Chinese forensic team asks for turnover of gun, police report

A team of Chinese forensic experts and representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday visited the police regional office in Cebu City to check on the progress of the investigation of the Oct. 21 shooting involving Chinese consuls as victims and suspects.

They asked for a copy of the official police report, which is still being completed, and the turnover of evidence, such as the gun used.

Chief Supt. Prudencio Bañas said his office would provide a copy of the police report.

But for the release of physical evidence – the .45 caliber Colt Defender pistol used in the shooting –- would require clearance from PNP superiors.

“I need clearance from higher headquarters as to what extent evidence is allowed to be turned over to them,” he told reporters.

A Chinese forensic team visited the Lighthouse Restaurant yesterday to check the crime scene.

“This is their first time to have members of the same consulate killing each other, a very tragic event,” said Bañas.

“The Chinese ambassador thanked the Philippine government for the quick response to solve the matter at the earliest possible time,” he said.

The remains of the victims Consul Sun Shan and finance officer consul Hui Li were flown back to China last Saturday.

Newly appointed Consul General Song Ronghua, who was shot in the forearm and neck, is still recuperating in a private hospital.

“A letter from DFA has indicated that as part of the consular agreement between our government and China, the suspects will be prosecuted in their own country and according to their own laws,” said Bañas.

A motive has not been officially established but earlier theories pointed to a grudge harbored by the gunman, 60-year-old Li Qiangliang, whose wife Consul Gou Jing works in the visa section of the consulate.

Li mentioned his anger against the new consul general in remarks made immediately after the shooting when he was picked up for questioning by loal police.

The murder of the finance officer, one of two fatalities, pointed to pressures arising from an internal investigation of consular matters involving funds.

The suspects were turned over to Chinese authorities and flown to Xiamen last Friday on a chartered flight.

The diplomatic immunity of the suspects invoked by the Chinese Embassy, and acknowledged by the DFA and law enforcement agencies, is being challenged by top Cebu city government executives.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said he wants to file a formal protest over their release because he and Mayor Michael Rama, both lawyers, believe the suspects committed a crime in Philippine territory and should have been investigated and charged following the usual process.

Labella said he still has to discuss with the mayor what and where to file the protest since Mayor Rama was still in Manila yesterday

“ We will manifest our protest, our objection over this summary deportation without facing any investigation ,” Labella told reporters.

“They ( suspects) are no longer around. I don’t know why they were allowed to leave without observing our rules.”

Labella explained again his view that ambassadors have full diplomatic immunity but that it doesn’t automatically extend to consular officials under the Vienna Conven tion.

Meanwhile, PO1 Carl Anthony Lee was relieved from his post in the Fuente police station pending investigation.

Lee , one of the first responders in the Oct. 21 shooting, has to explain why he escorted the suspects, Li and Consul Gou Jing away from the crime scene and rode with them in their car to the Chinese consular office in Cebu Business Park, where the couple was later chased and arrested.

Lee “failed to follow orders from his direct supervisor to secure the two suspects,” said Bañas, who noted several lapses in the way police responded to the shooting.