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Continuation
of the Affidavit of former NBI Director
for Region 7 Atty. Florencio O. Villarin subscribed and sworn
before Notary Public Rolando - Page 5 - 31. Davidson Russia, a drug addict, was also apprehended by the police as a suspect in this case. In his confession executed on May 12, 1998, he alleged that after the abduction, they brought the victims to certain house in Guadalupe, Cebu City, where they were sexually abused by his co-accused but he denied having raped the victims. 32. In my 38 years in law enforcement and until now, I have yet to meet a drug addict who is not a liar; thus, I asked Senior Supt. Alejandro Lapinid, the new Director of the Cebu City Police Station, to request Supt. Estilles to allow us to interview Rusia and subject him to a polygraph test because, after I interviewed the lessee of the house where the victims were allegedly raped, I found this allegation that the victims were raped in a house in Guadalupe, Cebu City to be unbelievable; 33. I interviewed Dogan Gurkan, a Turkish national and lessee of the house which he partitioned into several rooms for rent where the victims were allegedly sexually abused. He said a certain Edwin Bustillo was occupying one room and another was occupied by the Bustillo sisters and Maricar and Millany Tizon; he declared it was not possible that the rape could took place in his boarding house because the adjoining room of the Bustillo sisters was also occupied by a Canadian couple. Besides, his caretaker, Ms. Seno, was present at the time the incident allegedly happened and his boarding house was located in a densely populated area, which is true because I saw the place myself; therefore, there was more compelling reason to further interview Rusia and require him to undergo a polygraph test, a tool we usually used in aid of our investigation; 34. Incidentally, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari on all cases where the admissibility of polygraph results have been at issue, and US District Courts have admitted polygraph results in 9 of 11 Federal circuits. (p. 4, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, June 1980 Edition). Thus, I used polygraph in all major crimes I investigated and solved, and this investigative tool helped me a lot in ascertaining the truth. In fact, in the Judge Valdez murder case, after Blitz Najar, who was involved in the conspiracy and our principal witness, stated in his confession that he threw the death weapon, the Cal. 45 pistol, used in the killing somewhere in Allah river in Cotabato, I subjected him to a polygraph test to find out the truth and the examiner found him to be lying, and when I confronted him, he broke down and led us to the person to whom he sold the firearm, which we finally recovered and was proven to be the same firearm used in the killing as shown by the results of the ballistics examination; 35. Senior Supt. Lapinid, however, informed me that Supt. Estilles and City Prosecutor Miro would not allow us to interview Rusia and require him to undergo a polygraph examination. 36. Instead of allowing us to coordinate our efforts with them, as we usually did in the past with the prosecutors and the police, in solving crimes so that truth and justice shall prevail, City Prosecutor Miro not only shut us out of the investigation but also belittled our efforts when he made remarks in public that we did nothing in this case and gathered nothing to solve the crime, except that list of drug users we obtained from Senior Supt. Enteria, deliberately ignoring the fact that it was the theory and the work of the NBI that led to the major breakthrough in this investigation; in fact, Supt. Labra admitted to me that because he was convinced that we were on the right track, he arrested Jusman Aznar but I did not take this against him for preempting our next move to get Juzman Aznar as we were already placing him under surveillance because I know he did it in his honest desire to help solve the crime, and that was always our attitude in dealing with other agencies to avoid professional jealousy which would only jeopardize the success of our efforts in solving crimes; 37. Had Prosecutor Miro allowed us to interview Rusia and the other witnesses, and coordinate our efforts with them, we could have brought to light the whole truth and made a big difference in promoting the cause of truth and justice because we had identified another suspect who, together with Rusia, could have led us to the whereabouts of Jacquiline but this suspect disappeared about a week after Juzman Aznar was apprehended. But we did not pursue this lead anymore because Mrs. Chiong did not appreciate our efforts at this stage of the investigation and City Prosecutor Miro was in hurry to file the case because he was promised by Mrs. Chiong with a promotion to the position of Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas to which he was finally appointed. 