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Friday, May 25, 2007
DOJ to handle probe on slay of Sta. Fe bet
CEBU CITY -- The ex-policeman tagged as the gunman in the fatal shooting of Sta. Fe mayoral aspirant Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr. is willing to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
Former policeman Arnulfo Pigon Jr., 29, also challenged the witnesses and police investigators to do the same to determine who among them is telling the truth.
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Pigon surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila last Wednesday to deny any participation in the killing of Ilustrisimo in front of the Commission on Elections provincial office inside the Capitol compound last May 2.
He was presented to Secretary Raul Gonzales of the Department of Justice (DOJ) at 11 a.m. Thursday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director for regional operations Reynaldo Esmeralda told Sun.Star Cebu.
Esmeralda said that Gonzales ordered lawyer Ruel Lasala, regional director of the NBI in the National Capital Region, to take Pigon under their custody.
Esmeralda, a former NBI Central Visayas director, is on a study grant in Singapore but is constantly being informed about the operations at their central office.
Esmeralda said the justice secretary also ordered that the preliminary investigation on the murder complaints filed against Pigon and Ilustrisimo’s rival candidate Domingo Zaspa be transferred to the DOJ.
At the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office, City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon said Pigon’s surrender will not affect their preliminary investigation on the murder complaint against Pigon and Zaspa.
“As far as we are concerned, his surrender will not affect us here,” he said.
He explained that since there is no warrant of arrest against Pigon, the office has no personality to claim the murder suspect.
An investigation is already being conducted by the City Prosecutor’s Office through Assistant City Prosecutor Marla Barcenilla.
Both Pigon and Zaspa have been subpoenaed to submit their counter-affidavits.
Transfer
As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office has yet to receive an order from Secretary Gonzales to transfer the preliminary investigation from Cebu to Manila.
The transfer of a preliminary investigation is possible if there is basis for it, said Regional State Prosecutor Antonio Arellano, who discussed the matter without specifically referring to the Ilustrisimo case.
“If circumstances warrant and there is basis, it is within the authority of the secretary of justice to transfer the preliminary investigation somewhere else or to let another set of prosecutors handle the preliminary investigation,” said Arellano.
Since the police already wrapped up its investigation on the killing, Esmeralda said the NBI will not be conducting a parallel investigation on the matter.
Pigon, interviewed over radio dyLA Thursday, said he is “100 percent” innocent of the crime and is only a fall guy.
Task Force Ilustrisimo, headed by acting Cebu City Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador, has charged Pigon after three witnesses identified him as the gunman.
Pigon urged the witnesses to tell the truth and spare innocent people from being implicated in the crime. He also appealed for a more thorough investigation on the case.
More depth
“Ako lang hangyo sa imbestigador nga palawman pa ang imbestigasyon. Unya ang witness ituro kong sino talaga. Sa tanang buhay ko hindi pa ako nakapatay ng tao (I have never killed anyone),” Pigon said, adding that he was in Cupang in Antipolo City when Ilustrisimo was killed in Cebu.
He is suspecting that a retired police colonel who was assigned in Cebu may have instigated his involvement in the crime. He, however, refused to identify the retired police official.
Pigon, who is planning to ask the NBI to re-investigate the case, vowed to file counter-charges against the police investigators for maligning his name.
He said the police may have hastily filed the complaints against him because of the P1.3-million bounty.
The accusation has greatly affected his family, especially his mother who has a heart ailment.
Pigon said he does not know Zaspa, who was also named in the complaint as a principal suspect by direct participation. He also denied engaging in a shootout with the task force operatives in Sitio New Light, Barangay Divisoria in Cawayan, Masbate last May 8.
Bounty
In a press conference Thursday, Comendador advised Pigon to answer the charges in the proper venue, and not before the media.
He said the task force made “an objective investigation” and filed the complaints “without any interference from anyone else.”
He also dismissed Pigon’s insinuations that the task force was up for the bounty.
In fact, he said, the task force still has not identified who will receive the cash reward, as it is focused on applying for protection for the witnesses.
Comendador told reporters Thursday that his office earlier received surrender feelers from Pigon’s camp.
He later found out the group was only after the bounty that will be used for Pigon’s defense.
“Karon, kinsa man ang nag apas sa bounty (So who’s after the bounty now)?” Comendador asked reporters Thursday.
Comendador is also not keen on Pigon’s challenge for a lie-detector test, and instead advised the latter to focus on defending himself. (JST & JGA of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (May 25, 2007 issue)
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