It took 16 years but the Cebu-based family of Navy ensign Philip Pestaño remained grateful that the Ombudsman recently filed murder charges against 10 Navy officers accused of being responsible for his death.
Pestaño’s aunt Rebecca Pestaño-Smith said their quest for justice has been a arduous journey.
“It’s an indictment on our legal process, but we are grateful to know that our case was given attention,” Smith said.
Smith is based in Mabolo, Cebu City. The ancestral home of the Pestaño family is in Mabolo, though Philip’s parents, Felipe and Evelyn, resided then in Mandaue City.
The 24-year-old Pestaño was found dead in his cabin aboard the BRP Bacolod City on Sept. 27, 1995, shortly before the ship was to dock at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila. He had bullet wounds in the head.
A supposed suicide note was found on his body, but his parents refused to believe that their son killed himself and filed charges against the Navy officials.
The Ombudsman then headed by Merceditas Gutierrez dismissed the complaint in 2009, saying the evidence was circumstantial.
The alleged inaction on the Pestaño case was one of the grounds raised against Gutierrez during her impeachment last 2011.
The Pestaños filed a motion for reconsideration, which was granted by Gutierrez’s successor, Conchita Carpio Morales, last Jan. 10.
Philip grew up in Cebu and studied at the Sacred Heart School, though the family transferred to Manila when he was 10 or 11 years old.
Smith said Philip’s parents talked to her over the phone and told her about their optimism on the case.
“Nobody can really say that they are happy in the situation, but at least, even if they waited so long, there’s still now life at the end of the tunnel and their journey is finally reaching its destination”, Smith said.
She said they also considered the decision a birthday gift for Philip.
She said they celebrated Philip’s birthday last Jan. 1 in the family farm located in Antipolo, where it is being converted into a Philip sanctuary.
Smith said all of Philip’s memorabilia, including the documents of the case, were placed there.
Smith said the family never believed Philip committed suicide because he didn’t have any reason to do so.
She said Philip is quite idealistic and was even about to marry his girlfriend when he was killed.
Smith said they strongly believed that Philip was killed because of the illegal cargoes being delivered to his assigned vessel, which he objected to.
Smith said Philip appeared in dreams to his father and other family members, asking them to help him secure justice.
“‘Pa, please save my name,’ in effect he was saying don’t let me die in vain. So we felt this is vindication for Philip that he was a coward because he was really a man of honor and integrity and honesty,” Smith said. With an Inquirer report