PAF conducts own probe of slain men in Quezon shootout

Justiniani and Lescano/ Courtesy of AFP Public Affairs

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Air Force is investigating the alleged involvement of its men in a shootout in Quezon on Sunday as they were found to have no bad records prior to the incident.

Major Edgardo Rene Samonte, Commander of the Air and Education Training Command in Lipa City, said First Lieutenant Jimbeam Justiniani and Staff Sergeant Armando Lescano, who died in the shootout, had no case in their unit.

“They have no record with us. They have no case against our unit,” he told reporters in Filipino by phone.

“As far as I am concerned, as far as our unit or our command is concerned, we know nothing about their activities, we have neither observed nor seen anything. They have not been reported for any of those activities that they are being linked to that’s why I think there’s been some mistake . . . like being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

He said the two could have been “moonlighting.”

“As far as we’re concerned, these are all speculations but it seems that they were moonlighting. That is quite clear because it is unlikely that they would reach Bicol, Quezon where they weren’t supposed to be and then it happened so it seems that they were moonlighting, of course obviously for a fee,” he said.

Lescano was on holiday break while Justiniani just got back from one.

The two were among the three soldiers, three policemen, and seven others who were killed in an alleged shootout Sunday in Quezon that has been linked to illegal gambling.