ELUSIVE JUSTICE: Is there hope for other victims of summary executions?

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Since September 2018, a number of murder incidents perpetrated by riding-in-tandem gunmen happened in Iloilo City.

Most of the victims have one common profile: police considered them as drug personalities.

Another notable consequence of these motorcycle-riding suspects (MRS) is they got away scot-free, save for the case of Mercedes Nava, 66, a resident of Mejorada Street, Barangay Oñate-de Leon, Mandurriao, and Erwin Fontillas, 42, of Barangay Airport, Mandurriao who were both gunned down on Jan. 4, 2019 at Mandurriao.

Both victims were not on the police drugs watch list.

And there’s the celebrated case of Delfin Britanico, who was gunned down 30 minutes after a suspected drug personality, Alain Muller, was also killed on Jan. 19, 2020.

But Britanico was unlike other previous victims. He was a businessman and the son of former Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) party-list Rep. and former Iloilo Assemblyman Salvador Britanico.

Months after his death, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), not the PNP, was able to identity and charge the perpetrators who turned out to be police officers.

With the resolution of the case, is it possible for other MRS killings to be solved? Or the victims’ deaths will remain as cold statistics?

“It gives us a glimmer of hope, somehow,” a wife of a slain drug personality said with reference to the Britanico case.

Chatting in vernacular, the wife claimed, though, that she doesn’t expect much.

“Our family has no money… more so, influence. We could only hope,” she said.

But in the end, she is leaving their case to the divine: “Siguro ipasa-Diyos na lang namon.”

In a press conference yesterday, Police Colonel Eric Dampal, Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director, said they are willing to do the investigation of other killings involving riding-in-tandem assailants.

But there’s a catch: “If we could get evidences and witnesses,” he said, as he appealed for the public to go to the nearest police station if they have any information on the previous incidents or other cases that happened in Iloilo City.

During the same press conference, Dampal was asked why the NBI got leads on the suspects while the police had nothing.

His answer: “We assisted the NBI. We provided assistance until the family opted to have the NBI do the investigation. We respect the NBI’s filing of the case.”

The NBI’s Death Investigation Division (NBI-DID) filed the cases against Police Corporals Jerry Villanueva, Joseph Andrew Joven, and two unidentified suspects last May 29.

Joven is assigned to the ICPO Holding and Accounting Unit on Dec. 2, 2019 but has not reported for work sometime in March when the ICPO conducted random drug tests on its personnel.

He was subsequently marked AWOL and charged for grave neglect of duty and less grave neglect of duty for his failure to undergo the drug test.

When asked for more information about Joven, Dampal said he only assumed his post on February 20.

He was also asked about Joven’s whereabouts and if the officer was on duty when the January 19 killings happened, Dampal told reporters, “I have to research on that.”

At the end of his presscon, Dampal told Joven to surrender and answer the charges against him. He also assured that Joven will be afforded due process.