Noy wants more time to read NBI report on Atimonan case

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino intends to finish the five-inch thick report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the Atimonan incident before deciding on his next action.

He said he was finished reading the first inch “but I really want to understand fully what happened there.”

Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview in San Pablo, Laguna that he would find time to read everything. He was in Laguna for a campaign sortie with Team PNoy candidates.

“Now, if there are those who will volunteer to read the other four inches, we will accept so they will just summarize. The summary of the Atimonan Report is 64 pages,” he said, adding the report and annexes were voluminous.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and the Palace legal team were tasked to review the NBI report.

“The Office of the President would be part of the group that would be digesting the report,” said Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang.

“I hope you give us some time. This is a long investigation. It is a complicated case. And it’s better to fully digest all of the details before we begin to speak publicly about it,” Carandang earlier said.

Earlier reports, quoting unnamed sources, said the NBI recommended the filing of multiple murder charges against policemen and soldiers involved in the incident.

The President had ordered the relief of Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent James Melad over a spate of violent incidents in his jurisdiction, including the alleged Atimonan shootout and the killing of suspected former gambling administrator Fernando Morales a week later.