The National Bureau of Investigation-South Eastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-Semro) plans to conduct a ‘motu proprio’ to help find the alleged missing house help of an ex-police station commander in Davao City.
The law defines motu proprio as an official act taken without a formal request from another party.
Based on the report, the relieved Toril Police Station commander, Major Michael Uyanguren is facing an administrative charge; however, the criminal case against him has yet to be filed in court due to lack of evidence and materials.
In an AFP-PNP press briefing at the Royal Mandaya Hotel last October 25, NBI-Semro Agent Elias Leaña revealed that both the NBI national headquarters and the regional office will conduct a separate parallel investigation regarding the case.
“Mag-conduct mi og parallel investigation. Kami diria sa NBI-Semro ug I think ang central office usab naga-conduct og sarili nilang imbestigasyon. Sa pagkakaron, wala pa gihapon nag-file og formal complaint ang pamilya sa house help diria sa atoang opisina (We will conduct a parallel investigation. We at NBI-Semro and I think the central office is also conducting their own investigation. So far, the family of the house help has not yet filed a formal complaint in our office),” he said.
The official also added that they are still waiting for the directive from the higher office to subject the alleged involved personalities to a lie detector test. One of the persons of interest (POI) determined to undergo such a test is Uyanguren since he is the employer of the 21-year-old Justine Mae Saldua.
Meanwhile, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Major Hazel Tuazon said that they are continuously doing their best to close the case with other law enforcement units particularly the Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG) and the Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao Region) have already collaborated with them.
“Wala pa tay timeline when ni sya masulbad pero padayon gihapon nato ni ginapanubayan. Naa na ‘tay ikatulo nga SITG-Saldua conference and gitabangan na usab ta sa pipila ka mga security agencies sa atoang syudad para mapaspas ang imbestigasyon ug makuha ang saktong hustisya (We don't have a timeline yet when it will be resolved but we are following it. We have the third SITG (Special Investigation Task Group)-Saldua conference and other security agencies in our city have already collaborated with us to hasten the investigation and serve justice),” Tuazon said.
The third case conference meeting of the Special Investigation Task Group-Saldua (SITG-Saldua) had already concluded earlier this month.
To recall, the first SITG meeting was conducted in the first week of October while the second meeting was conducted on October 13, 2023, wherein CCTV footage retrieved by the cybercrime unit was presented.
Saldua was last seen on August 28 at dawn in Lubogan, Toril. DEF