Senate hearing into the shooting of four Army officers in Sulu. Photo by Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — The nine policemen charged for the murder of four military intelligence officers in a shooting in Jolo, Sulu, last June faced a Senate committee investigation on Wednesday.
Former top cop and now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said the Senate committee on public order which he chairs aims to determine what triggered the shooting in conducting the investigation.
“Hindi maiibsan ng pagdinig na ito ang sakit na nararamdaman ng mga kaanak ng mga pumanaw na sundalo, ngunit sana makapagbigay ito ng pag-asa na makakamit nila ang hustisya ngpagkawala ng mga mahal nila sa buhay,” Dela Rosa said in his opening statement.
Present during the hearing were Police Senior Master Sergeant Abdelzhimar Padjiri, Master Sergeant Hannie Baddiri, Staff Sergeant Iskandar Susulan, Staff Sergeant Erniskar Sappal, Cpl. Sulki Andaki, and Pat. Moh Nur Pasani.
Staff Sergeant Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, Pat. Alkajal Mandangan, and Pat. Rajiv Putalan of the Sulu provincial police drug enforcement unit also showed up at the hearing.
Likewise present were Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa and representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The NBI earlier filed a murder complaint against the nine police officers for the death of Major Marvin Indammog, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Sergeant Jaime Velasco Jr., and Corporal Abdal Asula.
They were dispatched by the Joint Intelligence Task Group and the Task Force Sulu after technical intelligence detected the possible location of two female suicide bombers and the maker of their suicide vests.
An investigation by the NBI showed that the police officers simultaneously attacked the Army Intelligence officers without “the opportunity to defend themselves.”
Contrary to the claims of the police that one of the victims had a gun, the NBI said witnesses said that Indammog did not carry a firearm when he alighted from their vehicle.
‘Cold-blooded murder’
“Ang pinakamasakit sa lahat ay ‘yung sinasabing ang mga sundalo ay nagsasabi na ng ‘tropa, tropa’ pero patuloy pa din silang binabaril. Indeed, this is nothing if not cold-blooded murder,” Senator Risa Hontiveros, one of the senators who filed a resolution calling for a Senate inquiry on the matter, said.
“Our role as senators, however, is not to impose sentences or to assign guilt. ‘Yan po ay trabaho ng husgado. Ang trabaho namin bilang mga Senador ay tingnan kung mayroon bang mga gaps o kakulangan sa ating batas, na pwedeng maging sanhi ng ganitong mga kaganapan,” she added.