NBI lashes back at Pasay City policemen

The National Bureau of Investigation lashed back at the Pasay City police for saying that the bureau is going after the wrong suspect in the fatal shooting of Ateneo Law School graduate Jose Ramon Llamas.

"If he did not do it, why is he still in hiding? They (Pasay City police) should have not said that," said an NBI agent who declined to be identified.

The NBI agent was referring to Cola Didato, the owner of the motorcycle used by the gunman in the shooting. Didato became the NBI’s primary suspect in the case after his photograph matched a police sketch of the gunman. A witness also earlier told the NBI that Didato’s photograph which was taken in 1998 matched the features of the gunman. "He (Didato) should surface to deny that he is the shooter or perhaps point to whoever could have borrowed his motorcycle at the time of the shooting," added the NBI agent.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco earlier said that Didato, based on his 1998 photograph matched the features of the gunman by "some 60 to 70 percent." However, Pasay City police chief, Senior Superintendent Oscar Catalan said that he is not convinced that Didato is the killer.

"We’re still in the process of looking for suspects," Catalan said in a newspaper report. "We’re not concentrating on Didato as the killer." But according to NBI agents, the Pasay City police is apparently saying one thing and doing another.

NBI agents said that the Pasay City police appeared to be clueless on the case.

Last week, Pasay City police officers visited the NBI’s Metro Manila office just to secure a copy of Didato’s photograph. The photograph was secured by the NBI through an informant who knew Didato.

The police officers even personally thanked NBI Metro Manila chief Edmund Arugay for his unit’s assistance on the case investigation.

Llamas, 26, was shot to death during an alleged traffic altercation on Jan. 10 at the corner of Taft and Gil Puyat Avenues in Pasay City.