Outgoing Cotabato rep to file charges against CIDG official

KIDAPAWAN CITY - Outgoing Cotabato second district Congressman Bernardo Piñol, Jr., is set to file administrative charges against the regional director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Central Mindanao for allegedly creating ‘false stories’ to ‘cover-up’ the killing of his supporter on May 10. Piñol, in a press conference, said the report of the CIDG-12 was ‘unbelievable’ and has lots of ‘loopholes’. Among these stories include the CIDG’s conclusion that the suspect in the May 10 killing of Johnny Magbanua, one of his supporters, was also a fellow supporter named Efren Rivera. “How can my men shoot somebody when they were not carrying guns? Also, I told them to wear yellow t-shirts with my name printed on it so people would identify them to be my men," said Piñol. Also, Piñol used as basis in claiming the killer was not his men was the report submitted by the North Cotabato Provincial Police Office to the PNP-12 on May 12. The report, released on May 11 by North Cotabato PNP director, Sr. Supt. Cornelio Albasin, said that it is possible that the one who perpetrated the killing of Magbanua could be the persons coming from the house of Congresswoman-elect Nancy Catamco. “However, the real identities of the suspects have yet been established since during the scrutiny of the witnesses, they were not yet able to pinpoint the killers," the report stated. Rivera, together with the relatives of slain Johnny, showed up during a press conference held today at the DXND mini-auditorium here. Rivera, saying he’s not hiding because he’s not guilty, faced the media and told them what he knew about the killing of Magbanua. Rivera is identified in the investigation report of the CIDG-12 as behind the killing of Magbanua. Aside from murder, he is also facing frustrated murder charges based on the complaints filed by four of the supporters of Catamco. The complainants said they were tailed and fired at by motorcycle-riding men while they were distributing leaflets and other election materials of Catamco along the highway here few hours before the opening of polling precincts. The case was already submitted by the CIDG-12 at the office of the City Prosecutor here. City Prosecutor Al Calica said they will be examined if prima facie evidence is enough to submit the case to the court for trial. Piñol is bent on filing appropriate administrative charges against CIDG-12 regional director Sr. Supt. Pedro Austria. Austria signed the report and submitted it to Calica’s office on May 19. “It is likely that the CIDG-12 release the report in consideration of huge sums of money," Piñol said during the press briefing. Believing that ‘justice has been compromised’ when the CIDG-12 released its findings, Piñol said he wanted the case be investigated by a more credible institution, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Region 11. The request was already sent at the NBI-11 last week, he said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV