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Saturday, January 01, 2005
Witnesses silent, as ‘vigilantes’ elude cops
By Mia E. Abellana
Sun Star Staff Reporter
With Linette C. Ramos
POLICE assured they have not stopped investigating the summary executions of suspected criminals, although they admit having difficulty doing so.
“Naglisud lang mi gamay kay nagsunod-sunod man gud. Pero nagpadayon gihapon mi kay amo man nang trabaho (It’s a bit difficult because the killings happened one after the other. But we have to do it because it’s our job),” said Insp. Mario Monilar, chief of the Homicide Section.
As police parried accusations they are behind the summary executions that so far claimed 14 lives in just nine days, more people spoke up against this method of “cleansing” the city of criminals.
Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) yesterday condemned the killings, saying the law should be followed.
He said he is just as eager as other officials to rid the city of criminals, but government and police authorities should do it the legal way.
No justification
He added he has no problem with policemen and civilians shooting criminals, provided it is under justifiable circumstances, as in shootouts, exchange of fire in hot pursuit operations, self-defense or other similar situations.
“I cannot go along with the many who are supporting the vigilante killings because summary executions and salvaging are illegal and can never be justified under any circumstance,” he said in a phone interview.
“Otherwise, this will inevitably lead to the total breakdown of law and order, where everyone will suffer,” he said. “No matter how you look at it, the murder of even a criminal is still murder.”
He called on Cebu City Police Office Chief Melvin Gayotin, outgoing Police Regional Office 7 Director Rolando Garcia and incoming Director Eduardo Gador to stop criminals and maintain peace and order in the city.
As to the police investigation, the empty shells and slugs recovered from the crime scenes are with the Regional Crime Laboratory.
Only when the ballistic test results are out can police say how many groups are involved in the killings.
But Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau Chief Pablo Labra II said it’s possible different groups are responsible.
“(There) may be different groups working on this because of the different modes of execution,” Labra told reporters.
He explained that in the case of Darwin Mabugat, who was found dead in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, the suspected criminal was strangled, and a note apparently left by his killers labeled him as a thief.
In the other incidents, the victims were shot with a .45 pistol. Some were on the streets, while others were shot inside their homes.
Some of the gunmen were on motorcycles while others were onboard a white Tamaraw FX.
Investigators are having a difficult time getting witnesses. Monilar said there have been instances when witnesses kept silent out of fear.
“We cannot force anybody to testify,” he said.
Although Monilar admitted that the pace of the investigation on the summary killings is slower than that of other crimes, he said they could not do the investigation “overnight.”
He said in big cases, like the death of lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco and photojournalist Allan Dizon, a task force was created to help in the investigation.
On accusations that the police were behind the killings, Labra said the victims’ relatives could not be blamed for thinking that way.
“If that is how they feel, we really cannot blame them. Maybe they know the activities of their children, that is why they feel we are behind it. But it’s not good to just conclude that it is us. That is not our job,” he told reporters.
(January 1, 2005 issue)
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