BI employee shot; officials stonewall Manila cops

Manila police investigators are facing a blank wall on the reported shooting of a female employee that occurred in the office of Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner  Marcelino Libanan after its officials refuse to cooperate in the investigation.

“The continued refusal of BI personnel to entertain our investigators is a travesty of justice. Our policemen were prevented from entering the building and interviewing personnel,” said Superintendent Rogelio Rosales, chief of the Ermita police station, whose area of jurisdiction covers the BI compound. The BI building is located along Magallanes Drive in Intramuros, Manila.

Reports showed a certain Judith Narciso, reportedly a secretary at the office of BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan at the second floor of the building, was shot by one “Attorney Rivera,” an employee assigned at the Commissioner’s Office, at around 6:20 p.m. Thursday.

Narciso was reportedly confined at the Manila Doctors’ Hospital for an unspecified injury.

According to Rosales, BI officials tried to hide the shooting incident from the police and the media. In fact, Rosales said he only received the information from a BI insider yesterday morning, some 14 hours after the incident.

Rosales said his investigators immediately went to the BI office but were denied entry by BI officials. BI personnel were also reluctant to share their knowledge of the shooting incident, according to Rosales.

Even the staff of the Manila Doctors’ Hospital refused to entertain investigators. The victim also would not allow visitors except BI officials, Rosales added.

The hospital guard’s logbook did not have an entry when the victim was brought for treatment. “There is a very clear attempt to hide the incident from the public,” Rosales said.

The STAR tried to get the side of BI officials but were told by the guards that they are in an emergency meeting.