• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has debunked claims that they are “uncooperative” in the investigation being conducted by the Commission on Human Rights on the recent encounter in Kabankalan City that claimed the lives of six suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
PCol. Leo Pamittan, police provincial director, said the CHR was looking for the “case folder” of the incident, based on the information relayed to him by the Kabankalan City Police Station, not the police blotter or spot report.
“We cannot provide it, considering that it is still under investigation,” he said.
Vincent Parra, officer-in-charge of CHR-Negros Occidental, earlier said he was denied a copy of the police blotter which he tried to secure from the Kabankalan police.
The CHR expressed dismay at the supposed “uncooperative attitude” of the Kabankalan City Police Station in its independent investigation of the encounter between suspected NPA rebels and Philippine Army soldiers on Sept. 21 in Barangay Tabugon.
It is not proper to divulge it, pending results of the firearms verification and ballistic examinations, Pamittan said.
Based on the information gathered by intelligence operatives, the tricycle used by the rebels is not registered and the driver has no license to drive, he added.
The driver, who was later identified as Ruben Gaitan of Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City, was among the six killed in a gunbattle.
“Those were the circumstances why we cannot release such vital information, since it is still under probe,” Pamittan said, adding that as soon as they wrap up the probe, they will comply with the request of CHR, with permission from the higher headquarters.
The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division earlier assured its full support into the investigation on the death of the six rebels. | GB
