DOJ to summon cops facing murder raps over Jolo shooting
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice is set to send summonses to the Jolo cops facing murder complaints over the fatal shooting of four soldiers in Jolo, Sulu in late June.
Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento told reporters on Monday that they will issue subpoena to the Jolo cops who have been named respondents in the murder and planting of evidence complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation.
Malcontento said that they will be given ten days to file their counter-affidavit. There will be no need for them to appear before the DOJ, Malcontento added.
The NBI on July 21 filed criminal complaints against nine police personnel, and gross negligence against Jolo police chief and two other Sulu police officials.
The shooting incident happened on June 29. Four soldiers of the Philippine Army were gathering intelligence on suicide bombers linked to the Abu Sayyaf group when they were supposedly stopped and later shot by the nine.
The victims were identified as Maj. Marvin Indamog, Capt. Irwin Managuelod, Sgt. Eric Velasco and Cpl. Abdal Asula.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the NBI to conduct an impartial probe into the matter after two vastly different accounts were given by the two parties, with the police initially labelling it as a “misencounter,” a claim that the military strongly rejected.
The NBI said the Jolo cops “simultaneously attacked the victims who were not given the opportunity to defend themselves.” The bureau also said that the rifle recovered in the hand of one of the victims was planted.
The DOJ formed a four-member panel of prosecutors, led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe Pacamarra, to handle the preliminary investigation into the complaint. — Kristine Joy Patag
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