NBI chief recalls brush with death during Jaen shootout

JAEN, Nueva Ecija – Now it can be told: the chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Nueva Ecija got the scare of his life when he got caught in the middle of a heated confrontation between reelectionist fourth district Rep. Rodolfo Antonino and dismissed Mayor Antonio Prospero Esquivel in last week’s infamous gunfight that left at least two people dead and scores wounded.

Pedro Roque Jr., agent-in-charge of the NBI Cabanatuan District Office which holds jurisdiction over the 27 towns and three cities of the province, related to The STAR that the incident still gives him creeps each time he recalls it.

The scary once-in-a-lifetime experience took place on the evening of April 24, ironically enough, at the wake of the father of a ranking NBI official who lives in Barangay Langla in this town.

Roque narrated that he and other NBI officials were at the wake of Victoriano Villarta, father of NBI deputy director for intelligence service Edward Villarta, when Antonino and Esquivel, who have bad blood between them, bumped into each other.

He said that the two politicians cursed at each other to the point that their bodyguards drew their guns.

At this point, Roque approached the two and broke them up. He boldly cursed at both of them and told them to stop. "F—— you, don’t kill each other here," he recalled telling the two.

Luckily, he said, Antonino and Esquivel heeded his warning and went their separate ways.

"Buti na lang nakinig sila kung hindi nasirang Jun na ako (It’s a good thing they listened otherwise I would have been dead by now)," he said.

He said that had not the NBI intervened, a massacre could have taken place right at the wake because both Antonino and Esquivel were raging mad.

"The NBI played hero there. If not for our efforts, many innocent lives would have been lost," he said.

The incident was corroborated by Esquivel himself who said that around 20 of Antonino’s men were at the wake compared to his four bodyguards. He claimed that while his men were outnumbered, Antonino’s group could not move because he stood near their boss.

Roque said that his wife, aware of the risks of his job, has advised him to just resign and merely concentrate on their family business.

As of presstime, police have yet to come up with the results of their investigation into the incident. The NBI, meanwhile, is conducting its own parallel investigation.