It would be nice….

President Aquino has finally endorsed the NBI report on the so-called Atimonan shootout, which actually found it to be a rubout that occurred last January 6. In other words, murder. The Chief Executive has fully accepted the findings, and ordered the DOJ to file multiple murder charges against police officers and soldiers such as Chief Supt. James Melad and Supt. Hansel Marantan who were involved in the bloody massacre. The NBI report jives with that of the initial PNP investigation into the incident. Thirteen people in two SUVs, all allegedly belonging to Vic Siman’s group died in the rubout. Aside from murder, the police personnel will also face obstruction of justice cases for tampering with evidence to make the scene look like a shootout. The pictures of before and after the alleged tampering speak volumes! The soldiers involved, according to the AFP, will also be charged in a military court.

These are all well and good, for now. As we all know, both the PNP and the AFP are slow to prosecute their own, with the habit of even promoting or retaining in active service those already with criminal or administrative cases! Marantan is the perfect example. He still faces cases regarding the Ortigas shootout, also believed to be a rubout based on video footage unbeknownst to him at the time, and the deadly Parañaque shootout where a father and his daughter were killed! With these two very high profile cases, he was still in active service when the Atimonan rubout happened! This is one slippery policeman! I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets reassigned, or even promoted somewhere else in this country, just to get the heat off him. Several theories, or even possibilities have surfaced regarding the motive for the rubout in Quezon, wherein a turf war on jueteng seems to be the most plausible reason. Marantan is allegedly Siman’s competition. Siman and his group may not be angels, but when police are allowed to summarily execute their competition because they themselves are allegedly involved in criminal activities is another thing! Who knows, Marantan may have a boss himself, which is why he is bordering on belligerence when it comes to killing. He leaves a trail of bodies as opposed to his namesake!

The same holds true for the AFP. The cases against the likes of Carlos Garcia and Jacinto Ligot have no updates whatsoever. Are they even moving at all, or have they been buried in neglect? Is it because there are higher ranking officials who may be implicated in their plunder of AFP funds? Or are there higher powers that block or hamper the cases? Only God knows for sure.

The DOJ has its work difficultly cut out for them. It would be nice if the cases against the Atimonan 35 move at the pace of former Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment case. But that’s definitely not going to happen, as their lawyers are even now working to block everything the DOJ throws at them. If there is no closure yet on the Ortigas rubout, even with the video, how long will this Atimonan case take? Marantan may make general yet, or even PNP chief! Stranger things have happened, in the Philippines!