Police cordon the area along M. Velez Street in Cebu City, where Clarin Mayor David Navarro (draped in white cloth) was ambushed and killed on Oct. 25, 2019. | CDND Photo/ Raul Tabanao
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has officially begun its investigation on the death of Clarin Mayor David Navarro today, October 30, as the official mandate of the Department of Justice has been delivered to the office of NBI Central Visayas (NBI-7).
Lawyer Antonio Pagatpat, NBI director for regional operations affairs, delivered the DOJ mandate to NBI-7 Director Tomas Enrile, which calls on the bureau to form a “command case” on Navarro’s death.
The command case will ensure that NBI Cebu will not be work on the case, Pagatpat said they will be assisted by NBI Bohol and NBI Dumaguete for coordination and augmentation of personnel.
“If we need to send more personnel and agents from NBI Manila, we will do so. We are already in the thick of our investigation,” said Pagatpat.
READ: NBI-7 to begin probe on Navarro’s death
Pagatpat promised the public a thorough, legal, and impartial investigation on the incident after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the transfer of the investigation from the police to the NBI following allegations that the police may be involved in the killing after Navarro died under their custody.
READ: Duterte now suspecting cops killed Misamis Occ mayor
He said they will be working on the investigation almost from scratch because the police only provided “few information” including spot report and witness statements which need to be followed up.
Pagatpat said they have obtained footages of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) before the case was transferred to the NBI.
Representatives of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and NBI-7 met in a conference on Tuesday, October 29, to turn over records and pieces of evidence involving the Navarro case.
Lawyer Dominador Cimafranca, NBI-7 assistant regional director, said they were able to discuss with the SITG as to how far along were they in the investigation prior to handing the case over to the NBI.
Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan, chief of CCPO, was quoted saying that they are “open for investigation and are willing to cooperate should the CCPO’s help is needed to move forwarded with the case.”
READ: Police hands over Navarro case records, evidence to NBI
To move along with NBI investigation, Pagatpat said the Cebu office will be conducting their own reenactment of the ambush based on the statements of the witnesses.
Thorough background checks will also be conducted.
Pagatpat said there is no deadline for NBI-7 to finish the probe as this will only add unnecessary pressure to the investigators.
“There is no pressure for us except that our number one client this time is the President. This is a priority case,” he said.
Pagatpat urged witnesses and the family to cooperate with NBI-7 to help hasten the investigation. / celr