The wake of Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan is in their residence in Barangay Talamban until his interment on May 30. CDN Digital Photo/Rosalie Abatayo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The people who knew Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan can vouch for his character as a person and as a policeman.
Christine Claire Bontuyan, the daughter of Captain Bontuyan, made this comment following reports that her father’s death may be linked to his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Brigadier General Debold Sinas, regional director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), earlier said that Captain Bontuyan’s alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade may be the motive behind the killing.
READ: PRO-7: Bontuyan relieved from CIDG due to alleged connection to illegal drug trade
He said that in 2016, there was an insinuation that the slain policeman was a ninja cop and a narco cop.
Police records, however, show that no case was filed against Captain Bontuyan as there was no evidence found against him.
Captain Bontuyan belonged to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7 ) prior to his reassignment in 2016.
Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan
“CIDG gyud siya for as long as I can remember and then 2016, naapil na siya sa first batch of transferees. There was no particular reason for the transfer pero nadala lang sa balita nga cleasing-cleansing but then there was no case filed against him,” Christine said.
“There’s a lot of reaction from the public and I think I don’t need to expound the kind of man that my father was. As a father, I can vouch for him. As a person, a policeman, a lot of people knew him and people both those in the position and not in the position, they know,” she added.
Captain Bontuyan’s wake is now held at their residence in Barangay Talamban.
He will be laid to rest next Thursday, May 30, 2019.
The policeman was shot dead by four unidentified men at the intersection of A. Soriano and Pope John Paul II Avenue in Barangay Mabolo, only a few meters away from the Mabolo Police Station, shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21.
READ: Policeman ambushed near Mabolo Police Station
READ: Police pursue ‘four men’ in Bontuyan murder
Captain Bontuyan’s last assignment before his death was at the Sulu Provincial Police Office.
While Christine confirmed that her father was in Cebu during the election, she said that Captain Bontuyan had an official travel order from his superiors in Sulu because he had to attend to court trials in Cebu City for the operations that he handled when he was assigned here.
“Naa na silay memorandum sa Napolcom nga nabasahan nako kay iyang gipabasa nako nga if ever police ka unya naay subpoena nga gi-issue sa court dapat gyud nimo attendan otherwise you’ll run the risk having a case for neglect of duty,” Christine explained.
(There’s a memorandum from Napolcom that he showed me that states the if ever a police officer will receive a subpoena issued by the court then he should attend it otherwise you will run the risk of having a case for neglect of duty)
“Pag-November last year (2018), nakadawat siya og memorandum gipaexplain siya kay naay wala na attendan nga hearing. That was when we knew nga as a policeman attendan gyud na tanan, di pwede nga skip skip or pwede ra attend diri, attend didto,” she added.
(He received the memorandum November last year. He was to ask to explain why he did not attend the hearing. That was when we knew that as a policeman he should attend all the hearings. Skipping or not attending any hearing is not an allowed.)
Captain Bontuyan came from a hearing in Branch 13 of Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) at the Qimonda IT Center and was on his way home when he was shot dead. The policeman sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head and other parts of the body.
Christine earlier said that she would leave it to the police to deliver justice for her father.
READ: Christine Bontuyan to police: “Do your job and find out who did this to my father”