PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Marbil has ordered the reopening of the investigation on several unsolved cases, particularly those mentioned during congressional hearings amid the inquiry into the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) under the former administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a press conference on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) was tasked to lead the re-opening of investigations on the cold cases, which included the ambush of former Daanbantayan, Cebu mayor, retired general Vicente Loot, and the killing of two Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents, which all happened in 2018.
“May mga series of meeting na nag-start to come up with an investigative efforts, to really come up with a credible and transparent investigation…all those cases mentioned and specified in the hearings both in the Senate and the congress,” she said.
“Lahat po ito ay iniimbestigahan po ng PNP like I said may instruction na to extract sa data base ng PNP those unsolved cases particularly itong mga namention during the hearing,” she added.
Fajardo said crime cases are being considered “cold” if there is no development in its investigation within six months after it happened.
During the continuation of the House quad committee investigation on the possible link between the proliferation of illegal operations of Pogos, illegal drug trade, anomalous land acquisitions, and extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration, retired Colonel Royina Garma, who served as Cebu City Police Office chief from January 2017 to June 2019, expressed belief that the ambush of Loot and the killings of two PDEA agents were both related to the drug war since they were all included in Duterte’s drugs watchlist.
Loot survived the ambush at the New Maya Port in May 2018 but four of his companions were wounded.
Duterte later admitted ordering Loot’s ambush, noting that he is a protector of an illegal drugs syndicate in the region.
PDEA agent Earl Rallos, a PDEA assistant operations officer in Cebu, was gunned down on Villalon St. in Cebu City on July 27, 2018.
Nearly two weeks later, Von Rian Tecson, also a Cebu PDEA operative, was shot dead in Carcar City.
Earlier, both Marbil and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla vowed that there will be “no sacred cows” in the investigation, particularly amid the alleged involvement of some police officials and officers in the supposed EJKs in relation to the bloody drug war of the former administration. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)