Guevarra: NBI initial report on Jolo shooting submitted, complaint may be filed soon
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation has sent its report on its findings on the police’s shooting of four Army intelligence officers in Jolo, Sulu to the Department of Justice, Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Tuesday.
A complaint may also soon be filed over the shooting incident, the DOJ chief added.
Guevarra in a message to reporters said the bureau handed in its initial report, which “contained the accounts of ten witnesses, the forensic findings of the medico-legal and ballistic experts, and the affidavits of the family members of the deceased Army intelligence officers.”
The Justice chief added: “Unless the NBI intends to submit a supplemental report, I expect that a criminal complaint will be filed very soon with the DOJ.”
Guevarra, however, said the bureau has not informed him what complaint they would file. “It will depend on the totality of the evidence gathered,” he added.
Police and the military agreed to let the NBI conduct an independent probe into the incident where Jolo cops shot four intelligence personnel of the army. This was after two vastly different accounts were given by the two parties.
The police initially labelled it as a “misencounter,” which the military rejected. The PNP later on clarified that the slain soldiers did not fire their guns.
The NBI said that according to its forensic findings, one soldier was shot eight times, while the two others had at least three gunshot wounds.
The bureau headquarters examined the remains of Maj. Marvin Indamog, Capt. Irwin Managuelod and Sgt. Eric Velasco, but its Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin, also spokesperson, refused to disclose other details on the forensic findings of the bureau.
One of the slain soldiers, Cpl. Abdal Asula, was buried immediately in Sulu following Islamic tradition.
Duterte promises justice
President Rodrigo Duterte sought for sobriety from the military ranks following the shooting incident.
Addressing the military troops on July 3, Duterte urged cooler heads to intervene in the midst of an already tense situation between the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) because of the shooting incident in Sulu.
“Itong nangyari, pati ako on the sidelines, nakita ko na hindi nga maganda (What happened, even on the sidelines, I saw that it was not good). And it has generated so much, maybe, hatred, so much animosity between the two units, the AFP and the PNP which is not good because in the end, it would be the people who would bear the brunt for this,” he said in a speech.
Again addressing troops in Jolo, Sulu on Tuesday morning, Duterte said he hopes that the incident would not “spark any animosity between the AFP and the PNP.”
He vowed: “As your commander-in-chief and as President of the Republic of the Philippines, I assure you that I will see to it that the truth will come out be it in favor of the police or the military.” — with report from The STAR/Christina Mendez
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