10 soldiers insist top botanist killed in legitimate encounter
MANILA, Philippines—Calm and collected in their green Army uniforms, 10 soldiers implicated in the killing of top botanist Leonard Co appeared on Monday at the preliminary investigation of the murder charges filed against them by the victim’s family in the Department of Justice (DoJ).
In an interview with reporters, 1st Lt. Ronald Odchimar maintained that a legitimate encounter took place between his men and communist insurgents in the mountains of Kananga, Leyte, on November 15, 2010.
Co and two of his companions, Sofronio Cortez and Julius Borromeo, were killed in the incident. Two other companions survived.
The soldiers did not submit counteraffidavits to the DoJ panel of prosecutors, but their lawyer, Roy Perez, asked for more time to prepare the documents for submission. The panel gave the soldiers until March 24 to submit their statements.
Soldiers’ account
“We saw the enemies,” Odchimar said in Filipino. “Based on the gunfire that we accounted [for], there was really retaliation from the enemies.”
He recounted that he and his troops were in an operation and were walking toward their “objective” when they saw the presence of “three armed (men).”
The officer said he would base his statements on a report of the National Bureau of Investigation that there “was indeed an encounter on that day.”
Aside from Odchimar, those who attended Monday’s hearing were 2nd Lt. Cameron Perez, Cpl. Marlon Mores, and Privates First Class Albert Belmonte, Michael Bubon, Elemer Forteza, Roger Fabillar, Gil Guimerey, Alex Apostol and William Bulic.
The DoJ panel led by Assistant State Prosecutor George Yarte thanked the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces for acting on the panel’s request to facilitate the appearance of the soldiers. Last week, the soldiers failed to show up, saying they did not have the resources to travel from Leyte province to Manila.
Names of all involved
Lawyer Evalyn Ursua, counsel for the Co family, said the military should present the rest of the battalion members who took part in the military operation.
There had been a discrepancy in the number of soldiers who were involved as claimed by both parties. Ursua said 38 or 40 soldiers joined the operation based on police records in Leyte, but Odchimar said there were only 36 of them.
Ursua said she would reiterate her request for the Armed Forces to submit a complete list of those in the 19th Infantry Battalion’s Charlie Company who figured in the Nov. 15 encounter at the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) compound in Kananga town in Leyte while Co and his team were conducting a research.
“The AFP [top officials] has an obligation to disclose the names of the soldiers. That is a state duty … because they claim it was a legitimate military operation,” she said.
Failing to establish the identities of the remaining John Does would result in an “incomplete investigation,” she added.
Roy Perez told the panel that naming the rest of the soldiers before the filing of the counteraffidavits would be “premature.” He stressed that the members of the 19th IB were conducting a legitimate military operation.
Three lawyers from the AFP also attended the hearing.
‘Surrender all firearms’
Ursua said she would press for the surrender of all the soldiers’ firearms. She said her clients would want a “scientific approach” to determine who among them fired shots.
“They say that only nine (weapons) were fired. We don’t take it as truth but as a mere claim,” the lawyer said.
Roy Perez said the soldiers would be present at all preliminary hearings until the panel resolves the case.
