Pestaños decry dismissal of murder raps vs navy, police officers

The family of deceased Navy Ensign Philip Pestaño has criticized the Office of the Ombudsman for dismissing the murder case they filed against 10 Navy and police officers. Spouses Felipe and Evelyn Pestano said they received the Ombudsman resolution on their son's case Friday last week, four days after they filed an impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Gutierrez was accused, among others, of “inexcusable delay in the investigation on the death of ensign Philip Pestaño, a case which the United Nations itself rapped the Ombudsman for failure to probe the case." At a press conference, Mr. Pestaño said the dismissal is a manifestation that Gutierrez is a “very irresponsible public servant." “To our mind, she who is supposed to protect the interest of those innocent and prosecute those who are guilty is not deserving to stay in her office. If she will not resign, she should be impeached," he said. Records showed that Pestaño, then 24 years old, was found dead in the morning of Sept. 7, 1995 on board the BRP Bacolod City, a Navy cargo ship which was then on its way to the Navy Headquarters in Roxas Boulevard from Sangley Point in Cavite City. Investigators ruled his death as suicide. The Pestaño couple said their son did not kill himself based on the incontrovertible pieces of physical evidence that they said point to murder. They added that the irreconcilable conflicts in the respondents’ testimonies and circumstantial evidence point to a conspiracy in which all the respondents are evidently part of. They said the respondents’ motive in killing their son was to conceal the fact that they were engaged in illicit activities that allegedly involved drugs and guns. Ten years after the Pestaño’s death, his parents filed the murder complaint against Capt. Ricardo Ordonez; LCDR Reynaldo Lopez; HM2 Welmenio Aquino; LCDR Luidegar Casis; Lt. Alfrederick Alba; Lt. Joselito Colico; Lt. Ruben Roque; PO1 Carlito Amoroso and PO2 Mil Leonor Igcasan before the anti-graft body. The Ombudsman resolution dismissing the charges was promulgated on June 15, 2009 but it was approved only on May 17, 2010 and sent to the complainants two months later. According to the resolution, the evidence presented by the complainants “failed to constitute an unbroken chain which leads to a fair and reasonable conclusion that a crime has been committed and that respondents are probably guilty thereof." It added that “even assuming for the sake of argument that there exists sufficient evidence to conclude that Philip did not commit suicide, we however find the remaining evidence not conclusive enough to identify the person responsible for killing Phillip." “Except for Dr . Owen Lebaquin’s sworn statement, which revealed facts inconsistent with Philip committing suicide, there is no sufficient showing that respondents or any of them for that matter inflicted the fatal injury which brought about Phillip’s demise," the resolution further stated. Suspicious timing of resolution's release> The Pestaño couple and Akabayan Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao questioned the timing of the release of the resolution. “We feel that the circumstances around this dismissal really show that this is highly irregular process. It adds in the way it has been handled by the Ombudsman. It shows the brazenness and arrogance of the Ombudsman," Bello said at the same press conference. Mrs. Pestano, for her part, said her son deserves a just and fair investigation. “Naghintay kami ng 15 years para sa hustisya sa anak namin. The evidence is overwhelming, bakit hindi mag-imbestiga further ang Ombudsman (We waited for 15 years for justice for our son. The evidence is overwhelming, why didn't the Ombudsman investigate further?)" Bag-ao said the dismissal of the case showed that there is betrayal of public trust on the part of Gutierrez. She said they will use the resolution to further indict Gutierrez in the impeachment complaint filed against her. Bello and Bag-ao endorsed the complaint filed by the Pestaño couple, former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and resigned Brig. General Danilo Lim. Bello and Bag-ao said they have received words of encouragement and support from their fellow congressmen whom they refused to name. Meanwhile, lawyer Romel Bagares, counsel of the Pestaños, said they will be filing a motion for reconsideration. They have 10 days to do so after receiving the resolution. The Pestaño family earlier called on President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to reopen the investigation on the death of the Navy junior officer. –VVP/KBK, GMANews.TV