38. Mrs. Chiong also promised the team of prosecutors created by Mr. Miro, namely: Asst. Prosecutors Duyongco, Galanida and Estrera to handle the prosecution in court, with promotions. In fact, Duyongco was promoted to the position of NBI regional director to take my place even if he was not qualified and because of this highly irregular appointment of Mr. Duyongco thru the intercession of Mrs. Chiong, my assistant, Atty. Ramon Barot, Jr., a career NBI Agent, who was supposed to be promoted to take my place upon my retirement, had to resign, and Asst. Prosecutors Galanida and Estrera were also promoted to the positions of RTC judges; 39. The controversial promotions of Prosecutor Miro and his assistant prosecutors met with serious public criticism. And it is most revealing and relevant to point out that in the Sept. 29, 2000 issue of the Sun Star Cebu daily, Judge Gabriel T. Ingles, former IBP President, Cebu City Chapter, and now a presiding Judge of branch 58 of the RTC in Cebu City, expressed his grave concern over the questionable promotions of Prosecutor Miro and his Assistants, thus: "Because of the admitted intervention of Mrs. Chiong, among others, the credibility of the JBC and the system enshrined in the Constitution is under a cloud of doubt." And in the editorials of the Sun Star, Mrs. Chiong and her sister, who was then the private Secretary of President Estrada, were named: "power brokers", photocopies of the news clippings are attached; 40. Mrs. Chiong, without knowing the progress of our investigation as we would usually keep it to us in all cases to prevent any premature disclosure to the public, was indifferent to us because of her mistaken belief that it was City Prosecutor Miro and Supt. Estilles, and not the NBI, who helped them in their quest for justice. But it is an irony that while Prosecutor Miro and his assistants are now enjoying their promotions, Jacquiline has remained missing until now as there was no thorough investigation conducted on this case all because Prosecutor Miro was in a hurry to file the case; 41. I received a subpoena ordering me to appear and testify but Asst. Prosecutor Galanida and Prosecutor Miro, who, was in control of the prosecution, objected to the move of Atty. Andales, one of the defense counsels, to present me as a witness during the trial of this case as shown in the transcript of the stenographic notes; hence, I was barred from testifying in this case. (pp. 39-45, tsn, Jan. 25, 1999, Criminal Case Nos. CBU-45303 & 45304 vs. Larraņaga, et al). 42. Asst. Prosecutor Galanida argued in effect that because "the NBI is not the lead agency of the Chiong sisters abduction case", I, or any of my agents, should not be allowed to testify. (p. 39, tsn, January 25, 1999). This is completely wrong because from the very beginning the NBI was the lead agency in the investigation of the case; in fact, our theory and initial findings were used by the police in pursuing their investigation. 43. Mr. Miro and Asst. Prosecutor Galanida, obviously motivated by their personal ambition to be promoted as promised by Mrs. Chiong, deliberately ignored the fact that
- Page 7 - the NBI is the investigative arm of the DOJ of which the prosecution service is a part, and therefore, it was their duty to work closely with us to ensure the success of the efforts of the government in prosecuting criminals in court; 44. By preventing me, or any of my NBI Agents, from testifying in court in this case as shown from the transcript of records cited above, City Prosecutor Primo Miro, who was in control of his Assistant Prosecutors, absolutely violated Sec. (a) of Presidential Decree No. 1829 for obstruction of justice, which is very serious crime committed by a public official who is supposed to apply and enforce the law. And Mr. Miro, as a lawyer, also violated the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Canons of Professional Ethics for lack of "candor and fairness" which should characterize his conduct in dealing with us because we are also lawyers like him, and more so because we belonged to one department. (Canon 22, Canons of Professional Ethics); and 45. There is no substitute for legality in securing the evidence and thoroughness in the investigation of any criminal case, which are the main pillars in criminal investigation in our search for truth and justice, which we always observed in the conduct of our own investigation; 47. I am executing this affidavit because in my oath as a lawyer, it is my duty "to do no falsehood nor consent to the doing of any" by any witness in order to prevent any miscarriage of justice, and further I am executing this affidavit to attest to the truth of the foregoing narration of facts; IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature this 27th day of February 2004, in Cebu City, Philippines.
signed: FLORENCIO O. VILLARIN Affiant
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 27th day of February 2004, in Cebu City, Philippines, affiant exhibited to me his Professional Tax Receipt No. 5632378 issued on Jan. 15, 2004 in Cebu City.
I hereby certify that I have personally examined the affiant and that I am convinced that he voluntarily executed his affidavit and understood the contents hereof.
Doc. No. 300 signed: ROLANDO A. NAVARRO Page No. 61 NOTARY PUBLIC Book No. XVI UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2005 Series of 2004 PTR - 2947328, I-8-04, Cebu City
(NOTE:
1. RED COLOR OURS FOR EMPHASIS.
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