DOJ to probe top botanist's death

(Updated 5:40 p.m.) The Department of Justice (DOJ) will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of top Filipino botanist Leonard Co as doubts continue to linger regarding the military’s claim that he was killed in crossfire between soldiers and communist rebels. In a department order issued on Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima tasked Assistant State Prosecutor Diosdado Solidum and Assistant State Prosecutor Bryan Jacinto Cacha to spearhead the investigation. The two will be assisted by Romulo Asis, head of the National Bureau of Investigation's Death Investigation Division. Interviewed at the sidelines of 7th Congress of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines earlier in the day, De Lima said her department would no longer wait for the results of the investigation being conducted by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). “We don’t have to wait for the outcome of the CHR because it will end up with us anyway. We might as well already conduct the fact-finding investigation," she said. She said her department will conduct a parallel inquiry to ensure a fair probe. “We can't always leave it to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) authorities. No matter how they do their jobs, there will always be suspicions," she said. Co was shot dead last November 15 in the forests of Kananga town in Leyte province along with forest guard Sofronio Cortez and their guide Julius Borromeo, a member of the Tongonan Farmers Association. He was conducting research at the geothermal reservation of the Lopez-owned Energy Development Corporation (EDC), searching for indigenous tree species for a corporate forest restoration project. The military said Co was caught in the crossfire between the Philippine Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion and a band of New People’s Army rebels. Lt. Gen. Ralph Villanueva, head of the AFP Central Command that covers the Visayas region, said his soldiers went to the site after receiving reports of an “imminent attack" on EDC facilities. He said they were not aware that there were civilians in the area. Co’s relatives had quoted survivor Roniño Gibe as saying that the renowned botanist’s killing may have been a case of mistaken identity. - KBK, GMANews.TV