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Saturday, July 30, 2005
Turf war erupts on Cebu port fire inquiry
CEBU CITY -- As if the fire that razed the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) warehouse and almost P100 million worth of goods inside wasn't hot enough, a turf war erupted over the conduct of the investigation.
On one side is the inter-agency task force formed Friday upon the order of Director Nestorio Gualberto of the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The task force, whose creation Gualberto announced via the media, has in its roster the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 and some other PNP agencies.
On the other side is the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7, which was mobilized upon the request of Port of Cebu District Collector Lourdes Mangaoang.
The NBI formed a team of special agents to look into the fire that, according to the official estimate of the Bureau of Fire Protection, resulted in some P93 million in damages.
Mangaoang, in an interview Friday, was indignant at Gualberto's move to create his own investigation panel.
She said the authority to coordinate with other agencies for the investigation rests with her and the customs commissioner. Mangaoang and Gualberto aren't in good terms after the district collect had the ESS official transferred outside Cebu a few months back.
Mangaoang said Gualberto, who was with the CIDG before he retired and joined the BOC, was only sent to Cebu to assess the damage from the fire and not to meddle in the investigation.
She has been criticizing the CIDG the past days, saying they are conducting apprehensions of shipments "without customs deputation" and "for extortion only."
Operation
The CIDG, in the meantime, did not lose time in making its presence in the investigation felt.
It seized a van containing two right-hand-drive vehicles in Casuntingan, Mandaue City, Friday.
The van, Chief Inspector Fredi Vaño of the CIDG said in an ABS-CBN report, was believed to have been seen inside the CPA prior to the fire.
The owner was unable to present papers covering the vehicles, he added. It is not known if the operation had "customs deputation."
Senior Superintendent Oscar Catalan, the incumbent CIDG chief, is calling a conference on Monday for the "tasking" of the others members of the group.
Initially, Catalan said in a phone interview that he will have the PNP Crime Laboratory's Scene of the Crime Operation take charge of the laboratory examination of the pieces of evidence taken from the "fire scene."
Catalan said the task group will look into the arson angle in particular.
Task group
Meanwhile, the NBI 7, acting on Mangaoang's request, formed a task group of special agents to handle the investigation.
Lawyer Ernesto Macabare, the NBI's executive officer, will head the group.
"We have not yet established the parameters (of the probe) but it will be a comprehensive fact-finding investigation on what caused the fire," NBI Regional Director Medardo de Lemos said when asked about the group's formation.
He did not rule out suspicion that the fire was intentional.
"There is no basis to say that. Not until the facts are established and there is evidence to support it," de Lemos said.
NBI agents visited the scene at the Cebu International Port in Pier 6 Friday afternoon.
Lawyer Renan Oliva, after the inspection, expressed his intent to summon a few individuals, among them people from the Star Lite Cargo Express Inc., where the fire allegedly started.
Witnesses
Oliva was also present in the "post-fire conference" between Cebu City Fire Marshal Ismael Codilla and some officials representing the CPA, the BOC, the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (Opascor) and the PNP Maritime 7.
Some headway in the fire department's investigation was also made.
At least two other persons have also been identified as potential witnesses. One is a policeman assigned to the Cebu International Port, while the other is a security guard.
Codilla said security guard Elmer Pangaoan, who was on-duty at Star Lite Cargo when the fire broke out, will be summoned to tell where and how the fire started.
Oliva opted not to comment on the entry of the CIDG into the investigation, adding that the NBI will just "give assistance to the team."
CPA General Manager Mariano Martinez also prefers that the NBI 7 and the fire department conduct the investigation to maintain impartiality. (Karlon N. Rama/Elias O. Baquero/Jovy S. Taghoy of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(July 30, 2005 issue)
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