De Lima: No lead yet behind Quezon shooting

PROBERS from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are still baffled by the motive behind the supposed killing of members of the group of suspected jueteng operator Vic Siman in Atimonan, Quezon last January 6.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said this could be the reason the NBI has yet to submit its report on the bloody incident involving police and military special forces.

“What delays such completion is the analysis of the possible motive behind the deadly operations,” she said in a text message on Sunday.

She said the whole report of the NBI is hinged on finding out the actual motive that led to its gruesome end, and to support earlier findings that operatives had used excessive force on the victims.

De Lima also said that the failure of the NBI to immediately pinpoint the cause for such use of excessive force also prevents the bureau from determining the level of liability of those involved.

Also, the NBI has yet to finalize technical aspects of the findings, as the results of the ballistic exams are not yet completed as of last week.

The NBI was expected to submit its report to President Aquino last week before he was to leave for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

De Lima now said that she expects the NBI report to be completed within the week, so that it can be submitted to the President by Wednesday or Thursday.

Earlier, de Lima said that three witnesses have surfaced supporting the findings of the NBI forensic experts that the victims were killed in cold blood, contrary to the contention of the group of Superintendent Hansel Marantan of the Calabarzon police that responded to the checkpoint that there had been a shootout with Siman’s group.

Marantan said the checkpoint incident was a legitimate operation based on their case operation (coplan) Armado, seeking to intercept a group of suspects engaged in gambling, illegal drug trade and gun-running.

The Palace already denied the claim of Marantan that the incident had approval of Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

Likewise, the military presented a witness who claimed that he was near the site of the checkpoint and was able to see the exchange of fire between the law enforcers and the passengers of the two SUV vehicles containing the victims. (JCV/Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)