POLICE investigators claim they have accomplished 55 to 60 percent of their investigation into the ambush of Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot and his family. But up to now, they have not zeroed in on the motive behind the attack, saying that they are considering Loot’s being linked to drugs by President Rodrigo Duterte, or a personal grudge borne from his being a police officer in the past. They also claim to have some “persons of interest”, based on their investigation. Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director, Senior Supt. Manuel Abrugena said there was no hurry to solve the ambush on Loot and admitted that the investigation is slow. “Why this is slow? Kasi ayaw po namin magkamali. Ayaw po namin na just to please yung ating spectators or the public,” Abrugena said in a press conference on Wednesday. (Because we do not want to commit mistakes, just to please spectators or the public.) He said that the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG)-Maya, composed of various units from the Philippine National Police (PNP), wants to have a slow but sure kind of investigation. “Mahirap ma-fall sa track na ‘inconclusive investigation’. Ginusto natin na approach na slowly but surely sa ginagawa nating investigation,” said Abrugena. (It is difficult to fall on that tract. We want to approach the investigation slowly but surely) According to Abrugena, the SITG-Maya is now at 55 to 60 percent nearer to solving the attack on Mayor Loot. He said they already have some leads as to the motive behind the killing. One of their angles is the alleged drug-links of Loot and a personal grudge against him, adding that they are considering some “persons of interest” but refused to divulge the basis for considering them as such. “But then, we cannot divulge it yet. Definitely (if we are going to divulge) it will affect our on going investigation,” Abrugena said. The task group is still looking for more witnesses to identify the suspects especially the gunmen. He said the statements of the witnesses were not consistent and thus, became quite confusing. Loot on the other hand said he has not divulged all the information he had on the ambush and would not do so unless he sees where the police investigation was going. “I am still confident that they (police) will solve this. I know they will do their job,” Loot said.
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