2nd batch of cops talk on Kuratong (2)

As far back as 1999, PMA graduate Insp. Ysmael Yu had wanted to tell the truth about the Kuratong Baleleng multiple murders. The case had been dismissed provisionally when the kin of some victims signed waivers. Yu couldn’t live with his conscience and went to the press. What followed, according to two policemen who were with him on the night of May 17, 1995, was a coverup ordered by no less than then-Gen. Panfilo Lacson. Their affidavits have been submitted to court, along with a prosecution motion for the judge to inhibit from the case. Excerpts:

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I, Leonilo S. Lanceta, of legal age, married, and residing at Bicutan, Taguig, after being duly sworn to in accordance with law, freely state:

(1) I am with the Special Action Force of the PNP, which I joined in 1990, and now hold the rank of Police Officer-3.

(2) On May 17, 1995 I was assigned to SAF at Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan. At past 9 p.m. we met at the office of the National Capital Region Command in that camp for an operation at Superville Subd., Parañaque. Generals Jewel Canson and Panfilo Lacson gave the briefing.

(3) Thereafter we proceeded to the target on Palm Street in Superville. In that SAF operation, the first team was led by Insp. Ysmael Yu; the second, by Insp. Marlon Sapla. I was the point man of the first team.

(4) A V-150 armored vehicle preceded our Hummer. It rammed the house’s iron gate. We swiftly entered the premises. As point man, I kicked open the kitchen door and we filed in. The occupants did not put up a fight. We ordered them to lie face down on the floor, then shouted, "Clear!"

(5) There was no lighting, so it was dark when we entered the house. We had to use flashlights to search for occupants.

(6) After we cleared the house, the other operating units went in. We turned over to them alive the occupants we arrested.

(7) Outside we saw Generals Canson, Lacson, Zubia and Acop.

(8) Mission accomplished, we were ordered back to barracks. Before sleeping, we discussed potential promotions from a successful operation. Next morning we were taken aback by news from the radio that there was a shootout in Quezon City between police and members of the Kuratong Baleleng gang. We knew that the Kuratong fatalities were the same men we had arrested the night before because of their numbers and the vans used.

(9) We kept quiet about it, even if we knew we had apprehended the men alive in Superville and turned them over to the other operating units.

(10) In 1999 the Kuratong issue was revived when Yu went to the press to admit that he was our team leader in the Superville raid. Yu egged me to join him in telling the truth about what happened in 1995.

(11) After our talk I reported to our battalion commander, Colonel Magalong, what Yu had said. After detaining me at his office at the Special Operations Battalion, he took me and my former teammates Antolin, Asis and Pacardo to General Lacson at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force in Camp Crame.

(12) At PAOCTF, we were led into an office where Generals Lacson and (Francisco) Zubia and Col. Michael Ray Aquino were. Lacson ordered us to draft our own affidavits against that of Yu, and state that we arrested no one at Superville. All we could say was "yes, Sir" even if it was against our will. We couldn’t do anything, we were only ordinary policemen.

(13) Back at Colonel Magalong’s office in Bicutan, we did as Lacson ordered. After we signed our affidavits, Magalong dismissed us.

(14) I narrate all this to straighten out and state the truth about our operation in Superville, Parañaque on May 17, 1995.

Signed on 16 Oct. 2003 in Quezon City.

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I, Police Officer-2 Gerald D. Antolin, of legal age, married, and residing at Camp Bagong Diwa, after being duly sworn to in accordance with law, freely state:

(1) I am a member of the PNP assigned to the Special Action Force. In 1995 I was with the SAF in Camp Bagong Diwa.

(2) On the night of May 17, 1995 Gen. Jewel Canson held a briefing at his office in the same camp with Gen. Panfilo Lacson. We were assigned to target a house in Superville Subd., Parañaque.

(3) We proceeded to Superville. Led by Insp. Ysmael Yu, our team was first to enter the premises after a V-150 rammed the gate. One of us kicked a side door open and we swiftly filed in. We ordered the occupants to drop face down on the floor and we tied their hands.

(4) After we secured the area, our leader gave the all-clear signal. Other units went in and we turned over to them our captives.

(5) After the turnover, we were ordered back to Camp Bagong Diwa.

(6) Next morning we heard on radio that several Kuratong Baleleng gangmen were slain in a supposed shootout with police in Quezon City.

(7) In 1999 Yu went to the press to say he was our team leader in the Superville operation in 1995, and that the men we had taken alive on the night of May 17 were among those killed on Commonwealth Avenue.

(8) Yu asked me to join him in revealing the truth about the events of May 17. I reported to our battalion commander, Colonel Magalong, what Yu said. He told me not to leave. That same day we to the PAOCTF office of Lacson at Camp Crame with my teammates Lanceta, Asis and Pacardo.

(9) General Zubia and Colonels Acop and Aquino were there too. Lacson directed us to write affidavits against Yu, stating that we did not capture anybody at Superville in 1995. Against our will, we said "yes, Sir".

(10) We went back to Colonel Magalong’s office to draft the affidavits as Lacson ordered.

(11) I narrate this as the whole truth about what happened on May 17, 1995 at Superville, and to belie the old affidavit that I executed against my will.

Signed on 16 Oct. 2003 in Quezon City.

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Catch Sapol ni Jarius Bondoc, Saturdays at 8 a.m., on DWIZ (882-AM).

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