Cops vow to crack Campos slay case

Parañaque City police officials said yesterday they have made considerable progress in their effort to solve the Dec. 5 killing of Chief Inspector John Campos.

At the same time, Superintendent Wency Pascual appealed to the public not to lose confidence in the police.

"Don’t lose trust in us. There’s progress in the case but we can’t tell you what it is just yet. We have good leads," Pascual told The STAR during a phone interview.

The Parañaque police is the lead investigating unit in the case. Pascual said investigators now have valuable information that would lead to the possible solution of the 13-day-old case.

He said police are now looking for more witnesses who have knowledge about the new information that could provide them with more evidence.

Pascual was confident that the Campos’ slay case would not be included in the country’s list of unsolved murders.

In earlier interviews, Pascual had admitted the difficulties his investigators were facing in solving Campos’ killing.

Investigators had focused on establishing the identity of the gunman who was wearing a bonnet. Nobody was able to take down the plate number and make of the getaway vehicle.

Pascual also emphasized that the various speculations about the killing and its political implications are not only making it more difficult for the witnesses to talk but are also putting unwarranted pressure on investigators.

Shortly after Campos was killed, his former live-in partner, Mary "Rosebud" Ong accused Senator Panfilo Lacson of masterminding the murder. Lacson denied the allegation. Campos, a former narcotics officer, was closely associated with the former PNP chief.

Campos’ friend, Antonio Cabanban, alleged that Ong could have had knowledge about the killing as well. Ong said she has no motive and means to do so.

Other ranking police officials said the killing could be related to drugs or destabilization effort against the Arroyo government.

Campos was shot dead in the early hours of Dec. 5 at an eatery located along Doña Soledad Avenue, Better Living, Barangay Don Bosco, Parañaque. An employee of the eatery, Emily Dumalo, was also killed — Nikko Dizon