Still no breakthrough in Britanico case

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Justice remains elusive for the family of slain businessman Delfin Britanico.

Despite the creation of a special investigation task group (SITG) that is looking into his murder, investigators have yet to find significant developments in the case.

Police Colonel Eric Dampal, Iloilo City police chief, said Thursday that there is still no breakthrough in Britanico’s case.

Investigators are still tracing the vehicle used by the suspects in killing the businessman on Jan 19, 2020.

Probers failed to secure the vehicle’s license plate but they are coordinating with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to check its database for cars with the same make and color to the one used by the suspects.

“Tuloy pa rin ang investigation. ‘Di malinaw ang license plate. Hopefully, we could get the identity of the owner of the vehicle pictured to have been used by the suspects,” Dampal said.

On his first day of office as the new Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) chief, Dampal was ordered to solve the Britanico slay case.

Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, made the instruction, as he offered Dampal to use all the resources of the Police Regional Office (PRO-6) in solving the case.

A month ago, PRO-6 formed a dedicated team to run after Britanico’s killers.

The team was created after Delfin’s father, former Banat Partylist Rep. Salvador “Buddy” Britanico, solicited the help of President Rodrigo Duterte.

At that time, Pamuspusan already said they considered Britanico’s killing a significant case, thus, the creation of the SITG.

Dampal is working with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the PNP Regional Crime Laboratory Office 6 (RCLO-6).

Salvador Britanico has appealed for witnesses to testify against his son’s assailants.

It was gathered that the NBI did a re-enactment of what transpired when the victim was gunned down.

The 36-year-old Britanico was gunned down by men on board an AUV at Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz, Iloilo City.

The only significant development in the case is the discovery that the same firearms may have been used in the killings Britanico and Alain Muller, who was murdered half an hour before the former.

Before the incident happened, Britanico went to church and test drove his motorcycle.

While witnesses claimed to have heard gunfire in the area, no one came out to testify to the actual shooting episode.

Police have claimed that Britanico’s shooting might be due to a traffic altercation or road rage. Another angle was that Britanico may have unintentionally witnessed Muller’s murder.

The incident is also being tagged as related to Britanico’s businesses.