Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Fireman’s companion tags 2 men as shooters
THE man who was with Pricillano Gingoyon Jr. when he was shot dead in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City last Friday has executed an affidavit identifying those who opened fire on the late Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea) operative’s car.
Ariel Amoro Cacha, in a statement obtained by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Saturday, identified the suspects as Michael Baclohan and Romulo Soreño. He also tagged the motorcycle that had been used in the shooting, telling investigators that it was owned by a certain Allan.
Charges against the two could have been filed yesterday but the Lapu-Lapu Police Office did not bring the witness, as well as any representative from the family, to the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor when they went there with their complaint.
If the police still fails to file a complaint today, the period given to them to hold the two respondents will lapse and they will be forced to release them and file the
complaint under regular preliminary investigation.
Gingoyon’s family, represented by his daughter, Katrina, went to the NBI last Saturday to request the agency’s assistance in the investigation.
In a single-page letter, Katrina said the family had “no trust on the investigation conducted by the Lapu-Lapu Police” and made reference to an ombudsman case filed
against 14 Lapu-Lapu City policemen.
The complaint, which was given due course by the anti-graft office, pertained to a Pdea operation last Feb. 16 in Lapu-Lapu City that had been carried out by Gingoyon. Among the team’s members was Cacha, a deputized asset.
According to records of the case, the agents were conducting an anti-drug operation and were in the process of arresting Junrey Romero Palomar when a team from the Lapu-Lapu Police Office Theft and Robbery Section arrived and arrested them instead.
They were charged before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) but the complaint was dismissed when the Pdea confirmed that the operation was legitimate. They then filed an ombudsman complaint against the police officials.
The team, reportedly led by Insp. Conrado Manatad, arrested them even after they identified themselves as agents of the Pdea.
NBI sources would not comment on the incident. Instead, NBI agent Greg Algoso turned over Cacha’s affidavit to the Lapu-Lapu Police Station.
“We will also be turning over to the police whatever else turns up in our investigation,” NBI 7 director Medardo de Lemos said.
NBI 7 Head Agent Ernesto Macabare, on the other hand, said the investigation they launched led them to the same suspect the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office arrested.
Thus, he said, there is no point in launching a parallel investigation.
Cacha, in his affidavit, said he rode with Gingoyon when the agent got ambushed. He only got grazed on the leg during the ambush.
He said he saw the gunman straddled on a motorcycle driven by another person. The gunman was holding a pistol with both hands and was aiming it on the driver’s side
of the vehicle.
“I knew the said gunman as Michael Baclohan because we used to go to cockfights together. I also saw and identified Romulo Soreño a.k.a. Amay as the driver of the said motorcycle because he used to be a tricycle driver like me,” Cacha said.
Baclohan was wearing an orange t-shirt while Soreño sported a black sweatshirt. He dyed his hair blond.
Police said Soreño surrendered to them after the incident “to clear his name.”
Cacha, in his affidavit, however said that Soreño was already there even before he arrived to give the police the identities of the shooter. (KNR)
