Cebu police eye cops as suspects in tanod murder

THE Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) is looking into the possible involvement of some policemen in the ambush-slay of a village watchman in northern Cebu’s town of Consolacion last Tuesday.

Based on the information they gathered, Senior Supt. Eric Noble, CPPO director, said Wilson Batucan, a barangay tanod of Cansaga, Consolacion, joined the town’s policemen in an anti-drug operation against a known personality in their place three days prior to the shooting incident. The target eluded arrest.

“Perhaps the target wanted to get back at Batucan. He must be mad at him,” Noble said in Tagalog in an interview yesterday.

The drug personality reportedly has connections in the police force.

“We’re investigating these policemen,” said Noble without identifying the policemen as well as the drug personality.

“What I can tell you is that these rogue cops are not from the Consolacion police. Hopefully, we can arrest and file cases against the persons responsible for Batucan’s death,” he added.

Batucan, 50, was about to park his motorcycle about 15 meters away from their residence when he was shot dead by an unidentified assailant. He suffered gunshot wounds on his head and chest. Two empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol were later found in the crime scene.

Last Dec. 3, 2016, Batucan’s son Saniño was watching television in their home in Barangay Cansaga when he was hit by a stray bullet on his stomach.

It came from shots fired by a group of bonnet-wearing men who had been chasing a teenage boy accused of selling drugs. Although the assassins’ faces were concealed, Batucan believed they were policemen.

Batucan’s wife Marilou said her husband claimed he knew the person who accidentally killed his son but never told her the identity of the man.

Just recently, Marilou said her husband confided to her that a motorcycle-riding man whose face was concealed tried to offer him money in relation to their son’s death.

Batucan reportedly declined the offer, saying there was no need to offer a settlement since they have not filed any case in relation to his son’s death.

Although she wanted to file a complaint against the persons who gunned down her husband, Marilou said their relatives and children are afraid that they too might be killed.

Chief investigator Leo Villarino of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) urged the police to do its best to identify and arrest the persons who had a hand in the death of Batucan and the latter’s son.

“This is primarily a police matter, and the police should do something to address the issue,” he said.

While the CHR can initiate its own investigation, Villarino said it would better if the victims’ family will lodge a complaint to ensure that they will cooperate in the probe.

Contrary to earlier reports, Villarino clarified that CHR-7 continues to monitor and investigate cases of alleged extrajudicial killings in the region.

So far, at least 40 cases are being investigated, most of which involved policemen. But the investigations were stalled by the lack of cooperation from the victims’ families and from witnesses who feared for their safety.