DOJ places 3rd 'Atimonan incident' witness under WPP

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday said that another witness in the killing of 13 people in Atimonan, Quezon last January 6 has been placed under the government's Witness Protection Program (WPP).

 

A radio report quoting De Lima said that the witness was on board a truck that was passing by Maharlika Highway in Barangay Lumutan, Atimonan when policemen were supposedly engaged in a shootout with the group of suspected jueteng lord Vic Siman.

 

Last week, De Lima and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) brought two witnesses to Barangay Lumutan to reenact what they saw during the supposed shootout. (Click here to read story on the reenactment)

 

The three witnesses were all on board a truck that was overtaken by the vehicles of Siman's group.

 

De Lima said that based on the accounts of the two witnesses, the group of Siman were "killed in cold blood" and that there was "definitely, no shootout."

 

Marantan and his team, as well as the Army soldiers who were involved in the operations, have been relieved from the post and restricted to barracks pending investigations being conducted by the Philippine National Police, the NBI and the Commission on Human Rights.

 

The chief of the Calabarzon regional police office, Chief Superintendent James Melad, has also been sacked from post. His relief came after investigators complained that the policemen involved in the operation were refusing to cooperate in the investigations.