Navy to cooperate with prosecutors in Pestaño murder case

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Navy on Thursday said it would respect the rule of law and cooperate with authorities with regard to the murder case involving 10 officers and men accused of killing Ensign Philip Pestaño aboard a Navy ship 16 years ago.

Only six of the 10 accused Navy men are in active service: Cmdr. Reynaldo Lopez, Hospital Man 2 Welmenio Aquino, Lt. Cmdr. Luidegar Casis, Lt. Cmdr. Alfrederick Alba, Machinery Repairman 2 Sandy Miranda and Lt. Cmdr Joselito Colico, according to Navy spokesperson Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay.

The other accused, Capt. Ricardo Ordoñez, Lt. Cmdr. Ruben Roque, and PO2 Mil Igcasan Leonor have retired, while PO1 Carlito Amoroso was honorably discharged in 1999, he said.

“It’s very clear from the orders of [Navy chief] Vice Admiral Alexander Pama that in cases like this, first, we must respect the rule of law. Second, obey policies based on legal and administrative procedures, and third, respect the rights of the accused,” he said in a telephone interview.

Tonsay said the Navy had not yet received a copy of the order of the Office of the Ombudsman that reversed an earlier decision dismissing the case and filed murder charges against the 10 Navy men at the  Sandiganbayan on Wednesday.

The Ombudsman also ordered their dismissal for grave misconduct. If they could no longer be dismissed, the alternative penalty is a fine equivalent to one year’s salary.

The body of 24-year-old Pestaño with bullet wounds in the head was found in his cabin on the BRP Bacolod City on September 27, 1995, shortly before the ship was to dock at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila.

A supposed suicide note was discovered at the scene, but his parents, Felipe and Evelyn Pestaño, refused to believe that Pestaño killed himself and filed charges against the Navy officials.

The ombudsman noted that the Senate and the military had received information that, as cargo deck officer, Pestaño had objected to the ship being used to transport illegally cut logs and some 50 sacks of  methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” being passed off as flour, and said this was the likely motive for his killing.

Tonsay said the Navy did not conduct an internal probe into such allegations, as it would be deemed “biased” to investigate itself, thus it left it to other bodies, including the Senate, to look into the matter.

In 2009, the antigraft body, then headed by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, dismissed the complaint, saying the evidence was circumstantial. The Pestaños filed a motion for reconsideration, which was granted in an order approved by Gutierrez’s successor, Conchita Carpio Morales, on January 10.

Tonsay said he could not yet comment on what would be done about the six active officers until the Navy receives the Ombudsman’s order.

Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the military would cooperate with the authorities and would ensure that due process was followed.