"I suggest that NBI's (Augusto) Isidoro should get some sleep, He has read too many books on conspiracy theory."
-- Police Central Visayas office chief Patrocinio Comendador, quoted in Inquirer.Net story
WHAT surprised me was not the suspicion that alleged Cebu drug lord Jeffrey "Jaguar" Diaz was executed so he could not squeal on "protectors and bosses." That had been talked about in radio commentaries days before he was gunned down last June 17 by a police posse from Cebu.
I was surprised that an NBI regional director in Mindanao, Augusto Isidoro, publicly talked about it without offering a shred of evidence.
True, his accusation teemed with such qualifiers as "my personal opinion," "maybe" and "without questioning legitimacy of the police operation." But impact was still that of an analysis from no less than an NBI regional director.
Isidoro must not be one of those paranoid nerds who suspect villainy in each police killing, who see conspirators in the probable outcome of a police operation. Or is he?
He's an NBI official who's obviously at the top of his game. He must not be just a bookworm, as Comendador implied, who eats conspiracy theories for lunch. Or maybe he is.
Isidoro's suspicion though can't be just dismissed as outlandish or nutty. True, it unfairly smears the police who risked death or injury in trying to capture Jaguar. But that's their job, with fringe benefits: honors, promotion, bounty cash.
What they do
But should Isidoro just let it go? A conspiracy theorist carries a bad name but that's what analysts in any intelligence agency do for a living.
Isidoro shouldn't have spoken out too soon though, with nothing but a theory to wave. He could still go deeper, maybe with some results, which might even include clearing the heroic cops of any suspicion that Jaguar was killed "to tell no tales."
(paseares@gmail.com)