‘No leads yet on OSG lawyer’s slay’

The Southern Police District (SPD) admitted yesterday that investigators have no leads yet on the motive behind the killing last Wednesday of assistant solicitor general Nestor Ballacillo and his son Benedict in Parañaque City.

SPD director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said the police are still in the process of gathering evidence to establish the motive behind the slaying of the Ballacillos.

"We are still facing a blank wall in our investigation into the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) lawyer and his son’s ambush. But we will not rest until we come up with a good lead which would help us identify and arrest the suspects," Rosales said.

Ballacillo and his son were on board a tricycle bound for Sucat when they were gunned down by two armed men at Barangay San Antonio. The victims died while on the way to the Olivares Hospital.

Rosales had deployed several police probers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces to trackdown the probable suspects.

Often called by his fellow OSG employees as "Obispo" for his kindness, humility and deep religiosity, the elder Ballacillo was in the forefront defending the government over the $1-billion claim of PIATCO and Fraport as a result of the dispute over the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal III.

Ballacillo reportedly died a poor man because he is not corrupt.

A former seminarian, Ballacillo raised his two children in simplicity and religious devotion. Married to a social worker, Ballacillo lived a very simple lifeand he has no known enemies.

His moral strength, however, had never been tested as much as in the PIATCO cases.

In the two international arbitration cases filed by PIATCO and Fraport against the Republic, Ballacillo’s role was key in ensuring the spirited defense of the government’s position.

He has taken a very strong position in the local expropriation case.

He insisted that PIATCO must come forward with its evidence to prove the value of the terminal if PIATCO is claiming compensation beyond the Republic’s preferred value of P3 billion.

He submitted a motion for production of documents in March 2006 at the expropriation court that until now is being ignored by a judge, despite repeated reminders thru motions for resolution of the motion for production. If favorably acted upon, PIATCO will have to surrender construction documents as well as bills of quantities and payment vouchers.

He formally advised the policy teams that PIATCO’s and Fraport’s combined construction and financial evidence in the two arbitrations can only prove a maximum of $144 million of expenses that directly went to the construction of the terminal, a far cry from PIATCO’s claim of more than $565 million plus profits and Fraport’s claim of at least $425 million plus damages.

He has argued that PIATCO must not be rewarded in the just compensation for any illegality in any form, including for profits and for unnecessary, undocumented expenses.

Ballacillo has also come out very strongly against the violation by the Cheng and Fraport group of the anti-dummy laws and has pressed for the application of the law against them.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel dares the police to immediately arrest the killers of Ballacillo and his son.

"Ballacillo and his son were shot dead by criminals who roam freely, killing hapless and innocent victims," he said.— Non Alquitran. Christina Mendez