer, former fiscal Jesus Feliciano, were eating when the assailants attacked.

However, the bakery owner, whom Velasquez said was the most possible to have recognized the faces of the assailants, was allegedly reluctant to say anything about the incident.

The police have also yet to invite Feliciano for his statements, although it was reported that he could not identify the assailants as he ducked on the ground for safety during the shooting.

Velasquez admits that they need a witness for their documentary evidence, aside from the material evidence that they already have recovered.

Polistico, 34, of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, was shot by two unidentified men in front of the city jail in barangay Kalunasan few minutes after he was released from jail Friday afternoon after posting a P40,000 bail.

He was reportedly one of the four suspects who earlier robbed a jewelry dealer of P7.2 million worth of jewelry in barangay Punta Prinsesa. – Niña G. Sumacot/LPM   (THE FREEMAN)