NBI may clear PAOCC on killings

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) may be spared from liabilities in the controversial Quezon “shootout” that resulted in the death of 13 men in Atimonan town last Jan. 6, an official privy to the ongoing probe of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) hinted yesterday.

The source said NBI probers found the testimonies of Chief Superintendent Reginald Villasanta, PAOCC executive director, acceptable and are apparently “buying” it.

Villasanta last week said the PAOCC did not approve the “Coplan (case operation plan) Armado” since its proponents led by Superintendent Hansel Marantan failed to submit several requirements.

He, however, admitted the commission provided P100,000 in initial funds to Marantan’s team to help them build an airtight case against their targets, purported to be hired guns.

But Villasanta said the fund was meant for intelligence gathering, not actual operational expenses.

“The main issue in the investigation is the propriety of the operation. It appears that the team proceeded with the operation without clear go-signal from PAOCC,” the source told The STAR.

“There may be initial funding but the question is: Can PAOCC be liable if there was indeed an overkill, considering there was no approval yet?” the source asked.

The source, who refused to be named pending the drafting of the NBI report, said the probers found merit in Villasanta’s point that PAOCC “makes decisions at the policy level, and is not designed to be involved in actual operations.”

Sought for comment on the recommended lack of liability of PAOCC, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima merely replied: “We’re still studying that.”

The NBI summoned Villasanta last Friday to shed light on the incident that resulted in the death of alleged jueteng lord Vic Siman and 12 others.

According to Villasanta, the PAOCC board did not reach the point of approving the coplan because its proponents had yet to comply with certain requirements.

At the time of the submission of the proposal to PAOCC, he said there were other cases considered more of a priority.

Meanwhile, NBI director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas has confirmed that one of the two Montero sport utility vehicles used by the victims during the encounter is now in their custody.

Rojas said they would further examine the trajectories of the bullets as well as the interior of the vehicle to determine exactly where the slugs were taken, among other things.

“Our technical people will have to validate also their findings with that of the PNP-SOCO,” he said, referring to the Philippine National Police Scene of the Crime Operatives.

Crime scene tampered?

Another NBI source has revealed that the Atimonan crime scene may have been tampered with to make it appear that an exchange of fire indeed occurred.

The source produced a sketch of the encounter he earlier showed to The STAR to point out discrepancies.

The sketch was submitted to the NBI by the Armed Forces-Special Forces Battalion, whose men were asked to augment the police force in the Atimonan checkpoint.

He questioned the absence of bullet holes in any of the five unmarked vehicles of the police parked nearby.

He said the vehicles were parked against the wall which was found to have sustained six bullet holes.

“The bullet holes on the wall were through and through. Where did these bullets pass if there were vehicles here?” he asked, indicating a point on the sketch.

SF lawyer presents witness  

Lawyer Crisanto Buela, counsel for the AFP security forces, presented an eyewitness who claimed that a man from one of the Montero SUVs shot Marantan just before the volley of fire erupted.

Buela identified the witness as Rolando Boncayo Vico Jr., of Tagkawayan, Quezon, a caretaker of a prawn hatchery located near where the encounter took place.

Vico said the hatchery, owned by his sister, was in front of the checkpoint.

He said at around 3:20 p.m., he saw a military truck stop in front of the compound where he was staying with his family.

He was three and half meters near the truck and the checkpoint signage was about 25 meters away where two Montero vehicles were stopped.

“When shots were fired, I took cover inside the compound together with my wife and children. We never came out until hours later, around past 5 p.m. The man who was shot by someone from the Montero was in civilian clothes. He was in denim pants,” Vico said in Filipino.

“I saw an Innova, Toyota Altis, and a government vehicle (with) red plate,” he said, apparently referring to the unmarked PNP vehicles near the checkpoint.

He said there were three armed men telling the occupants of the Montero to go down. He said the third man from the left was shot by someone from the Montero.

“After that three shots from the Montero, the police and military sprayed the Montero with bullets. I was forced to duck,” he said.           

Vico claimed he never saw any truck behind the Montero, in which the DOJ eyewitnesses were supposedly riding during the encounter.

Without directly referring to the Quezon incident, newly installed Army chief Lt. Gen Noel Coballes ordered a re-study of the soldiers’ combat standard operating procedures (SOPs) and rules of engagement.

Coballes issued the order during the turnover of the Army command from newly installed AFP chief Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista. – With Sandy Araneta, Jaime Laude