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President Arroyo ordered yesterday the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct a speedy investigation on the case of teachers killed while on poll duty.

The President directed the PNP to speed up the investigation during a command conference of Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE), the inter-agency effort tasked to ensure the smooth opening of classes on June 4.

“Iniaatas ko sa PNP na bilisan ang pagsisiyasat sa pagkamatay ng mga guro sa halalan (I order the PNP to speed up the investigation on the deaths of teachers in the last elections.),” Arroyo told PNP members at the command conference held at the P. Burgos Elementary School in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

The PNP, for its part, said charges have been filed against policemen involved in the burning of the Pinagbayanan school in Taysan where teacher Nellie Banaag and poll watcher Leticia Ramos died.

Mrs. Arroyo lauded the selfless efforts of the teachers during the May 14 elections and said they deserved to be called “heroes.”

“Hindi matatawaran ng utang na loob sa matapat at buong sipag na paglilingkod ng daan-daang libong guro sa nagdaan na halalan. Tunay na mga bayani ang mga guro (It is not just a debt of gratitude we owe the hundreds of thousands of teachers for their loyal and hard work. They are truly heroes.),” she added.

After the command conference, the President conducted an inspection of the P. Burgos Elementary School together with Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and school assistant Esther Agbayani. Mrs. Arroyo also took time to participate in some Brigada Eskwela activities of the school.

Oplan Balik Eskwela is an annual Department of Education (DepEd) initiative where teachers, parents, students, community members and other organizations volunteer to do minor repairs in their schools in preparation for the opening of the school year.

Meanwhile, Camp Crame insiders who requested anonymity expressed concern over the slow progress of the Taysan case due to a rift between two senior officials directly involved in the case.

Senior police officers, Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan of the Calabarzon regional police director and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Director Edgardo Doromal are reportedly not seeing eye-to-eye on how to solve the case.

Insiders said the ongoing personal conflict between Radovan and Doromal has put the Taysan case on the back burner.

An insider said that although CIDG investigators are bent on getting to the bottom of the case, they could not proceed because Calabarzon authorities keep on questioning their motives.

“Unless they put their personal differences behind, this case will a die a natural death,” said the concerned police officer.

 Both Radovan and Doromal  are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1974 and according to informants, the rift between them started when Radovan reportedly, out of the blue, assumed the post of a Calabarzon police director, a key police position that Doromal was all set to assume. – Pia Lee-Brago, Jaime Laude