P N P News Release No. 04-1116 |
AGLIPAY READY TO FACE ACCUSER PNP Chief, Director General Edgar B Aglipay today said he is prepared to answer the charges filed against him before the Ombudsman by a private complainant in connection with the confrontation between government forces and an unruly mob at the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac City last week. “As a police officer I am duty bound to squarely face all these accusations,” Aglipay said. According to PNP Spokesman, Senior Superintendent Leopoldo N Bataoil, the PNP Chief was on official mission abroad when the unfortunate incident happened. Bataoil said that upon the Chief PNP's arrival the following day, he immediately convened his staff and acted decisively on the situation, initially, by ordering the relief of the Central Luzon Regional Director and the Tarlac Provincial Director. The relief of the local police commanders was intended to pave the way for an impartial and credible investigation into the incident. Aglipay created Task Force Luisita headed by Deputy Director General Reynaldo V Velasco to look deeply into the case. The PNP Chief had also invited the National Bureau of Investigation and the Commission on Human Rights to conduct a parallel probe to insure utmost fairness and transparency. Initial results of the PNP investigation revealed that nine of the 36 PNP personnel who composed the PRO-3 crowd management contingent tested positive in paraffin tests. Similarly, three of the seven fatalities who were with the mob were also found positive for gunpowder residue indicating the possibility that they may have fired guns. During mopping up operations, police recovered an M16 rifle, a cal.30 US Carbine, a cal.38 revolver, some unexploded Molotov bombs, slingshots, darts, knives, and bolos at the scene. A V150 armored vehicle that backed-up the peace-keeping personnel sustained a total of 45 pockmarks in its armor, ten of which were confirmed by the Crime Laboratory as caused by gunfire. Incumbent officials of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CATLU) and Hacienda Luisita Labor Unions earlier confirmed the presence of some unknown individuals at the picket area. “We never knew who they were and where they came from,” according to Jess Fino, the CATLU Chairman of the Board.
This angle, along with the recovery of high-powered firearms and bombs at the scene, is being looked into by the Task Force Luisita to establish the involvement of the local communist movement in the incident.
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