DOJ: Degamo gunmen turn uncooperative

MANILA, Philippines — The filing of multiple murder and frustrated murder charges against Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. was repeatedly set back after the gunmen who provided the authorities information suddenly turned uncooperative, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday.

Remulla said the charges might be filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) tomorrow. But he revealed that the filing had been deferred many times since the investigation started to point to Teves’ involvement in the March 4 attack that killed governor Roel Degamo and nine others.

The justice secretary explained that while the gunmen under NBI custody have been placed under witness protection and gave their statements “willingly and openly” during the investigation, they started to refuse to cooperate when they were “provided with lawyers by some people who are paying for their lawyers who were not there before.”

“When we were already pursuing the participation of Congressman Teves… many of them have lawyered up already by this time… Some people are interested in the statements they want to give and now they don’t want to cooperate anymore with authorities,” Remulla said in a press conference.

“That made us review everything within our grasp. So that’s the reason why there is a bit of a delay, but that will not stop us from filing the proper cases because the statements have been given much earlier, freely… with CCTV and cameras and in front of witnesses and public attorneys,” he said.

However, Remulla said the Department of Justice remains unfazed.

“Some of them have refused to speak already and they have not issued another statement and we suspect that they will change their statements later on. And may make recantation of sorts but we’re not afraid of that because everything was clearly given and said in front of counsel and other people,” he said.

“The good thing here is they’ve already said everything prior to lawyering up. It’s a good thing that we already have their statements clearly said prior to everything else,” he added.

The NBI has about 10 alleged gunmen who participated in the assault team that carried out the deadly attack. Remulla said about six of them have “lawyered up” and are expected to recant their earlier statements.

Remulla did not disclose his suspicions as to who provided the lawyers, but he said he expected things to go this way due to “the amount of money that is there.”