FIRING LINE: New light on mayor’s unsolved killing

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

I was no big fan of the shame campaign against drug users and pushers in Tanauan City, Batangas when Mayor Antonio Halili was in power. I did not cheer over the parading of these drug victims and abusers in public.

But neither did I think Mayor Halili deserved the brutal public execution he suffered when a sniper took him out during a flag ceremony in 2018.

Now, with alleged Duterte gal, retired police Col. Royina Garma, wagging her tongue at a congressional hearing about a police major having a part in the mayor’s killing – this cop has to be investigated and locked up.

If true, Halili’s murder leaves a chilling message that needs correcting. Police in this country cannot operate with impunity. There is never a free pass from justice. Law enforcers who commit crimes deserve double the punishment.

CIDG screw-up

How badly have our people in the PNP turned out to be? Board Member Ramil Capistrano and his driver, Shedrick Suarez, were gunned down in a daring ambush, and now, witnesses have pointed fingers at those responsible: Staff Sgt. Ulysses Pascual, a policeman no less, his cousin Cesar Gallardo Jr., and two others identified as “Lupin” and “Jeff.”

Folks, let that sink in — a police officer assigned to Camp Crame, our supposed seat of law and order, is at the center of this barbaric act.

And what do we get from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)? A botched job. Pascual, who was positively identified as using the getaway vehicle, was placed under restrictive custody, only to be allowed to leave Camp Crame.

He walked out, promising to return. Guess what? He never did.

What the heck happened, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre? How can the CIDG fail in the most basic task: securing a suspect already identified by key witnesses – unless there was collusion here?

You were forewarned, sir Torre, that this top CIDG post is tricky – trickier than it is glamorous in your resume. Now, who’s going to be held accountable for this colossal failure? How do you let a murder suspect tied to such a high-profile killing just walk away?

Capistrano’s wife and two sons are still grieving and so is the family of his driver. His constituents, too, cry for justice. And no less than the governor, Daniel Fernando, and the vice governor, Alexis Castro, have been raising reward money for tips to identify and locate all those involved in murdering their ranking official.

The way the CIDG handled the main person of interest in this case is an outright insult to all of them. Meanwhile, for Pascual, his running away may be viewed by the law as screaming of guilt.

The PNP better look long and hard in the mirror and fix itself.

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