NBI may probe priests’ slays

MANILA, Philippines — Amid accusations that an arrested suspect is a fall guy, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra is considering ordering the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the recent spate of killings of Catholic priests.

Guevarra said he is ready to direct the NBI, investigative arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ), to conduct a parallel probe, but will allow the Philippine National Police (PNP) to take the lead in the investigations first.

“I will give the PNP ample time to do their job. But I will bring in the NBI any time as circumstances may warrant,” he said in a text message yesterday.

He added that the necessity for an NBI probe would depend on developments in the police investigations.

The DOJ chief bared such plan in response to mounting public interest in the killings of three priests amid President Duterte’s persistent tirades against clergymen.

Fr. Richmond Nilo was shot dead on June 10 while preparing for mass in a chapel in Zaragoza town, Nueva Ecija.

Police on Thursday arrested Adel Milan, one of the primary suspects in the killing that probers attributed to a land dispute.

Milan, 26, was arrested in his house in Barangay Malapit in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. Chief Insp. Eden dela Cruz, San Isidro police chief, said Milan did not resist arrest.

The PNP has been accused of presenting a fall guy.

A fraternity brother said Milan was with them in a drinking spree. He also pointed out that the triggerman caught on CCTV was heavily built, unlike Milan.

The suspect’s mother, overseas Filipino worker Mylene Milan, said in a television interview that her son does not resemble the artist’s sketch presented by the police.

PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde said “Milan was identified by the altar server.”

“The clergy took custody of him not us in the police. The altar server was sure because they’ve seen eye to eye,” he added.

But Albayalde said until the rest of the five suspects in the murder are taken in, the police are not ruling out the possibility that Milan is a fall guy.

“We are still investigating the matter, we are tracking down the other suspects,” Albayalde told The STAR in a text message.

Nilo was the third priest killed in recent months.

Last April 29, Fr. Mark Ventura was killed in Cagayan after celebrating mass. Fr. Marcelito Paez was shot dead in Nueva Ecija last Dec. 5, 2017.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros has called for a Senate inquiry and filed Resolution 764 for the Senate committee on public order to look into the murders of Nilo, Ventura and Paez.

The resolution also includes the case of Fr. Rey Urmeneta of Calamba, Laguna, who survived an attack.

In filing the measure, Hontiveros said there is a “dangerous pattern” emerging with the spate of killings and attempted killings of members of the clergy.

Hontiveros believes that the killings are not isolated cases as there have been three priests killed in the last six months.

She also echoed the sentiment of senior clergymen that the President’s verbal attacks might feed violence against priests.

“These killings further reinforce the culture of impunity to silence valid Church-led criticisms on state policies, particularly those with respect to human rights and due process,” she said.

In several instances, Duterte has lambasted the Catholic Church, questioning its teachings and even accusing priests of engaging in corruption. At one point, he said that the Catholic Church is “full of sh*t.”

The Palace, on the other hand, claimed that the spate of killings of priests was an attempt by “lawless elements” to discredit the administration’s strides in the peace and order situation in the country. – With Raymund Catindig