Accused in Pestaño slay muddling case, says Pimentel

MANILA, Philippines—The Navy officers charged with the 1995 death of Navy Ensign Philip Pestaño were muddling the case by claiming he committed suicide, the counsel for the Pestaño family said Friday.

Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the officers’ claim that Pestaño committed suicide had been belied by foreign and local forensic experts presented by Pestaño’s parents for the past 15 years since the crime was committed.

Responding to their insinuation that he cut himself on the wrist out of depression, Pimentel said the young Pestaño suffered the wound when he used a knife to shape an empty soda can into an ashtray, leaving him with a “superficial scratch.”

He said that Dr. Jose del Rosario, who attended to Pestaño, said the wound merely required three stitches “on the whole skin,” meaning it was “simply skin deep.”

Psychiatrists also testified in preliminary hearings that the officer was not suffering from any psychological or mental depression or ailment. Their testimonies have not been rebutted, Pimentel said.

“The accused in the Pestaño case are trying hard to divert public attention from the murder charge filed against them by the current no-nonsense Ombudsman for the killing of naval Ensign Philip Pestaño in 1995,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

The accused had challenged the Ombudsman’s ruling finding them liable for Pestaño’s death.