Blanco seeks PNP-NBI collaboration in ongoing probe
BALOLONG MURDER CASE
LINGAYEN – It appears that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is doing its parallel investigation of the murder of Urbiztondo Mayor Ernesto Balolong Jr., completely independent of the investigation already started by the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office (PPPO).
And to date, there is no indication that a coordination between them will likely happen soon.
This prompted PPPO’s acting provincial director, P/Sr. Supt. Sterling Raymund Blanco, to call for a close coordination of efforts between the bureau’s team and PPPO’s Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) assigned to the case of Balolong to avoid overlapping and instead hasten the investigation
Blanco said in an interview last July 1, while he was neither aware of any request by the Balolong family nor of an official directive to the NBI to conduct its own investigation, he said his office is nonetheless prepared to collaborate and continue to share the information and documents his office has so far gathered.
He said the initial information disclosed by the NBI in its recent press conference on the Balolong case were largely based on copies of documents furnished by PPPO.
Blanco referred to the passport and postal identity card of a certain Ramil Santos, who allegedly rented out the Toyota Innova vehicle used in the murder of the late Urbiztondo mayor.
On June 11, 2014, the PPPO SITG already requested the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to verify the authenticity of the passport and the DFA reverted with the following information: “…the name Ramil Tiongson Santos yielded negative results….The Philippine Passport No. EB0807508, which was purportedly issued to Mr. Santos, was issued to Ms. Jesah Abelido Gelantaga-an on 20 August 2010 in DFA Manila.”
A copy of the letter-reply was furnished the NBI-Region 1 assistant regional director Celso Ginga. But Blanco said that at presstime, there has been no communication between him and the NBI director.
Meanwhile, the arrested suspects namely, Eduardo De Guzman and Marito Sarmiento of Bugallon town, are detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in San Carlos City. Both are scheduled to be arrainged on July 10.
PPPO has also requested for the transfer of the two to a “more secure facility.“
POLICE CHIEF’S RELIEF
Meanwhile, the new Urbiztondo mayor, Raul Martin Sison, has requested for the replacement of the town’s OIC-chief of police, P/Sr. Insp Michael Bautista.
The mayor said under the National Police Commission rules, his town is entitled to a police officer with the rank of chief inspector, a rank higher than that held by Bautista. – Johanne R. Macob
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