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Friday, September 05, 2008
Police see politics in Batanes guv slay try
MANILA -- Authorities are looking at politics as among the possible motives behind the attempted assassination of Batanes Governor Telesforo Castillejos last Wednesday.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Geary Barias said Task Force Castillejos, which was formed to probe the ambush, is not ruling out politics as the main motive in the crime even if Batanes is among the most peaceful province in the country where incidence of political violence is practically zero.
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"We are not ruling out politics as the motive. Right now investigation is continuing to unmask the perpetrators of the ambush," Barias said.
To help the investigators, he said the task force will examine the footage taken by a close circuit television camera installed at Merville access road where the governor's vehicle was fired upon by still unidentified gunmen.
"The footage might give us positive clues in identifying the assailants," added Barias.
Police earlier said the ambush was carried out by professional gunmen considering that they were able to know Castillejos's route and time going to the domestic airport for the flight to his province.
Barias said the task force, headed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), will also look into the possible link of the governor's malversation case before the Office of the Ombudsman to the ambush.
Despite reports of political motive behind the ambush, former Batanes governor Vicente Gato believed that a "simple road mishap" led to the pre-dawn shooting incident in Pasay City.
In a radio interview, Gato said the "shooter" might have only been targeting Castillejos's driver since most of the damage sustained by the vehicle were directed to the driver and not to the side where the governor was sitting.
"If you're a professional killer, you wouldn't miss that far from your target," he added.
Likewise, the former governor denied any involvement in the assassination plot against Castillejos.
"As a Roman Catholic, I am not able to plan such crime," Gato said. "My conscience is clean."
Gato, a retired Navy captain, stressed that he has no reason to implicate such a crime since there is no political rivalry between him and Castillejos.
Gato also said he is ready to face investigation by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to prove his innocence. He just arrived from the US.
Earlier reports meanwhile said that the police had traced malicious text messages circulating in Batanes Province the previous week that Castillejos will soon lose his post.
Castillejos was on board a Mitsubishi Pajero (SFY-395) when occupants of a sport utility vehicle fired at him in Parañaque City.
The governor sustained gunshot wounds in the neck and shoulder while his son, Dominic, survived the ambush without injuries. The local official's driver also caught bullets in the head and neck.
Dominic was able to drive the Mitsubishi Pajero to the Parañaque Doctor's Hospital. Castillejos was already in a stable condition when transferred to the Medical City in Pasig.
He told police investigators that they were entering Merville access road when the gunmen fired at them. (AH/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (September 5, 2008 issue)
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