Friday, June 06, 2008
Bugarin held at NBI
THE preliminary investigation on the double murder and double frustrated murder complaints filed against an ex-Philippine Air Force master sergeant who allegedly shot his kinsmen formally began yesterday.
Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) accompanied Nestor Bugarin to the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor yesterday afternoon, as members of the Cebu City Police Office Homicide Section, the unit that filed the complaint, waited.
Maria Glen, 40, and Telesfora Pontanar, 69, the wives of the two persons Bugarin allegedly killed—Esmeraldo and Cristito Pontanar—were also present during the proceedings and submitted their sworn affidavits. A witness, Jhon Maria Catherine Gallego, was also there.
Turnover
But the police and the private complainants failed in their bid to have Bugarin turned over to the Cebu City Police Office.
Assistant City Prosecutor Simaco Labata said the matter is internal between the NBI and the police and refused to rule on the request.
The NBI, to whom Bugarin surrendered last Wednesday afternoon, is not giving their ward up yet.
An NBI special investigator who asked not to be named said this is to honor of their earlier promise to place Bugarin under protective custody if he surrenders.
“If we do this (give him up to the police), nobody would trust us anymore,” the source said.
Bugarin, however, is no longer just under the NBI’s custody. As part of yesterday’s proceedings, he signed a waiver of detention before Labata and his own lawyer. The waiver is required for respondents who would like to invoke their right to submit a counter-affidavit to a charge filed.
But it also grants to a law enforcement agency the right to detain the person who executed it beyond the 48-hour period allowed by the rules.
“He is a detainee, not just somebody under protective custody,” said Ramon Duyongco, lawyer for Maria Glen and Telesfora.
Telesfora and the late Cristito are the parents of Bugarin’s wife, Anecita, and Maria Glen’s husband, the late Esmeraldo.
Wound
Maria Glen attended the conference before Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Labata despite the gunshot wound on her right leg. She and her 13-year old son, Paulo, are the complainants in the double frustrated murder charge.
In her affidavit, Telesfora said she was watching television on the night of May 30 when she was told by her other daughter, Concepcion, that Anecita and Maria Glen were arguing.
She said she intended to go out and settle the conflict when Concepcion suggested that she not intervene.
When things escalated, with Esmeraldo joining the fray, Telesfora had her husband Cristito get out and pacify the siblings.
“I opened the gate for him to go out and he tried to approach Anecita and Esmeraldo while Maria Glen was standing behind Esmeraldo,” she narrated.
Cover
She then saw Bugarin go out of the house he and Anecita shared and shoot Esmeraldo. When he fell, she said, Bugarin then trained his gun on Cristito and shot him too.
“After my husband fell to the ground, I sought cover within the terrace of our house. (I then) heard several shots fired by Nestor Bugarin and I shouted to my daughter to call the police,” she added.
Maria Glen, for her part, said Bugarin tried to shoot her too. She said she hid behind a parked vehicle during the first volley and then scrambled towards her mother’s house when the gunfire stopped.
“Had it not (been because) I was able to run inside our house, I would have been finished/killed by Nestor Bugarin,” she added. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 6, 2008 issue)
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