PRO-6 avows killings not PNP-sanctioned

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 maintained that it has nothing to do with the unsolved killings that happened in Iloilo City or in any part of Western Visayas.

The spectre of insinuations that police officers are behind the summary execution of suspected drug lords and peddlers returns with the filing of murder and theft cases against two police officers for the deaths of a suspected drug personality and a businessman in January 2019.

Last Friday, the National Bureau of Investigation’s Death Investigation Division sued Police Corporals Jerry Villanueva and Joseph Andrew Joven, and two unidentified suspects for the deaths of Alain Muller, a call center worker from Jaro, Iloilo City; and businessman Delfin Britanico, 36, of La Paz district.

Based on police records, Muller was a drug surrenderer during the implementation of Oplan Tokhang, the Duterte government’s flagship effort to curb the illegal drug trade in the country.

Delfin, on the other hand, was unfortunate to come across the suspects who gunned him down after a road altercation.

The involvement of Police Corporals Villanueva and Joven, who are under PRO-6, bolstered allegations that police officers hunt down suspected drug peddlers without the benefit of due process.

But Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, said that they already anticipated insinuations linking the PNP to killings of suspected drug peddlers and other alleged criminals.

 

“We anticipate that. But how could you answer that without any basis or evidence? Everyone could come up with their conclusion. Anyone could be a table investigator out of their readings or out of their interviews but we can’t conclusively say that it’s conclusive because we would also be relying on evidences,” Pamuspusan said.

 

But Pamuspusan stressed that they have investigated the case from the very start until Britanico’s family sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

 

“The NBI and our investigators have been coordinating with each other. We give them assistance and they took off from there,” he said.

 

It’s just that the NBI got a breakthrough after it gathered a lead on the vehicle used in the killings, Pamuspusan said.

In an official statement released Wednesday, PRO-6 said it respects the investigation conducted by the NBI and assures cooperation in the prosecution of the case.

In fact, Pamuspusan immediately ordered that Police Corporals Jerry Carmelotes Villanueva and Joseph Andrew Poneles Joven be placed under protective custody through the Regional Headquarters Support Unit.

As of this writing, Villanueva is now on restrictive custody at the RHSU pending the issuance of a warrant of arrest while Joven has been marked AWOL since March 12, 2020.

PRO-6 added that it remains committed to cleanse its rank as it pursues its programs on reformation and further appeals to the public to report to the nearest police station any information relative to this case or on any misbehaviour committed by police officers within the region.”

 

“It saddens me to hear news like this but our reformation program must continue to ensure honest and genuine service for our countrymen,” Pamuspusan said.