Cops to expand search of CCTVs that captured BuCor exec’s killing

Frederic Anthony Santos, BuCor legal chief, is seen slumped on the front seat after he was gunned down in Muntinlupa City. INQUIRER file photo / Edwin Bacasmas

MANILA, Philippines — Police officers will search for other closed-circuit television (CCTV) footages that can show the recent murder of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) official after finding three defective cameras near the crime scene, the Muntinlupa police said Thursday.

“We expanded the radius of searching of CCTVs that may capture the incident,” Police Col. Hermogenes Cabe, Muntinlupa police chief, said when asked about updates on the CCTV cameras that captured the killing of BuCor legal service chief Frederic Santos.

Cabe said they will also look for other CCTVs that might show the direction of the motorcycle-riding gunmen after the incident.

Santos, who was linked to the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) scandal, was shot dead by still unidentified assailants in Muntinlupa City on Wednesday afternoon.

Cabe said the three CCTVs they recovered from the command center were defective. Even dashboard camera recovered from Santos’ vehicle failed to record the incident.

“Wala rin pong laman yung dashcam, wala ring recording, nung tiningnan namin yun parang overloaded siya, yung nagloloko na yung dashcam niya, wala ring na-capture,” Cabe said.

(We found no data from the dashcam, there is no recording when we found it, it was overloaded and the dashcam was malfunctioning. It did not capture anything.)

Inconsistent statements

Cabe said they will exert efforts in finding more footages in the incident as there are some inconsistent statements from witnesses.

“May sinasabing may kumakain, may nagsabing naka-motor, so ngayon we expand the radius of searching cameras para ma-establish natin nang maigi,” Cabe said when asked about the inconsistencies of statements from witnesses.

(Some are saying they are eating, some are saying they saw someone riding a motorcycle so now we expand the radius of searching cameras to determine the real accounts of events.)

Cabe said they are also planning to meet with the local government unit of Muntinlupa to recommend the replacement of old CCTV cameras.

Edited by JPV