Police deny any involvement in judge’s ambush

TUGUEGARAO CITY — The police have denied any involvement in last month’s ambush of a municipal trial court (MTC) judge, which resulted in the killing of his driver.

Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, Cagayan Valley police director, refused to disclose details of the ongoing investigation into the Oct. 27 ambush of MTC Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan of Baggao, Cagayan.

Pattugalan, who was the one who issued the warrant of arrest for 16 police officers in a robbery case, survived the ambush. His driver, Antonio de la Cruz, was killed.

"We don’t have anything to do with the incident. We are duty-bound to protect lives and properties. Resorting to such condemnable acts is not and will never be our handiwork. Let’s put a stop to such speculations that the police had a hand in the incident," Soriano said.

He was reacting to speculations that those affected by the arrest order, which Pattugalan issued last July 27 in connection with the robbery case filed by the wife of Buguey Mayor Glicerio Antiporda, could have had a hand in the ambush.

The robbery case arose when 16 police officers, led by Superintendent Alexander Rafael, chief of the Regional Mobile Group, went to Buguey town last July 7 to serve the arrest warrant to Mayor Antiporda and his son, Vice Mayor Lloyd Antiporda, in connection with last year’s killings of lawyer Franklin Tamargo and his daughter, Franciel Gail, in Manila.

The police officers, however, failed to arrest the Antipordas as they were nowhere to be found.

Last month, the Manila regional trial court, which issued the arrest order, cleared the Antipordas of murder charges "due to lack of probable cause."

Mayor Antiporda’s wife, Eva, regional chief of the immigration bureau, claimed that the arresting officers ransacked their residence of valuables and licensed firearms.

The Buguey council supported Mrs. Antiporda’s complaint, issuing a resolution condemning what it described as the "excessive force" which the police officers allegedly displayed when they tried to serve the arrest order.

Acting on the robbery complaint, Pattugalan issued the arrest order for the 16 police officers and recommended bail of P200,000 for each of them.

The amount, however, was later reduced to P80,000 each, enabling the regional police to post bail for its personnel to prevent their arrest.

"We take the judge’s order professionally. It’s part of our job to be dragged into some controversies with unimaginable allegations, especially (while performing) our work," Soriano said.

He said his men were just following an order when they went to Buguey town to serve the arrest warrant to the Antipordas.

He said he saw nothing wrong with the manner with which his men tried to serve the order.

Meanwhile, aside from the job-related angle, Soriano said investigators were also looking into personal motives behind the ambush.

"We are not zeroing on one angle. We are eyeing other possible motives here, but we cannot divulge them yet as some were still prejudicial to our ongoing investigation," he said.

Earlier, Senior Superintendent James Melad, provincial police director, said the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group have joined the investigation.

He said they have already suspects in mind, but could not yet disclose their identities pending the gathering of more evidence against them. — Charlie Lagasca