Reah Mae Tocmo’s family ‘unhappy’ with outcome of police investigation on her death
Reah Mae Tocmo | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The family of Reah Mae Tocmo wants a parallel investigation done on her brutal killing.
Grace Alad-ad, Tocmo’s older sister, said their family was dissatisfied with the outcome of the police investigation on her killing.
‘Di makadawat’
“Dili kami makadawat sa ilang investigation kay imbis nga tabangan kami sa pagkab-ot sa hustisya, daw sama pa man hinoon og dungagan pa ang among gibating kasubo. The police investigation is adding insult to our injury,” Alad-ad said in a statement that she posted on her Facebook page Thursday night, August 10, on behalf of the Tocmo family.
(We cannot accept their investigation because instead of helping us reach justice, it seems that they added more to our sadness. The police investigation is adding insult to our injury.)
Jealous and angry
Simeon Gabutero Jr., a construction worker, had admitted to killing Tocmo when she visited his boarding house in Barangay Guadalupe early morning on July 16.
Gabutero claimed that Tocmo, whom he met through Facebook, was his ‘girlfriend.’
He said that he accidentally choked her to death when he learned that Tocmo was also seeing other men. Gabutero said he felt jealous and angry.
Gabutero’s admission to the crime was contained in an extrajudicial confession that he signed on Thursday, August 10.
Extrajudicial confession
Alad-ad questioned the credibility of Gabutero’s extrajudicial confession, which she said caused damage on her sister’s reputation.
“Dili kami makadawat nga inay unta maangkon namo ang hustisya sa pagpatay ni Reah Mae Tocmo, apan nahimo pa hinoong dautan tungod sa kwestionable nga giingong ExtraJudicial Confession ni Simeon Gabutero,” she said.
(We cannot accept that because instead of having justice in the killing of Reah Mae Tocmo, but what happened is that she was made into something of a bad person because of the questionable of what is called the extrajudicial confession of Simeon Gabutero.)
‘Wa ta sa gipagawas’
“Unta sa wala pa nila gipagawas ang mga pagpangangkon ni Simeon nga siya maoy nagpatay ni Reah Mae. Ila gayud untang giklaro ang tanang mga giistorya niini. Wala man lang gani nila susiha kung tinuod ba ang giingon nga nagkaila na daan si Simeon ug Reah Mae niadto pang Disyembre 2022 ug magpadad-anan na kinig kwarta kang Reah Mae pinaagi sa Gcash,” she added.
(They should have not released the allegations of Simeon that he was the one who killed Reah Mae. They should have checked on all of what he said. They did not even investigate if it is true about Simeon and Reah Mae already knew each other last December 2022 and that he sent money to Reah Mae through GCash.)
Simeon Gabutero. | CDND photo
No proof
Alad-ad said there was no proof that Gabutero had been in contact with his sister through Facebook messenger.
She also raised a question as to why the police did not immediately present the suspect to the media so that he could be questioned as to his involvement in her sister’s killing.
“Dili kami makadawat sa ilang imbestigasyon kay imbis nga tabangan kami sa pagkab-ot sa hustisya daw sama pa man hinoon og gidungagan pa ang among gibating kasubo. The police investigation is adding insult to our injury,” Alad-ad said.
(We cannot accept the results of their investigation because instead of helping us to get justice, it seems that they added to our feeling of sadness. The police investigation is adding insult to our injury.)
Investigation
For them to get the justice, Alad-ad is asking for the conduct of another investigation on Tocmo’s death.
“Manawagan kami sa gobyerno nga unta tabangan kami nga maklaro ang pag-imbistigar sa kamatayon ni Reah Mae Tocmo. Sa tanan nga magasuporta sa among panawagan, daghan kaayong salamat kaninyong tanan,” she added.
(We call on the government that they could help us to make clear the investigation on the death of Reah Mae Tocmo. To all those who supported our call, thank you to all of you.)
Respect family’s concerns
In a press conference on Friday, August 11, Police Major Angelito Valleser, chief of Labangon Police Station, has urged members of the Tocmo family to visit their office for them to personally see the pieces of evidence that are in their possession.Still, Valleser said he respected the concerns that the Tocmo family raised.
“Wala naman tay mahimo og mao nay ila sentimento. Dili man nato ma please tanang tawo. Ang akoa lang, limpyo ang among konsensiya. Gitarong ni nimo nga investigation. Hatagan og sakto nga hustisya ang namatay,” he said.
(We cannot do anything if that is their sentiment. We cannot please all people. What I can assure is that our conscience is clear. We properly did the investigation. We did give the right efforts to give justice to the one who died.)
Police assurance
He also gave the assurance that they were doing everything that they could to ensure the immediate resolution of her case and the arrest of her killer.
“Mohangyo ko nga hinaot pa unta moabot ni sa igsuon sa biktima ug sa iyang pamilya, mga higala nga naningkamot mi nga masulbad ning hitaboa. Wala namo proteksyoni og bisan kinsa nga taw nga naay lain nga labot aning pagka-hitabo. Ang nahitabo, si Simeon lang gyud ang nagpatay,” added Valleser.
(I appeal that this can reach the sibling of the victim and to the family, the friends that we worked hard to solve this incident. We did not protect anybody who had any involvement in this incident. What happened was that Simeon was really the one who killed her.)
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