MALUBOG KILLING SURVIVOR: BELANDE ACCEPTS POLICE PROTECTION

EXECUTION SURVIVOR/OCT 4,2018: Two of the victims in the execution in brgy Malubog, Cebu City. Two people survives. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

In a sudden turn of events, the habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver who survived the Malubog killing has decided to have the police look after his safety.

Antonio Belande, one of the two survivors of the alleged salvage incident, was released on Sunday from the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), where he was confined for three days.

Belande sustained a gunshot wound on the left side of his stomach after being shot by one of his captors, while five others were killed on the
TransCentral Highway in the mountain village of Malubog, Cebu City, at around 3 a.m. on Thursday.

He had earlier claimed that policemen were responsible for the killing.

However, during his release on Sunday, Belande was escorted by the police from CCMC to his residence in Barangay Basak-San Nicholas in Cebu City when he went home at around noon.

Police patrol cars were seen following the ambulance that Belande and his son Niño boarded bound for their home.

Despite this development, Commission on Human Rights (CHR-7) Chief Investigator Leo Villarino remained hopeful that Belande would ask for their custody.

“We are waiting for Belande to finally decide kon moari ba siya sa amo (that he will come to see us). Kami dinhi, we are still hoping na mosulod siya sa among (that he would place himself under our) custody and we can get his statement,” Villarino told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.

He said Belande would qualify for the witness protection program that would assure him his safety.

The other survivor, Sharmaine Puran, has found a safe haven in the Archbishop’s Palace, the official residence of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.

She was brought to the Archbishop’s residence at D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City immediately after her release from the CCMC on Saturday evening.

The Cebu Archdiocese and the CHR-7 have vowed to protect Puran while she is under their care.

“We are not placing her any place nga dili siya (that she would not feel) secure. Until nga ma (we have) process(ed) (her) entry (to the) witness protection program, nia siya sa (she will be staying in the) temporary sanctuary,” Villarino said.

Msgr. Joseph Tan, the media liaison officer of the Archdiocese of Cebu, has begged off from issuing a statement to the media on Sunday but promised to answer questions by today (Monday).

Whether or not Belande would cooperate with CHR-7, Villarino said he was optimistic that they would be able to unveil the truth behind the Malubog killing.

“We are hopeful to get the real facts. We are not investigating and hoping to prosecute, dili na siya mao atong unang gihunahuna (that is not our priority). We are hoping to get the facts of the true circumstances of the incident and later on we will see if there are any liabilities that can be remedied by legal process,” he said.

‘He is home’
Belande’s wife Carlota yesterday confirmed that her husband was back home.

“Yes, he is already here. Karon lang gyud naka abot (He just arrived),” Carlota told CDN in a phone interview shortly before 1 p.m. yesterday.

Unlike Puran, she said her husband only wanted to quietly return to his house.

Puran had earlier refused to be protected by the police and was escorted out of CCMC by Villarino. She was then whisked into a waiting Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) ambulance, and transported to the Archbishop’s Residence.

Both Belande and Puran, in separate interviews early on October 4, had claimed that policemen were responsible for the killing of five persons at dawn of that day, Thursday, Oct. 4, in a secluded area along the Transcentral Highway in Sitio Kan Irag, Barangay Malubog, Cebu City.

Belande claimed they were picked up by men claiming to be policemen, some of whom were in uniform, at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3, were blindfolded, and kept inside a vehicle. He said they were brought along with five others to Malubog sometime around 3 a.m. of Oct. 4.

While the others were being shot, Belande said he managed to escape by rolling down the ravine but he still sustained a gunshot wound in the stomach area.

Puran, on other hand, claimed she and others were taken by a group of policemen she described to be from “SWAT.”

She said they were brought to Malubog at dawn and she was able to slip away under the cover of darkness and hid in the bushes while others were being killed. She came out of hiding the following morning and sought help after she saw that barangay officials and the media have arrived in the area.

Villarino on Saturday revealed that the CHR has decided to investigate the case after the families of both Belande and Puran, who feared for the safety of the two survivors, have sought his help.

Yesterday, however, Carlota would not say if they would accept CHR-7’s offer for protective custody.

Trauma
Niño Belande, the oldest child of the Belande couple, was also evasive when CDN spoke to him on the phone, saying they would rather not comment because his father was still traumatized by the incident.

Niño said his father would no longer want to be interviewed and would instead focus his time in getting post traumatic examination and treament.

“Among na planohan sa pamilya nga dili sa namo siya ipatubag sa media (The family planned to no longer
allow him to respond to the media),” said Niño.

Niño said that ever since the incident, his father had been agitated and had difficulty sleeping. Their priority now would be to ensure that their father would be able to recover from the ordeal, he added.

Neighbors of the Belandes were apparently unaware that he had arrived home as most of those asked by Cebu Daily News said they did not know if he was back.

Belande, a habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver, claimed that he and another driver, Christopher

Tangag were just hired to bring passengers to Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City on Wednesday, October 3, when they were accosted and taken allegedly by policemen.

Tangag, a call center agent and a part-time habal habal driver, was among the five men found dead in Barangay Malubog, their bodies riddled with bullets.

Meanwhile, the Mambaling Police Precinct, which has jurisdiction over Barangay Basak San Nicolas, would not be providing a security detail for Belande, according to the station commander, Chief Insp. Randy Caballes.

Caballes said they would instead assign a police car to patrol Belande’s neighborhood from time to time.