No lapses in prosecuting Atimonan bloodbath suspects, DOJ insists

The Department of Justice has denied allegations that it was not doing its homework on pursuing the case against the policemen charged for the Jan. 6, 2013 Atimonan bloodbath that left 13 people dead.

 

The denial came following a statement made by Marife Lontok, wife of slain environmentalist Tirso Lontok, that state prosecutors from the DOJ did not attend "the first hearing in November" presided over by Judge Maria Chona Pulgar-Navarro of Regional Trial Court Branch 61 in Gumaca, Quezon.

 

"It is not true that the prosecutors failed to attend the first hearing in the multiple murder case filed against P/Superintendent Hansel Marantan and 12 former Philippine National Police officers/personnel, now pending before [the] regional trial court [in] Gumaca, Quezon," the DOJ said in a statement.

 

The DOJ said Prosecutors Cesar Angelo Chavez and Jayvee Bandong, as well as Quezon provincial prosecutor Jose Federico Gendrado attended the first hearing, which happened last September 27, and not in November as claimed by Mrs. Lontok.

 

During that hearing, the court heard jointly several motions from both parties, including the prosecution's motion for a hold departure order against the accused and the respondents motion for reconsideration on the issuance of arrest warrants against them.

 

Even during the latest hearing on Nov. 29, 2013, government prosecutors – Gendrado and Nalyn Mesa – were in attendance. That hearing was held for the submission of opposition to several motions filed by the accused.

 

"Said opposition were filed by the DOJ prosecutors even before the scheduled hearing," the DOJ said.

 

The DOJ also said the judge handling the case had already denied a motion requesting her to inhibit from the case. Other motions remain pending, the DOJ added.

 

The next hearing is set for January 17, it added.

 

Aside from Marantan, who was Region IV-A deputy intelligence head at the time of the shooting incident, also recommended to be charged for multiple murder were:

 

 

The recommendations were the result of a six-month preliminary investigation conducted by a DOJ panel after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on March 11 filed criminal complaints against the involved government forces.

 

The complaints were filed by the families of the 13 victims who were gunned down at a checkpoint by a joint force from the local police and military. The families filed the complaint with the help of the NBI.

 

In its investigation report, the NBI said there was no indication that the implicated government forces "desisted or prevented their group from shooting the victims" even if one of them was already raising his hands in surrender.

 

Apart from violation of Article 247 (Murder) of the Revised Penal Code, nine of the implicated men were seperately charged for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829 (Obstruction of Justice).

 

The complainants said what Marantan's group carried out on that day was not a checkpoint operation but a "dragnet," and that no one from the implicated individuals tried intervening, showing a "concerted effort to perpetuate the commission of the crime."

Rivalry

 

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the incident was probably the result of a turf rivalry in the region between the group led by Vic Siman, who was one of the fatalities, and the group of a certain "Ka Tita," supposedly a club operator in Ermita, Manila, who later became a "video karera" operator in Laguna.

 

The NBI said Marantan is closely associated with, and is the alleged protector of Ka Tita.

 

Investigators also found that prescribed procedures in setting up checkpoints under Section 1 to 9, Rule 25 of the PNP Operational Procedures were violated.

 

The NBI noted the lack of signage for the main checkpoint, the failure of the personnel manning the checkpoints to wear the prescribed uniform and, the absence of PNP marked vehicles.

 

The PNP's rules of engagement for checkpoints were also not followed when the operating team "forcibly tried to open the window of the SUV; when, at the outset, they pointed their guns at the two SUVs and subsequently fired at and killed the victims."

 

The NBI report revealed that "the apparent objective of the operation was to kill all the victims."

 

The NBI quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the operatives still shot two of the victims who were able to get out of the vehicles during the firing. One of them was "already in a desperate act of surrender, with both hands in the air."

 

According to an NBI forensic chemist, there were 196 bullet entrance holes on the first Montero SUV (plate number VIC 27) and 61 bullet entrance holes in the second Montero SUV (plate number SFM).

 

The report said the entrance bullet holes showed that: "[T]here is no indication that any of the passengers of the two vehicles fired shots directed towards the outside."

 

The bullet holes also revealed that some of the shots were fired at close range — between 8 and 36 inches from the gun muzzle to the target — as evidenced by "tattooing, smudging, and soot,” which are all indicators of close-range firing.

 

The presence of gun powder nitrates on the shirts of Siman, and victims Leonard Marasigan, and Conrado Decillo also supported claims that they were shot at close range or within 36 inches, the report added.

 

Marantan, who was wounded in the incident, and his men had repeatedly insisted the incident was a shootout, and even claimed his wounds were the result of the exchange of gunfire between his group and the victims. — RSJ, GMA News