Tuesday, October 24, 2006 Tolentino gives ‘leads’ to NBI By Karlon N. Rama Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 now has some leads to work in the probe on the vigilante killings in the Cebu City.
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter Alex Tolentino turned over yesterday a list of names possibly involved in the summary executions of about 175 people since December 2004.
NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos, in an interview, confirmed receiving the list but he refused to show or allow members of the media to even review it.
“Be assured, we will look at it,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
De Lemos, a lawyer, described the list as containing “investigatory leads” and revealed that it not only included names but also narrations of incidents where the person named was allegedly involved.
It also contained the names of people who claimed to have seen the killings or had some knowledge about the crime. Tolentino’s list is three pages long.
“We have to evaluate it (list). We have to match the narrations with our own documentation of the killings to find out if the person who gave the information was even telling the truth,” de Lemos said.
“Right now, it is premature to say that we have something of value. But, at this point, every lead we can get is valuable,” he added.
The IBP is not alone in condemning the vigilante killings in Cebu City.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal made it the theme of his homily during New Year’s Eve this year. He has time again raised his objections to the apparent apathy of the Cebuanos’ on the summary executions.
Last June, US Embassy Vice Consul and Political Affairs Officer Rachel Wolfe met with Commission on Human Rights 7 Director Alejandro Alonso and Tolentino to ask about the killings and what is being done to stop these.
Amnesty International in Manila also said it will look into the matter. In its 2006 report released last May 23, it noted the “apparent public tolerance of killings of suspected criminals, journalists, activists.”
But Mayor Tomas Osmeña has kept firm on his stand that solving vigilante-style murders is not a priority, defending his policy as necessary to keep away criminals
Tolentino’s documentation will be endorsed to the three-man panel earlier created to crack the vigilante case.
Lawyer Ermie Monsan-to, one of the bureau’s ranking agents, heads the team.
The panel, de Lemos revealed, has documentation on each individual vigilante killing, so it will be easy to match the incidents mentioned in the Tolentino report with the cases on file.
“If there is a connection, we will find it,” de Lemos said.
Tolentino, in an interview last Friday, admitted that his information on the issue was “raw” and “unverified.”
He said this came from a “reliable” source but said this was never confirmed because they did not have the means to do so.
Tolentino said he will no longer involve himself in the investigation now that the turnover was made.
However, he said the IBP, which passed a total of five resolutions all expressing its stand on the subject, will provide whatever assistance it can to the investigation.
