DOJ waiting for P-Noy’s order vs lawmen in Atimonan killing

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) is awaiting Malacañang’s order to file criminal charges against the lawmen involved in last month’s killing of 13 people in Atimonan, Quezon.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the DOJ is just waiting for the go signal of President Aquno to proceed with the filing of charges.

“We’re just waiting for the President’s clearance to make public such report and act on the recommendations set forth therein,” De Lima said in text message to The STAR yesterday.

Malacañang said it wanted to “fully digest” the report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the incident.

Malacañang assigned a legal team to review the report on which authorities are likely to base criminal proceedings against police and military personnel involved in the incident.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), on the other hand, gave assurance that all the police officers involved in the Atimonan incident were placed under restrictive custody.

“They are all accounted for and remain under restrictive custody,” PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said.

Cerbo added the PNP will just wait for Aquino’s order or recommendation, which will be based on the report made by the NBI on the incident. 

“We do not even know what is contained in the report. But we will follow what the President will instruct us. We would also want to assure the public that all the 20 policemen from Atimonan, including Senior Superintendent Hansel Marantan are still under protective custody at Camp Crame,” he said.

As for the allegations of Marantan that the PNP leadership and its Internal Affairs Service (IAS) have been prejudged, Cerbo said the PNP leadership will not interfere with the IAS‘s probe.

Marantan filed a motion before the National Police Commission seeking the exclusion of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima, the IAS and the Summary Hearing Board (SHB) from the administrative case against him. He said they have already prejudged him and his men in their earlier pronouncements.

“We leave it all now with the IAS,” Cerbo said.

The President on Thursday received from De Lima the 56-page report of the NBI on the incident.

De Lima told Aquino that the report was “very exhaustive.” She submitted the report a day after some of the details were supposedly leaked to the media.– With Mike Frialde