Palace: De Lima won’t be gagged on NBI probe

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang supported Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday amid criticisms that she prematurely concluded there was no shootout in Atimonan, Quezon where 13 people were killed by government forces.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. also told the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) there was no approval of the operation to “neutralize” a suspected illegal gambling operator who was among those killed in the alleged shootout last Jan. 6.

The soldiers involved in the incident have turned over to the NBI their firearms used in the supposed shootout. 

Earlier yesterday, police Superintendent Hansel Marantan’s .45-caliber gun was also turned over to the NBI-Death Investigation Division.

“I don’t think that the secretary is preempting the investigation. The media also would want details owing to their coverage and we trust that Secretary De Lima is also on hand to provide the proper guidance to the investigation,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.      

She said De Lima is in a better position to speak about the issue because she is privy to the investigation. 

“As far as we are concerned, if those are the concerns of Superintendent Marantan then, again, we always go back to what we have been saying – that they can always cooperate to present their side of the story,” Valte said.

Marantan, head of the police team that manned the checkpoint in Atimonan, cried foul over De Lima’s statements that allegedly preempts the investigation.

Several military officers involved in the supposed shootout described as sweeping De Lima’s statements, saying she has already prejudged the case.

The officers said De Lima should have kept her conclusions to herself, in reference to her statement that the 13 were “killed in cold blood.”  

Neither wise nor prudent

Lawyer Crisanto Buela, counsel for the police and military officers, said it would have been wise and prudent for De Lima not to interfere in the fact-finding investigation and let the NBI do its job.

He said while NBI director Nonnatus Roxas and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas have been careful in issuing statements, the DOJ chief appeared to be overly excited and made a very biased statement against the accused by saying “I am not convinced that it was a shootout.”

“We have again witnessed how the rights of the policemen and the army soldiers were violated by no less than Secretary Leila de Lima during the reenactment of the Atimonan encounter. We were surprised to see Secretary De Lima there with so many press people covering the event. What was supposed to have been an objective reenactment turned into a circus,” Buela told reporters.

Valte said there could not be a conclusion yet because “there are other things that need also to be settled.” Asked whether De Lima could make the announcement instead of the NBI, Valte said that was irrelevant.

“As everybody knows, the NBI is under the supervision of the Department of Justice which is headed by Secretary De Lima. Perhaps it’s better for them to cooperate with the investigation rather than attack the secretary of justice personally.”

This developed as PAOCC executive director Chief Superintendent Reginald Villasanta appeared before the NBI yesterday following the commitment of Malacañang to cooperate with the investigation.

Villasanta told the NBI investigating team that the PAOCC did not approve the plan for police operation that led to the killing of 13 people that included a suspected jueteng operator.

Villasanta said he went to the NBI to fulfill PAOCC’s commitment to cooperate with the NBI “in the interest of shedding light into the events that led to the Atimonan incident.”

“I met with NBI officials and provided them with information we hope will help them arrive at the truth regarding the incident in Quezon,” he said.

According to Villasanta, the PAOCC board did not reach the point of approving the police operation because its proponents had yet to comply with certain requirements.

Villasanta said the proposal was submitted by Marantan, former police Superintendent Glenn Dumlao, and Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent James Melad.

Villasanta released a statement saying the PAOCC, in a board resolution, did not approve the proposal.

At the time the proposal was given to the PAOCC, he said there were other pending priority cases.

Villasanta said the approval of the proposal was held in abeyance pending compliance of certain requirements.

He said the proposal was not approved because it lacked the documentation required to properly assess the viability and feasibility of the operation.

Villasanta said among the directives of the resolution was the release of P100,000 to Marantan’s group to help them in building an airtight case against their targets.

The PAOCC official also clarified the amount released for the case operation plan was “only for intelligence purposes” and not for actual operations.

Villasanta also explained to the NBI how the PAOCC works. He said the commission is tasked “to provide support to different law enforcement agencies in terms of technical, legal and financial assistance to sustain the government’s efforts to go after and neutralize organized armed groups.”

“The commission makes decisions at the policy level, and is not designed to be involved in actual operations,” he added.

Earlier, Melad claimed PAOCC approved the “coplan.”

Valte said the police officials involved had been asked to give an affidavit and cooperate in the probe. “They have turned over one of the slugs. Further cooperation is needed if they want to get their side of the story into the investigation,” she said.

Valte also said it would be too early to make conclusions as there were supposed inconsistencies in the report of the Philippine National Police (PNP), prompting the NBI to step in.

“I think at this point we will wait for the contents of the final report before we make any comment on the details that have been coming out in the media lately since the event had happened,” she said.

Valte added the investigation would answer the allegations of Melad and other officials that Malacañang, through PAOCC, approved the operation.

“Again, let’s wait for the conclusions of the investigators themselves. I understand that the personnel of the PAOCC are there at the NBI to submit their affidavits in support of the investigation as ordered by the executive secretary,” Valte said. 

Firearms turned over

Among the firearms turned over to the NBI were eleven M16 rifles, three M14 rifles and one .45-caliber pistol. 

The turnover was led by Lt. Colonel Monico Abang, commanding officer of the First Special Forces Battalion. He was accompanied by Buela. 

A team from the NBI earlier went to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Global City, Taguig to get Marantan’s gun used in the Atimonan incident.

Abang said there were 25 firearms but the 10 were left in the municipal station in Atimonan, and only 15 were turned over.

He confirmed one of the witnesses’ statements that they blocked the road with a military truck after the convoy of two Montero SUVs allegedly tried to get past the first checkpoint. 

Senior Army officers Col. Donato San Juan, special forces’ commander, and Southern Luzon Command head Maj. Gen. Allan Luga expressed support for their men involved in the case.

San Juan and Luga said they believed the statements of their men that the occupants of the Montero sport utility vehicle fired first.

– With Mike Frialde, Jaime Laude, Sandy Araneta, Evelyn Macairan