CHR says killing of 3 RCBC suspects a rubout

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday morning said the killing of three suspects in the RCBC (Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation) robbery-slay in Tanauan City in Batangas province was a rubout and not a shootout as claimed by police authorities. QTV’s noontime news program Balitanghali said that based on the investigation of a team that the CHR dispatched to Tanauan City, suspects Vivencio Javier, Angelito Malabanan, and Rolly Lachica were all summarily executed. On Thursday, members of the Task Force RCBC trooped to Tanauan City and allegedly barged into the residences of Javier, a village chieftain; and watchmen Malabanan and Lachica in Pagaspas village. While authorities claimed that the three suspects shot it out with arresting policemen, relatives of the slain men said the police team barged into their houses before shooting the three dead. CHR chairperson Leila de Lima said they have at least 10 first-hand eye witnesses who claimed that the three suspects had already held up their hands but policemen still shoved them to the ground and shot them. “There was no shootout so there is a reasonable certainty to believe that it was a case of rubout and summary execution of these three," De Lima said. Ocular inspection conducted by CHR investigators showed that there were no signs that the three slain suspects were able to shoot it out with the policemen, she said. De Lima appealed to the government to place the said witnesses under the Witness Protection Program to ensure their safety. As for the Task Force RCBC, De Lima requested the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a complete list of all its members. She also demanded copies of the after-operation, spot, and autopsy reports produced in connection to the shooting incident. Likewise, the Human Rights Commission asked PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon to impose a preventive suspension on all the lawmen involved in the operation. For their part, officials from the PNP said they are willing to coordinate with the CHR and prepared to present to CHR investigators the members of the said task force. For now, however, Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, PNP spokesman, told GMA News that the policemen in question could not be suspended just yet, pending the receipt of an official communication from the human rights body. As for Pepito Magsino, a fourth suspect who was killed in an earlier encounter with policemen in nearby Poblacion Barangay 4, De Lima said they have yet to gather information that would show whether or not he was likewise killed in a rubout. A policeman was wounded in the said incident. - GMANews.TV