NBI: Hisuler slay solution key to that of Valerio's

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it might solve the slaying of Philippine National Oil Co. official Mario Hisuler ahead of the still unresolved assassination of Government Corporate Counsel Jun Valerio.

NBI Director Federico Opinion said this as he claims that the key to solving last Tuesday's killing of Hisuler in Jaen, Nueva Ecija might serve as their key in also solving the Valerio case.

The NBI suspect that the killing of Hisuler, a former congressman, and that of Valerio last March 18 are related.

The NBI has sent a team to Jaen, Nueva Ecija to investigate the site where Hisuler was killed by unidentified gunmen.

Hisuler was visiting the grave of Valerio in the company of other lawyers close to Valerio when shot by the assailants.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has also started its probe on the case and invited the NBI to a case conference yesterday in Camp Crame.

One circumstance the death of Hisuler puzzling the NBI is the fact that the PNOC official had just arrived in Nueva Ecija when he was shot dead.

The NBI said the gunmen appeared to have known Hisuler was coming.

Meanwhile, Central Luzon police director, Chief Supt. Roberto Calinisan ordered yesterday the Nueva Ecija police to turn over all available evidence to the office of the Regional Crime Laboratory, including the firearms of policemen present during the killing of Hisuler.

This developed as a case conference was held at the the office of the 3rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (3CIDG), attended by "Task Force Hisuler" and other government investigating agencies.

Calinisan also ordered the Cabanatuan City police not to intervene in the ongoing investigation of the controversial Hisuler case.

Calinisan issued the directive after he received information that the firearms and other evidence were brought to the Cabanatuan City police crime laboratory.

"The ballistic and paraffin examination should be undertaken by experts at the regional crime laboratory to prevent whitewash and avoid the perception of being biased," Calinisan told Senior Supt. Aurelio Hiteroza, Nueva Ecija police director.

At least four persons who were with Hisuler's group have been reported carrying firearms at the time of the incident.

Crime experts are not ruling out accidental, intentional and gun-for-hire as possible angles behind the death of Hisuler.

An investigator, who requested anonymity, said they are carefully evaluating whether or not the killing was accidental, intentional or that the killers were guns-for-hire.

Police consider as suspects all people who were with Hisuler when he was shot, including his police bodyguards.

Task Force Hisuler was created by Calinisan to speed up the investigation into the Hisuler's case. - Manny Galvez, Ric Sapnu