Photo of Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines–“Basura yan.” [That’s trash.]
This is how Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla described one of the persons who surfaced at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) alleging that someone else is behind the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.
As the Degamo slay probe continues, Marlon Quibod of Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental came to the NBI to testify that he was allegedly recruited by a group that planned to kill an individual.
In his affidavit, he said a certain Arnil Libradilla invited him to work for a person named “Brownie.”
Libradilla was allegedly a member of the New People’s Army.
Meanwhile, Quibod identified “Brownie” as “Mayor Fritz.”
He also said initially, he did not know who was their target.
He said he just found out later that it was Degamo.
Libradilla was among those who died in an encounter with police and military who were running after the governor’s assailants.
Despite the narration, the justice secretary doubted Quibod’s credibility.
He said it seemed as if the man was deployed to mislead investigators.
Remulla suspected the motive for Quibod’s participation in the probe was to delay the filing of a murder complaint against Negros Oriental 3rd district Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr.
It was a “desperate attempt to muddle the situation,” said the justice secretary.
Remulla said NBI had subjected Quibod to an interview but investigators found no reason to believe the man.
“[The NBI] asked [the witness] a round of questions and from the initial impression, there was nothing to it,” the secretary said.
He told the reporters, “I’ll tell you one thing. When things like these happen, you have a suspicion that there’s somebody orchestrating it and there is somebody playing up.”
“From a PR point of view, nagbabayad ng pera sa mga tao para sa story (money is paid to people so that they would come up with a story),” Remula said.
“I am sorry to say that, but it appears to be that way. Why? Kasi (because), out of nowhere, here comes somebody with a story, and suddenly everybody knows about it,” he observed.
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