“Coplan Armado,” the police operation to get a notorious illegal gambling operator in Southern Tagalog that led to the killing of 13 people in an alleged shootout in Atimonan, Quezon province, on Sunday would have pushed through with or without the approval of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
Supt. Glenn Dumlao, the operation’s supervisor, told the Inquirer in a phone interview Friday that the coplan (case operational plan) had the approval of the PAOCC, but did not get funding.
But Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., PAOCC chair, insisted that “Coplan Armado” did not have his commission’s approval, and said the exclusive story published by the Inquirer on Friday about the three-month police operation was “completely erroneous.”
Ochoa did not grant reporters’ requests for an interview at the traditional New Year reception in Malacañang and instead issued a statement saying, “I wish to point out though that a news report saying that the Palace okayed the operation is completely erroneous.”
Ochoa admitted the existence of the coplan, but indicated that it did not get to the proposal stage.
“The operation[al] plan that was cited in the Inquirer report was a confidential proposal that was not approved,” he said.
Presumption of regularity
But Dumlao said the operation had PAOCC’s approval and was carried out on the presumption of regularity.
Dumlao said the coplan targeted Victor “Vic” Siman, allegedly the operator of the numbers racket “jueteng” in the Southern Tagalog region, and a local official in Batangas province.
He said the operation was planned to push through with or without the approval of the PAOCC.
The coplan was signed on Oct. 24, 2012, by Supt. Hansel Marantan, the case officer and chief of the Anti-Organized Crime Task Force of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon); Chief Supt. James Melad, chief of the Calabarzon police, and Dumlao.
Siman was killed along with 12 others in the alleged shootout between government security forces and a criminal gang at a police-military checkpoint on a stretch of Maharlika Highway in Barangay Lumutan, Atimonan, on Sunday afternoon.
Among those killed along with Siman were three policemen and three soldiers.
Relatives of those killed said they believed there was no shootout, and claimed the 13 men were summarily executed, as only one man on the government’s side was wounded, and only superficially.
On 1st assignment after Dacer case
That was Marantan, leader of the police team at the checkpoint. Quezon police reported that Marantan was hit in the hands and foot and was taken to the hospital.
Marantan is the deputy chief of the Regional Intelligence Division. Dumlao holds two positions: Deputy chief of the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) and commander of the RPSB’s 1st Battalion, based in Antipolo City.
Dumlao is on his first assignment after being reinstated in the police service in April 2012. He was linked to the murders of Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and the public relations agent’s driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000, allegedly carried out by agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), but was allowed to turn state witness.
Marantan had been involved in other so-called shootouts that resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people.
Fund request
Dumlao said the coplan, conceptualized in the second quarter of 2012, was submitted to the PAOCC “for funding purposes.”
“[Since] it was a long-running operation that dealt with a high-profile criminal [group], it needed fund[s] to [be sustained],” he said.
“The regional headquarters had too little funds so we went to higher authorities. By law, the PAOCC is mandated to give support [through funding]. It was in that aspect that we went to the PAOCC,” Dumlao said.
He did not disclose the amount requested.
Dumlao said the PAOCC’s role was “ministerial.”
The coplan submitted to the PAOCC was approved by as high as the commission’s secretariat and the assistant executive director, Dumlao said.
Disapproved by executive director
It was only the PAOCC executive director, Chief Supt. Reginald Villasanta, who did not approve the release of the funds “maybe due to other priority projects, which also needed funding,” Dumlao said.
“[But] it doesn’t mean that our coplan loses its substance and validity, for with or without the fund support, we have to continue pursuing these organized crime groups,” he said.
“We cannot just ignore [the coplan] just because funds are unavailable,” he said.
He said he could have gone to the PNP Directorate for Intelligence for funding but “I didn’t anymore because that would already be forum shopping.”
“We submitted the coplan to the PAOCC because we had nothing to hide. It was not just born out of our imagination,” Dumlao said.
No mission order
In a radio interview, Senior Supt. Ranier Idio, PAOCC deputy executive director, said Ochoa had nothing to do with the Atimonan operation, but confirmed the existence of the coplan.
Idio explained that a mission order was usually signed by the “direct supervisor” of the operatives whether in the regional, provincial or city level.
“But the PAOCC had not issued a mission order or letter order to those who conducted the Atimonan [operation]. So, if ever we issue a letter order, this will be given only to members of the PAOCC,” he said.
Idio confirmed that “Coplan Armado” was submitted to the PAOCC “for consideration and approval of our executive director.”
He said the coplan came from the PNP regional office in Calabarzon), where Marantan is detailed.
The coplan aimed to “target private armed groups,” he said. But he refused to disclose other details because the coplan was “considered secret.”
“It doesn’t mean that if you submit a coplan to the commission [it] will be automatically approved. This has to pass through a thorough study to ascertain the validity of the submitted project proposal,” Idio said.
The PAOCC’s review and evaluation committee conducts the study before the proposal is elevated to the executive director for approval.
An approval will come in the form of a “resolution,” Idio said.
Idio clarified that the mandate of the PAOCC includes “policymaking” and providing support to law enforcement agencies, such as legal services, logistical or technical support.
But the PAOCC is not directly involved in the actual operations, Idio said.
Once a coplan has been approved, a series of conferences follows, only after which the actual operation can start.
“That’s why we’re saying that we don’t have any connection (to the Atimonan incident) because not once did a briefing or coordinating meeting happen before that operation,” he said.
But even without the approval of the PAOCC, the coplan could be implemented, he said.
“Actually, they can implement it … at the level of their regional director or the case supervisor,” Idio said.
“Anytime, they can implement it because it is in their mandate to work against organized crimes in their area,” Idio said.
Investigation
Chief Superintendent Villasanta said the Calabarzon proposal was not approved.
Despite Idio’s statement that the coplan could be carried out on the regional level, Villasanta said an investigation was going on to determine why the coplan proceeded despite the proposal’s disapproval.
“I have no authority to discuss the contents of the document, which was classified as secret. Besides, the project proposal contains information that could be very damaging to some people,” Villasanta said.
“To be fair to the subjects of the project proposal, the contents therein is just information on the case. These are not yet the facts of the case,” he said.
‘Unfairly dragged’
In a separate statement, Villasanta said neither the PAOCC nor Ochoa was involved in the Atimonan operation.
Villasanta said that contrary to the Inquirer report, the operation had no approval from the commission.
Villasanta said not a single PAOCC operative was present during the Atimonan operation.
Idio said Ochoa’s name was being unfairly dragged into the issue “when he had nothing to do with it.”
“Executive Secretary Ochoa has no knowledge of the project proposal. In fact, the proposal did not even reach him because it was already turned down at the level of the PAOCC executive director,” Idio said.
First posted 12:47 am | Saturday, January 12th, 2013