An official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) denied claims that he has an axe to grind against the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 7 whose members were implicated in the ambush-slay of lawyer Noel Archival and companions.
Last Friday, the NBI filed additional evidence against HPG-7 policemen who were implicated in Archival’s killing.
NBI Supervising Agent Jose Ermie Monsanto said they considered all the possible angles in the fatal shooting of the victims but the evidence they gathered pointed to the five HPG-7 policemen.
In an interview last Thursday, Monsanto said he didn’t even know that the HPG earlier filed a disbarment case against him.
Monsanto said he is only one of several investigators who conducted the probe.
“I have nothing personal against the HPG. The case filed against its members was the result of a collective investigation (by the NBI and the police). I alone can’t sway other members of the team,” he said.
Monsanto said whatever accusation against him will never affect the case they filed against the five HPG-7 policemen.
“The investigation team looked into all the angles of this case. We didn’t single out the HPG. But so far, the evidence led us to them. Our case against the five members of HPG-7 is not just based on testimonial evidence but also physical evidence,” he said.
A sworn statement from lawyer Dexterius John Ypanto, an associate from Archival’s firm, showed that Archival had a heated argument with Regional Highway Patrol Unit 7 (RHUP 7) last Oct. 10, 2013, with Archival challenging RHUP 7 to arrest him and charge him for any violation of law.
Monsanto said the remaining evidence also showed that the five HPG policemen switched the plate numbers of two vehicles impounded at the HPG 7 Office to hide their activities with regards to the ambush and murder. /UP CEBU INTERN ANGELI SARMIENTO
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