Soldiers hit policemen in Quezon murder case

From Business World (Apr 24): Soldiers hit policemen in Quezon murder case

SOLDIERS HAVE sought clearance from a murder case by claiming that their police colleagues in the operation tampered with evidence to show that a shoot-out occurred with the criminal group.

“... (W)e witnessed police operatives tampering [with] the evidence, by firing the guns of the occupants of the SUV (sports utility vehicle) in the air,” according to a 58-page joint counteraffidavit filed last week by the soldiers and released to media only yesterday.

Members of the military and the police in Case Operational Plan (Coplan) Armado were last month charged with multiple murder complaints before the Department of Justice (DoJ) over the Jan. 6 incident in Atimonan, Quezon that killed 13 persons, including suspected illegal gambling operation leader Victor Siman.

The alleged rubout -- a term used to silence an opponent -- was an offshoot of rivalry over operations of an illegal numbers game called jueteng.

The soldiers implicated in the alleged rubout were Lt. Col. Monico Abang, Capt. Erwin Macalinao, 1Lt. Rico Tagure, Cpl. Rogelio Tejares, Privates First Class Michael Franco, Alvin Roque Pabon, Ricky Jay Borja, Melvin Lumalang and Gil Gallego, and Privates Marc Zaldy Docdoc and Emergin Barrete.

The policemen were Chief Supt. James Melad, Supt. Hansel Marantan, Sr. Insp. John Paolo Carracedo, Arturo Sarmiento, Ramon Balauag, Timoteo Orig, Joselito De Guzman, Carlo Cataquiz, Eduardo Oronan, Nelson Indal, Al Bhazar Jailani, Wryan Sardea, Rodel Talento and Chief Insp. Grant Gollod.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, the soldiers “conspired” with the police to neutralize Siman.

However, the military said that if they conspired with the police “we [the military] would not have disclosed what we saw, taking into consideration that the police actions may be considered as our own act.” 

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Soldiers-hit-policemen-in-Quezon-murder-case&id=69210