Operation not approved, says Ochoa; DoJ vows to probe Quezon ‘mission’

From the Daily Tribune (Jan 12): Operation not approved, says Ochoa; DoJ vows to probe Quezon ‘mission’

The Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday vowed to determine who gave the go-signal in the Quezon province police operation, if it was really an authorized mission, that led to the killing of 13 persons, including three police officers and two Air Force men. Despite the denial by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., who is also the chief of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, that the mission, supposedly codenamed “Coplan Armado,” was sanctioned by PAOCC, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima maintained that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will look into the allegation that PAOCC was aware of the operation. “That should be looked into by the NBI definitely because of the court questions that need to be known is what was that mission all about…first, what was the background of that mission? Who authorized it?” she asked. “It would be easy to verify from the PAOCC whether that was an operation that has been sanctioned or not by the PAOCC,” she added.

Ochoa, in a statement, denied that PAOCC gave the go-signal for the Quezon operation, led by Supt. Hansel Marantan, as he stressed PAOCC will fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the NBI. “I wish to point out though that a news report saying the Palace okayed the operation is completely erroneous,” the Palace official said. Ochoa added he has directed the PAOCC personnel to fully cooperate with authorities investigating the matter to get to the bottom of the incident. “I share the concern of those who seek clarifications regarding the circumstances that led to the loss of lives, and I am confident that the inquiry to be conducted by the NBI will help produce an accurate account of the events surrounding the shootout,” he said.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., for his part, expressed serious doubts about the integrity of the police source linking Malacañang to the Atimonan police operations. According to the House leader, the statement of the police source was baseless. “Of course not. Absolutely no basis,” Belmonte stressed.

House Deputy Majority Leader Miro Quimbo also said the police claims should be taken with a grain of salt even as he defended Ochoa from being linked to the fiasco. “He already said he did not,” Quimbo said in response to questions about the alleged approval by the PAOCC of the police operations.

Quimbo pointed out that while the operations against illegal gambling and other criminal activities are authorized, it does not allow the conduct of illegal operations such as the Atimonan operations.
“Even on the assumption that the operation was authorized, it doesn’t authorize the conduct of anything illegal or against the law,” he stressed.

De Lima noted Ochoa’s denial but maintained that “we will also look at that. And I think, they (PAOCC) are open to investigation also, I mean, to be part of the investigation.” The Justice chief also stressed the NBI will dig deeper into the background of Marantan, who was the lone casualty on the side of those manning the checkpoint after sustaining gunshot wounds in the leg and arms. “We will also look at the exact record of Superintendent Marantan. We are going to review all those alleged cases or similar incidents involving Superintendent Marantan. That is definitely part of the inquiry or the probe,” De Lima said.

But Chief Supt. Reginald Villasanta, PAOCC executive director, admitted that the commission received a project proposal from Marantan and Supt. Glenn Dumlao, seeking permission to conduct operation in Quezon province but such move was not approved. Villasanta claimed that the proposal did not even reach Ochoa as it was immediately turned down in his (Villasanta’s) level. As DoJ secretary, De Lima is a member of the PAOCC but she stressed she was not aware of the alleged “Coplan Armado.”

Initially, the police reported that 13 men, aboard two sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were killed last Sunday after allegedly shooting it out with combined police and Army troops after evading an established checkpoint along the Maharlika Highway in Atimonan, Quezon. But no less than President Aquino expressed doubts over the initial information, prompting him to tap the NBI to be the sole investigative agency authorized to look into the incident.

There were also speculations that the incident was a product of a turf war between two competing operators of the illegal numbers game jueteng after one of those killed, Vic Siman-Atienza, was tagged as a jueteng operator in Laguna and Batangas. De Lima said the NBI investigators will cover all of the speculations cropping up following the incident, which was branded as rubout by the families of those killed. The DoJ chief said that for the meantime she will wait for the results of the NBI investigation of the incident before making further moves.     

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/9057-operation-not-approved-says-ochoa-doj-vows-to-probe-quezon-‘mission’