‘Illusion of truth’

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” is the propaganda rule often attributed to Paul Joseph Goebbels, the media tactician and propagandist of Adolf Hitler during Germany’s Nazi era. Goebbels was a politician and was appointed by Hitler to head the Ministry of Propaganda.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief Debold Sinas reminds me of Goebbels because he seems to be spinning yarns in connection with the spate of killings in Metro Cebu. Psychologists call it “illusion of truth.”

I agree with the “former political has-been” who described the statement of Sinas on the killing of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agent Von Rian Tecson last week in Perrelos, Carcar City as a “cover-up.” One of the assailants was allegedly a policeman identified as SPO1 Roderick Balili of the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG).

Sinas insisted that Balili was not one of Tecson’s assailants. Balili was wounded because of accidental firing in Pinamungajan at the same time that Tecson was ambushed in Carcar.

Here are some of my observations.

Sinas said that a team from RSOG, including Balili, was conducting surveillance on a high-value target, Nilo Quirante. But did Sinas know that he is a resident of Dumanjug and not of Pinamungajan? What was Quirante doing in that town?

Granting, for the sake of argument, that Balili was a victim of accidental firing, how come he suffered three gunshot wounds? Did his gun go “wild” that it released three bullets, two of which hit him in his chest?

When an “accidental firing” happens, it usually hits the lower extremities, not the chest.

Was the gun used modified? A gun originally manufactured by Glock in Austria “modified” by the gun holder? A gun is not a motorcycle that can be easily modified. Maayo man na og Danao-made.

Balili was seriously wounded and I think it was a matter of life and death. If the incident happened in Pinamungajan, why was he brought to the South General Hospital in Naga City? Pinamungajan has a district hospital and the other nearest hospital is in Toledo City. Isn’t it a rule that a victim of a medico-legal case should be brought to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment?

The persons who brought Balili to SouthGen were on board a red Pajero with plate number GHD 753, the same vehicle that trailed Tecson as shown in a CCTV camera near the crime scene. In Pinamungajan, the “team” of Balili were on board a Toyota Vios.

If witnesses in the crime scene and SouthGen medical personnel who treated Balili first would just testify, I think Sinas’s story could be demolished. And why did the police officials pressure SPO1 Von Tecson, the victim’s brother assigned in Carcar, to turn over to the police the items including the memory card from the dash cam recovered inside the victim’s vehicle? SPOI Tecson turned over the items to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). He was ordered to explain by his superior.

I would remind Sinas who, like me, hails from the Zamboanga peninsula, that the Cebuanos, like the Zamboanguenos, are not foolish to just swallow a story hook, like and sinker.

Man pensar anay tu Sir antes hablar.

He is still at large since there is no warrant of arrest issued against him as of this writing. He is clearly a flight risk given his vast resources. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PROSECUTORS, IN SEEKING A HOLDDEPARTURE ORDER AGAINST CEBUANO BUSINESSMAN PETER GO LIM