Purisima returns ‘poorly organized’ Quezon report

Natashya Gutierrez

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Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima returns the report submitted to him on the shooting in Quezon that killed 13 because it was unclear and badly formatted

PNP Chief Alan Purisima (L) chats with President Benigno Aquino III at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. File photo by Robert Viñas / Malacañang Photo Bureau

MANILA, Philippines – Unimpressed, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima returned the “poorly organized” report submitted to him by the Quezon fact-finding team tasked to investigate the shooting in the province that killed 13.

On Monday, January 14, the same day it was submitted, Purisima returned the report citing problems with its “format.” He said the report was not clear and that he wanted it easily understood even by those without investigative background.

“I returned the fact-finding report that was submitted to me this morning because it was poorly organized. It was not organized in the sense that it clearly indicates the facts of the case, discussion… I gave them up to this day to reformat their report to me and be clear,” Purisima said.

A PNP team headed by Chief Supt Federico Castro is responsible for collecting facts from the incident to submit to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the sole agency appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to probe the killings.

On January 6, police shot to death a group of men allegedly tagged as members of a criminal gang, when they approached a PNP checkpoint. The incident was initially reported as a shootout but investigations in place aim to determine what took place, after suspicions of a rubout emerged.

Lips sealed

Purisima however refused to talk about the details of the report, specifically about a Philippine Star article quoting an unidentified source, who said the PNP team concluded that the shooting was an ambush, not a shootout.

He said he would leave the official findings and interpretation to the NBI.

“We may have our conclusions but this is the job now of our NBI… so that the government will not be accused of being partial in their investigation. Because if you will let the PNP investigate this, people will say that there is whitewash, that is why we are fully cooperating with the NBI,” he said.

But Purisima did echo earlier announcements made on the findings by Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas, that the team found clear violations of PNP protocol on checkpoints.

The checkpoint team, headed by Supt Hansel Marantan, violated certain policies such as the absence of an official police vehicle at the actual checkpoint and policemen in civilian clothing. The PNP has since relieved the police who were present at the checkpoint following the discovery.

Purisima also denied any knowledge of Coplan Armado, the alleged mission that was approved and supposedly targeted Vic Siman, who was one of those killed in the incident.

Roxas has said the PNP is studying ways to reform gun ownership in the country following the incident. – Rappler.com

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Natashya Gutierrez

Natashya is President of Rappler. Among the pioneers of Rappler, she is an award-winning multimedia journalist and was also former editor-in-chief of Vice News Asia-Pacific. Gutierrez was named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2023.