• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) has formed a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) to conduct a thorough probe into the Silay City shooting incident that left two people dead and injured seven others on Election Day.
PCol. Rainerio de Chavez, police provincial director, has been designated as head of the SITG, which is composed of the Silay Component City Police Station, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Scene Of the Crime Operatives, Highway Patrol Group, and other Philippine National Police support units aside from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
PBrig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, regional director of PRO-NIR, on Monday (May 12) described the violent incident in Barangay Mambulac as an “isolated case” although he suspects it to be an election-related incident.
Except for the Silay incident, Ibay said the conduct of elections in Negros Oriental and Siquijor was “generally peaceful”.
Jose Edward Davila, legal counsel of Team Asenso Silay, expressed his disappoint at what he called lapses of the police in responding to the continuing election- related incidents since Saturday, which led to the bloody incident.
“That will be part of our investigation, including the alleged provocation on the part of the victims,” De Chavez said.
Based on the video footages they secured, Davila said it was shown that a firearm was recovered by the police from one the victims, who went to the house where Team Asenso members were resting.
However, it was not reported by the police, he added.
Suspect Lantad barangay chairman Arnie Benedicto, who voluntarily submitted himself to the CIDG at Camp Alfredo M. Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City, a few hours after the incident, was positively identified by a witness, De Chavez said. | GB
