BATO
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will not interfere in the investigation and legal proceedings involving the policemen accused of killing Albuera, Leyte, Mayor Albuera, Leyte,Sr., but he will do everything to spare them from being put behind bars, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said on Thursday.
Dela Rosa came to the defense of his commander in chief in the wake of the President’s pronouncement that he will not let Supt. Marvin Marcos and the rest of the policemen who raided Espinosa’s prison cell in Leyte to land in jail for killing the mayor and another inmate last Nov. 5.
Despite the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) findings that the operation was a rubout, Duterte said he will stand behind the police and support their version of the incident.
“The President just wants to express his support to the operating troops by saying na ayaw niyang ipakulong (he doesn’t want them to be jailed). Meaning, hahanapan niya ng paraan na hindi sila makulong (he will find a way for them not to be jailed),” Dela Rosa said in a press conference at Camp Crame on Thursday.
Dela Rosa clarified that Duterte has no intention to break the law or hide Marcos and his men.
He said the President will hire good lawyers for Marcos and other members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 8 and Regional Maritime Unit 8 so they can post bail if a court issues warrants for their arrest.
“Ang sabi niya ayaw niyang makulong sila. Hahanapan niya ng paraan to give legal means, hindi niya palayasin o pataguin (He said he doesn’t want them jailed. He will find a way to give legal means, he won’t let them flee or hide). He’s a prosecutor and he knows that. We will exhaust all legal remedies,” he said.
Malacañang, meanwhile, likewise stressed the President will not interfere in any investigation against members of the PNP.
“It should not be misinterpreted to mean that the President will intervene in investigations or any legal proceedings in order to exculpate erring cops,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement Thursday.
“What should be underscored is the very clear statement of the President that while he continues to adhere to the presumption of regularity in the PNP’s performance of its duties, he states in no uncertain terms that he will not interfere with any legal proceeding which will be brought against some members of the police force who are suspected of wrongdoing,” he added.
The Palace official said Duterte’s statement was only meant to boost the morale of police forces.
But retired Cebu Regional Trial Court Judge Mienrado Paredes, when sought for comment, expressed concern that justice may no longer be served on the Espinosa slay case because the President has already shown his bias in favor of the policemen involved in his death.
“In fact, biased kaayo siya kay ang kanang nangita sa ebidensya di niya tuohan (He is biased because he did not believe those tasked to find the evidence),” Paredes said.
Paredes likewise opined that in case the Department of Justice (DOJ), where the murder complaint against the 24 policemen involved in the Espinosa killing has been lodged by the NBI, would decide to dismiss the complaint even if there was substantial grounds that an offense was committed, the aggrieved party could go to court.
In such case, Paredes said the remedy is for the aggrieved party to file a petition for certiorari and mandamus in court, citing DOJ for grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.
Senior Supt. Eric Noble, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, said they will continue doing their job amid the furor caused by Duterte’s statement.
“Bahala na, basta kami magtrabaho lang. (We just have to work),” he told reporters yesterday.
“Sa akin walang effect yun kung sinuportahan man niya o hindi basta sa akin tuloy lang. We will not be discouraged or affected by any incidents. Basta sa amin, focus lang kami sa trabaho namin,” he added.
(For me, whether or not the President supports the policemen who were involved in the death of Mayor Espinosa, we in the Cebu provincial police should not be affected. We just have to focus on our work).
Noble said the President has the full support of policemen.
“Magtitiwala pa rin kami sa President kasi boss natin iyan. (We trust the President because he is our boss),” he said.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, deputy director for operations of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), shared Noble’s sentiment.
“What the President said on the issue of Mayor Espinosa’s death has no effect on us. We just perform our job, and we will be guided by the directives of our national headquarters and our President,” he said.
The NBI had filed before the Department of Justice cases of multiple murder and perjury against 24 members of CIDG-8 who took part in the raid that resulted in the death of Espinosa.
The NBI described as “defenseless” the manner with which Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap were killed inside the Baybay sub-provincial jail in Leyte last Nov. 5.