Estancia slays survivor not off the hook, yet

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

Exactly two months into the controversial shooting incident at Barangay Pani-an, Estancia in Iloilo, police have yet to file charges against those responsible for the deaths of three young businessmen.

But Colonel Noel Aliño, Iloilo police chief, said on Monday that the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) PALIBOSFER “will file a case as soon as possible.”

PALIBOSFER stands for the names of the victims – Mark Clarenz Libao, Jan Paul Mark Bosque, and Chrysler Floyd Fernandes – and the lone survivor Jevron Parohinog.

“Malapit na. But we can’t exactly tell when,” Aliño said.

Aliño, who also heads the task group, has declined to name any suspect but claimed that they have gone through the elimination process.

When asked if Parohinog, the lone survivor of the Sept 14, 2022 shooting incident, is one of those who would be charged, Aliño declined to give a categorical answer.

He, however, claimed that Parohinog is not off the hook yet.

Aliño said the public might consider the filing of the case to be slow “but we’re only after quality investigation.”

When he assumed the IPPO helm a month ago, Aliño said he opted to start the investigation from scratch.

“Nag-zero-zero ako sa investigation. I want a quality investigation to satisfy the family. We owe that to them. Everything else is secondary,” he said.

Had their main goal been only to file a case, they could have done that a long time ago.

“But our aim is for conviction. That’s why we want an airtight case,” he said.

Just like the majority, Aliño said he wants the case to be over soon.

“Pero hindi ako magpa file kung walang mangyayari sa kaso. Kawawa ang mga pamilya ng biktima,” he said.

After he took the task group, Aliño personally talked to the families of Mark Clarenz Libao, Jan Paul Mark Bosque, and Chrysler Floyd Fernandes.

He also met with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Western Visayas, which conducts a parallel investigation.