NBI mum on Quezon shootout probe

A member of the NBI fornensic team examines one of the bullet riddled SUV at the Municipal Police Station in Atimonan, Quezon where 13 people were killed in an alleged ‘shootout’ with police and military at a checkpoint last January 6.INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation is now ready to wrap up its investigation on the alleged Quezon shootout but has yet to receive a separate report of the Philippine National Police on the incident, the NBI chief said on Monday.

“I was expecting to get the fact-finding report on Friday but until today, Monday, I have yet to receive it,” NBI director Nonatus Rojas told Radyo Inquirer 990AM in an interview.

Rojas said the NBI was expected to consolidate its findings with that of the PNP, which reportedly conducted a re-autopsy on the 11 of the 13 people slain during the bloody encounter at a checkpoint in Atimonan town last  January 6.

“We will review the fact-finding report from the PNP and compare their findings with that of the NBI,” he said, adding that their men were set to finish re-autopsies within the day.

Rojas however refused to comment on reports that the encounter was allegedly not a shootout but an ambush.

“We are still piecing together our findings. Allow us to finish our investigation first. We need to see the extent of the PNP’s fact-finding committee’s investigation as well as the report of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO),” he said.