PNP won't apologize to Satur

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will not apologize to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo for causing the latter so many inconveniences immediately after his arrest last March 16. Ocampo's petition for bail was granted Tuesday by the Supreme Court, a development which the solon describes as an indication of a "weak" case against him by the PNP. "What we did was well within the judicial process and there is nothing to apologize for us sticking to what the rules of criminal procedures tell every law enforcement agent to do," PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr said during the weekly media forum at Camp Crame. "Hindi naman dapat siguro mag-apologize ang Philippine National Police (PNP)," he added. On March 19, Ocampo was forcibly flown to Leyte to turn him over to the court in Hilongos town that issued the arrest warrant against him. The multiple murder case he is facing stemmed from the discovery of at least 67 skeletal remains in August last year in Inopacan town of the same province, which the military said were those of purge victims of the communist movement in the mid-1980's. Quoting witnesses, the military said Ocampo, being a member then of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was among those who ordered the execution of said victims. But midway to Leyte, the private Cessna plane that was carrying Ocampo turned around and headed back to Manila after the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) received official notice from Judge Ephrem Abando of Hilongos, Leyte Regional Trial Court Branch 18 that the solon can stay at the Manila Police District until the Supreme Court rules on his petition for certiorari against his case. Pagdilao maintained that what they did to Ocampo was in accordance with the law. "It's also in the process that a person arrested or who turns himself in to the police authorities has to be brought to the jurisdiction of the court," he explained. Pagdilao said the SC ruling on Ocampo's petition for bail only assures the public that "the system works in our country." "We always defer to the orders of the judicial authorities, much more from the Supreme Court which is the highest court of the land… But it (SC ruling) doesn't mean that the trial against Mr. Satur Ocampo will no longer proceed," the police spokesman said. - GMANews.TV