EDITORIAL – Shut up, get the culprit

The blame game in the murder of Superintendent John Campos has not abated, muddling the investigation and confusing the public. Government witness Mary "Rosebud" Ong started the ball rolling, going public shortly after the murder with accusations that Sen. Panfilo Lacson had a hand in the killing. Lacson was Campos’ boss many years ago in the Cebu police command. Ong claimed Campos, her former lover, was silenced because he was about to switch sides and support her allegations against Lacson.

The senator has denied Ong’s allegations. He has not pointed an accusing finger at anyone, but his sympathizers in the police have said Campos was silenced because he refused to bolster the government’s case against Lacson. This was supported by the story of Campos’ companion at the time of the hit. The investigators’ response: the companion could also be questioned for possible connivance in the murder. Lacson’s sympathizers have expressed fears that they could be the next targets.

Meanwhile, a police officer has said that the murder could be part of yet another destabilization plot against the administration. Another officer theorized that the killer could be a cop because the murder weapon was an M-16 rifle — a firearm normally available only to police and military personnel. Given the exchange of accusations, the public is inclined to believe that theory.

Even better than getting the public to agree with your theory, however, is working for a genuine solution of the murder. The mastermind, the triggerman and their accomplices — not fall guys, not frame-up victims but the real culprits — must be arrested, prosecuted, convicted and locked up behind bars. This task will be so much easier if all the parties concerned will observe a period of silence — if not in mourning, at least to give investigators breathing space to undertake honest-to-goodness sleuthing. If they can’t shut up or stay away from the press, they should formalize their accusations by filing the appropriate charges. Otherwise, they should give the investigators a break from distractions so that this murder can be solved.