Palace: Slain botanist’s family free to contest DOJ findings

Relatives of slain botanist Leonardo Co are free to contest the findings of the Justice Department clearing the military in his death last November, Malacañang said Saturday. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the law provides legal remedies for the family of Co if they are convinced the military is to blame for his death and two others. “The case underwent proceedings at the Department of Justice. They can contest the findings if they feel they have the evidence to back up their claim. There are legal remedies for them to do that," Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. Earlier, a DOJ panel concluded that Co, forest guard Sofronio Cortez, and farmer Julius Borromeo were hit by bullets coming from where communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were positioned. Co, Cortez and Borromeo were killed on a mountainous area in Leyte on November 15 last year, while conducting field research for the Energy Development Corp. (EDC). The panel recommended that charges of reckless imprudence be filed against EDC for failing to secure Co and his companions despite knowing that the area was a rebel-infested area. On Friday, militants sought a deeper investigation into the incident. Umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the report by the DOJ and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) “reeks of unsubstantiated conclusions, sloppy investigative work resulting to fantastic claims." “Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima should not approve the findings and recommendations and should look deeper into the case," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a news release posted on Bayan’s website. He said the DOJ-NBI report “conveniently ignores" the testimonies of two survivors, none of whom said they saw any New People’s Army rebels in the area at the time of the incident. Instead, he said the panel report appeared to rely on the testimonies and reports provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Reyes added there were many inconsistencies in the report of the DOJ-NBI panel, some of which he claimed “twisted the facts and testimonies of the survivors." He cited a part of the panel report where survivor Ronino Gibe was approached by the military after the shooting, and was asked where his armed companions were. This alone, according to the report, was proof that the military was running after the NPA. “The DOJ-NBI interpretation of these events goes against conventional wisdom and plain logic," Bayan said. Also, the group said the panel report claimed the AFP was occupying higher ground, the alleged “enemy position" was at the lower ground, and somewhere in between was the team of Leonard Co. The DOJ report added 33 trees had bullet marks with 30 bullet trajectories coming from higher ground to lower ground. It also says there were two bullet trajectories allegedly from lower ground to the position of the victims and four bullet trajectories from the lower ground to the position of the AFP. “The DOJ-NBI team did not show how they determined the trajectories of the bullets. It is also strange that while the vast majority of the bullet trajectories came from the higher ground, the DOJ-NBI ruled out the possibility that the shots that killed Co and his companions came from the AFP position," Reyes said. “The report says that the military spent 245 rounds of high-caliber ammunition during the incident yet it concludes that it was not possible for even a single shot from the military to hit the EDC team. Amazing!" he added. He said the independent reports also documented bullet marks at the trees where Co and his companions hid. One tree had at least three bullet marks while another tree had at least six bullet marks. The trajectories appeared to come from higher ground, Reyes added. As for the bullet fragments found in Co not matching any of the guns turned over by the military, Reyes said, this was no longer surprising. “We never expected the AFP to turn over the actual weapons used during the operations. Surely they will cover up their tracks to sabotage the ballistics tests," Reyes said. Even the AFP storyline on how they stumbled on the alleged NPA position is fantastic, he added. According to him, “The military says after discovering the NPA, the soldiers positioned themselves on higher ground as they observed the alleged rebels for 30 minutes. The military occupied higher ground had the tactical advantage and element of surprise, but amazingly they say that it was the NPA who fired the first shots when the NPA ‘sensed’ their presence." — LBG, GMANews.TV