Bontuyan’s killing near police station: Sinas says Mabolo cops responded on time

Personnel of the Scene of the Crime Operatives examine the crime scene where Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan was ambushed. |CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) said that Mabolo Police responded on time during the shooting of Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 21.

This he said after he received comments that the Mabolo police allegedly were too slow to respond to Bontuyan’s killing which occurred along St. John Paul II avenue, 70 meters away from the Mabolo Police Station.

Read more: Policeman ambushed near Mabolo Police Station

Sinas said that even if the police could hear gunshots in the vicinity near the police station, they could not immediately respond without a report being sent to the station as the main purpose of the police would be to respond to a report of a crime.

“If a police is in the crime scene immediately after the crime has happened, then the police is already a suspect. The police (are) reactive to the crime. Dili lang kay moadto dayon kay nakadungog og buto-buto nga wala kahibaw asa gikan. (Police don’t respond just because they heard shots without knowing the cause),” said Sinas.

Sinas said that the Mabolo police were able to respond in time in the case of Bontuyan and the Mabolo police would continue to investigate the case of the death of the policeman.

Read more: Police pursue ‘four men’ in Bontuyan murder

Meanwhile, Sinas said there had been no significant development in the investigation of Bontuyan’s death and he was encouraging witnesses to coordinate with the Mabolo police if they had seen the four unidentified shooters.

Read more: Christine Bontuyan to police: “Do your job and find out who did this to my father”

Sinas also said that they checking into the dashboard camera of the taxi that was also peppered with bullets during the shooting to see if it had captured any of the suspect’s faces or even the plate numbers of the motorcycles used.

After verifying that Bontuyan was indeed in active service in the time of his death, Sinas said they would look into the cases he handled as a police especially the court hearing he had to attend, which was the reason he was in Cebu during the elections.

Read more: PRO-7: Bontuyan relieved from CIDG due to alleged connection to illegal drug trade 

Sinas said that although it was revealed that there were insinuations that Bontuyan was allegedly linked to the illegal drugs trade in 2016, causing his reassignment to the Cordilleras, there was no proof substantiating the allegations.

However, Sinas took note of the six counts of dishonesty filed against Bontuyan in the Office of the Ombudsman relating to unexplained wealth, still in 2016.

The charges are pending resolution in the Ombudsman.

Read more: PRO-7 RIAS: Bontuyan has records of six counts of dishonesty cases filed in Ombudsman

Read more: Christine Bontuyan: People can vouch for my father’s character

Sinas also said it would be up to the Regional Office in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where Bontuyan was assigned before his death, to coordinate with the family and provide the help the family needs./dbs

Read more: Bontuyan ambush: Will family of slain policeman receive benefits?