Marantan denies Atimonan rubout raps

MANILA, Philippines - Superintendent Hansel Marantan has denied the multiple murder charges filed against him and other police and military men before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the killing of alleged jueteng operator Vic Siman and 12 others in Atimonan, Quezon last Jan. 6.

Just like his superior and fellow respondent, former Region 4-A police director Chief Superintendent James Andres Melad, Marantan insisted the incident was a “legitimate operational plan formulated to neutralize syndicated and organized groups in the region.”

“I merely acted in the fulfillment of my duty as a police officer, or in the lawful exercise of a right of office… The death of the 13 occupants was never planned. It was a chance occurrence,” he said in his 22-page counter-affidavit submitted to the DOJ panel.

Marantan, who remains confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital, also challenged the credibility of the three eyewitnesses that led the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into concluding the incident was a rubout.

He believes it was contrary to human experience for the three to witness the shooting when they would have hidden inside the truck upon hearing the gunfire. He said they were “definitely coached and perjured.”

Citing lack of ample evidence, he also belied the allegation that there was conspiracy among the uniformed men to kill Siman and his group stemming from a supposed turf war on jueteng operations in Southern Tagalog.

‘Movie director’

Marantan also questioned the active participation of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in the NBI probe, noting that she “acted as movie director, so to speak, during the re-enactment.” He claimed that De Lima has been after him since she became Commission on Human Rights chairperson in connection with a police operation in 2005. 

Marantan answered the charges before the DOJ despite his plea to suspend the preliminary investigation being conducted by a panel led by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva.

In an urgent motion, he told the DOJ panel of a petition he filed with the Supreme Court last April 8 asking the SC to stop the DOJ from proceeding with the investigation.

He cited an earlier statement of De Lima that the incident was “definitely no shootout,” which he said was a “prejudgment of the case.” He believes the DOJ should pass the case to the Office of the Ombudsman for a fair and just investigation. – Edu Punay