In aid of humiliation

Some quarters have proposed renaming the Philippine Navy headquarters on Roxas Boulevard in Manila to Camp Ensign Philip Pestaño.

Renaming a Navy camp after a suicide is downright ridiculous!

Pestaño—if only those quarters would bother to read the results of the probes of several law enforcement agencies—killed himself.

The National Bureau of Investigation said it was a case of suicide; so did the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Western (Manila) Police District (WPD).

The results of a forensic examination on Pestaño by Dr. Raquel Fortun, a private forensics expert, also showed that the ensign shot himself in the head with his duty pistol.

It is noteworthy to state here that Fortun was hired by the Pestaños so there would be an independent examination of the victim’s body.

* * *

Then Ombudsman Aniano Desierto cleared the 10 Navy men of the murder charge based on the forensic examinations of the NBI, CIDG, WPD and Fortun.

Then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who replaced Desierto, also got the Navy officers and enlisted men off the hook, likewise basing her decision on the results of separate investigations of Fortun and the three law enforcement agencies.

It was very unethical of Conchita Carpio-Morales, the current Ombudsman who fired the Navy men and charged them with murder, to overrule the decisions of acquittal by her two predecessors.

Her ill-feelings towards Gutierrez and Desierto, if there are any, should not have muddled her judgment in hearing the rehashed charge against the Navy men.

After all, she knows the law, being a former Supreme Court justice.

* *  *

To those who still believe that Pestaño was murdered by his fellow officers and subordinates aboard the BRP Bacolod City in 1995, I urge you to go over the findings of the law enforcement agencies and that of Fortun’s so you can be enlightened, as I was, on the supposed murder case.

I have the complete case files, if you would care to ask.

Being a parent myself, I understand how they grieve over their son’s death.

But they are trying to send innocent people to prison.

I understand that two weeks before Pestaño shot himself, he slashed his wrist and was confined at the hospital of the Southern Command in Zamboanga City because he was despondent.

I heard the reason could have been about matters of the heart that troubled him so much.

* * *

Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong has threatened to call a congressional investigation after the luggage of his sister-in-law, Desiree, wife of Gov. Jose Ong, was examined at the Calbayog airport recently.

The contents of Desiree Ong’s luggage were routinely checked along with that of other passengers about to board a plane for Manila.

The inspection was conducted by civilian airport personnel who apparently didn’t recognize Ms Ong.

The inspection also allegedly exposed Ms Ong’s underwear to the public.

If the congressional probe pushes through, it will not be in aid of legislation but “in aid of humiliation.”