Kin of cop who committed suicide want PAO chief Acosta probed over 'persecutory statements' 

The family of deceased PO3 Jeremiah de Villa on Tuesday slammed Public Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta for her "persecutory statements" that accused De Villa and his colleague of murdering a motorycle rider last month.

After the preliminary investigation hearing at the Department of Justice (DOJ), De Villa's lawyer, Maritoni Renee Resurreccion, read a statement from her client's family, expressing their disappointment in Acosta's pronouncements in media in relation to the killing of motorcycle rider John Dela Riarte.

"The irresponsible persecutory statements made by the PAO chief before the media undeservedly humiliated PO3 De Villa," the family said. "It shamed the institution PO3 De Villa served as a police officer and disgraced his family. All these while he is still being investigated."

The family called for a government investigation into Acosta's statements, which for them constitute "grave abuses."

"We request for the investigation of the acts or grave abuses of this government agency whose purpose is seemingly to gain media mileage and not to ferret out the truth," the statement read.

De Villa's relatives, however, did not say which agency should probe Acosta.

"PO3 De Villa trusted our government's fact finding investigation and rightly so. He willingly submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the PNP (Philippine National Police), the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), the Napolcom (National Police Commission) and the DOJ," the family said.

"He was not however prepared for the vicious attack by the PAO specifically those personally made by the Chief PAO against him. He was ready for the processes of legal prosecution as part of due process. He did not expect public persecution. Not from PAO."

The family said public attorneys should "primarily play the role of peacemakers" and must be guided by a "high sense of fairness, integrity, good faith, and justice, in the performance of their actions."

They also declined to accept Acosta's "sham show of sympathy" after De Villa jumped to his death from the rooftop of the three-story building of the Police Security and Protection Group inside Camp Crame in Quezon City last Saturday.

"PO3 De Villa is gone. May we give his memory the respect which was withheld from him when he was alive," the De Villa family said.

While Resurreccion was reading the statement, Dela Riarte's brother, Robert, cut her off and insisted they also lost a family member.

Robert said his family would not have found out the "truth" about his brother's death if not for media reports that said the rider was killed while in police custody for a traffic altercation on July 29.

As Robert turned emotional, PAO personnel removed him from the hearing room although he returned minutes later.

Resurreccion, meanwhile, continued reading the statement and even fielded questions from the press.

Acosta was also present at the pocket press conference.

Sought for comment, Acosta denied issuing "irresponsible statements" meant to put De Villa to shame.

"Wala akong sinasabing irresponsible. Nagbase lang po tayo sa forensic report ng NBI at PAO. Sinasabi ko lang po ang ebidensya. Hindi po ako nag-iimbento," she said.

Acosta said they brought the complaints before the DOJ to determine if there is basis to indict De Villa and PO2 Jonjie Manon-og in court.

"Tama ba ang imbestigasyon ng PAO? Tama ba ang imbestigasyon ng NBI? Tama ba ang forensics? Nilalahad ko lang po ang developments base po sa dokumento. Hindi po ako prosecutor. Hindi po ako nagpe-persecute," she said. —KBK, GMA News