Members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives process the crime scene where Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan was ambushed in this May 21, 2019 photo. CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two weeks have passed since the killing of Police Captain Delfin Bontuyan and police had yet to move forward with the investigation of the case.
Police Chief Master Sergeant Antonio Din, Mabolo Police Station lead investigator, told CDN Digital in a phone interview that they were still waiting for the results from the police crime laboratory at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) of the footage of the two dashcams and the data from Bontuyan’s mobile phone to move forward with the case.
Bontuyan was killed by four men on board two motorcycles at the intersection of A. Soriano Avenue and Juan Luna Avenue Extension in Barangay Mabolo on Tuesday afternoon, May 21, 2019.
Read more: Policeman ambushed near Mabolo Police Station
Din said the evidence they had so far in Bontuyan’s killing were the dashcams’ footage and Bontuyan’s mobile phone.
“Ang cybercrime busy pa man kaayo. Dili pa kani (Bontuyan’s case) ang ila gi atubang ba. Mao nang dili pa pagawas dayon sa resulta,” said Din.
(The cybercrime lab is still very busy. This might still not be the case that they are working on yet. That’s why they can’t release the results right away.)
Read more: Police pursue ‘four men’ in Bontuyan murder
Meanwhile, Din said the formation of a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) might help speed up the investigation of the case.
Personnel included in the SITG will focus solely on the resolution of the case.
Read more: PRO-7 orders formation of special task force for Bontuyan’s murder
Din said that they had submitted the request last Friday, May 31, 2019 to the Investigation and Detection Management Branch, which would then be forwarded to the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas for approval.
“Composed na siya sa mga top officials down sa amoa, sa IOC (investigator on the case), unya mo focus mi sa kaso ni sir Bontuyan,” said Din.
(It is composed of top officials and down to us the investigator of the case, who would focus on the Bontuyan case.)
Read more: Christine Bontuyan to police: “Do your job and find out who did this to my father”
In a press conference, Brigadier General Debold Sinas has directed the Mabolo Police Station to get the official statements of the family of Bontuyan to help find leads to the case.
“Among storya sa Chief of Police, to contact the daughter para pwede na sila ma kuha-an og statements,” said Sinas.
(I have spoken with the chief of police and asked him to contact the daughter so that they could get her statements.)Din said that they were hoping to find additional witnesses and find leads in the submitted dashcams so they could track other footage of security cameras in the area where the suspects might have gone to.
“Ngita mi’g paagi basin sa mga unahan nga CCTV wala nag helmet ang mga suspect,” said Din.
(We are looking for ways to identify the suspects. Perhaps, the suspects might have removed their helmets and might have been caught in an establishment’s security camera somewhere in the area.) /bmjo