NBI: Evidence vs Viña ‘hearsay’

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) admits it does not have enough evidence to pin down the alleged "coordinator" of the brutal kidnapping and slaying of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito last Nov. 24.

According to lawyer Samuel Ong, head of the NBI’s Metro Manila office, which was tasked to investigate the case, the evidence against Senior Superintendent Teofilo Viña, former head of the PAOCTF’s Visayas Group, is merely "hearsay."

"We don’t have a good case against him. As far as I am concerned, all the evidence and testimony against him is hearsay. We don’t want to doctor evidence just to implicate or impeach somebody. All our evidence is aboveboard," Ong said.

The NBI previously said it could prove that Viña was involved since he was the one tagged by suspects Alex Diloy and Jimmy Lopez as allegedly the one who ordered the killing of Dacer and Corbito by cellular phone.

The NBI then added that it could also prove that Viña flew in from Cebu to Manila on the day Dacer and Corbito were abducted and killed and that he flew back after the incident.

Last week, the NBI said it was readying charges against 11 former agents of the PAOCTF and seven other persons in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Dacer and Corbito.

According to Ong, the PAOCTF men to be charged are Superintendent Glen Dumlao, Chief Inspector Boy Arnado, Inspector Bobby Lancauan, Senior Police Officer 4 Boy Caladuan, SPO4 Mauro Torres, one SPO3 Villanueva, SPO1 Mario Sarmiento, SPO1 William Reed, SPO1 Ruperto Nemeno, one PO3 Lacasandile and PO2 Thomas Sarmiento.

Also to be charged are civilians Crisostomo Ortigacion, Digo de Pedro, Renato Malabanan, Margarito Cueno, Rommel Ryal and two unidentified men, Ong said.

Lopez and Diloy tagged Viña as the team leader of the PAOCTF agents who were implicated in the double-murder and who also issued the caliber .45 automatic pistol that was recovered from Lopez as shown by a mission order bearing his signature.

Despite this, the NBI has so far failed to build a strong case against Viña, who maintains his innocence.

As PAOCTF-Visayas Group chief, Viña used to report directly to former PAOCTF head and now senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson.

Dacer and his driver were abducted by four armed men while the publicist was en route to his office at the Manila Hotel where he was to meet with former President Ramos, one of his clients.

Dacer was supposed to turn over to Ramos certain documents about a "bombshell" that the then-opposition was planning to unleash against the Estrada administration.

Dacer and Corbito were abducted by armed men at the intersection of South Superhighway and Zobel Roxas street in Manila at around 11 a.m. of Nov. 24.

Dacer’s white Toyota Revo was later found dumped in a shallow ravine in Cavite but police did not reveal if forensic evidence was found on the vehicle.

According to Diloy and Lopez, six PAOCTF agents later delivered the two victims to a garage owned by Jimmy’s brother William.

Jimmy admitted that he gathered wood and discarded car tires for a pyre along a creek in Barangay Bona Lejos I in Indang, Cavite, an area residents tagged as a common site for summary executions.

After Jimmy had gathered the wood and tires, the two bound and gagged victims were brought to the site at around 8 p.m.

William Lopez allegedly strangled Dacer with a length of wire while another suspect, Digo de Pedro, strangled Corbito and later doused their bodies with petrol and set off the pyre.

The suspects, including the police officers, stood by to make sure the fire had fully engulfed the bodies and then left one by one.

Both Diloy and Lopez led NBI agents to the scene of the crime where they found charred bones which experts proved belonged to Dacer and Corbito.

The Lopezes and Diloy later tagged 13 other co-conspirators but authorities have yet to establish the motive or mastermind of the gruesome crime.

The NBI invited no less than former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, both client-friends of Dacer, to reveal what information they may have.